Ping malc - damping follow-up.

You know your harsh forks? Raptors have the same problem, the forums
are full of people bitching about it & asking what other
forks/internals fit etc etc. I noticed it on mine too, fine on 'soft'
bumps & wallows but the initial compression on things like the edges of
small potholes is enough to knock your teeth out.

I've also noticed the riding position felt a bit weird after riding
another bike, but that's normal when swapping from a completely
different style of bike (MV or Tiger). However on Saturday I was out
with L on her SV, & we swapped for a while, & that felt weird too,
which it shouldn't do as it's so similar to the Raptor. It felt like
the forks were twisted - & the lightbulb over my head went 'ding!'.

Sure enough, a bit of careful measuring showed the SV's forks were
fine, but the Raptor's were twisted. I loosened the clamps & wiggled
things about to get them straight, torqued it all up again, & they're
now *much* less harsh.

I don't know how they got twisted in the first place as I've had them
out previously to change the oil & I'm sure I lined everything up
properly when I stuck them back in. I'm wondering if tightening the
screw-in front axle when I put the wheel back in caused it. The fork
clamp bolts are only 23Nm so it wouldn't take much to twist them a bit,
given the leverage involved when doing things at the bottom end of the
legs. It would explain why so many Raptor owners mention it, but none
of the original road tests do.

Anyway just thought I'd mention it in case your bike has the same issue.

 

Good call, I'd not even thought about that (knowing nothing about suspension
on bikes). I'll check at the weekend.

Thanks


--
Malc

Rusted and ropy.
Dog-eared old copy.
Vintage and classic,
or just plain Jurassic:
all words to describe me.