Hey spodes - gotta tell ya, I'm not real impressed with Honda's job
this time around. Pretty damned dissatisfied actually. First, my
rear fender is crooked. I thought the subframe might be bent at
first, but it's not, the fender is just crooked, so the end of it is
about 3/8" off from the center of the tire. There is no slop in the
mounting system so I can't straighten it. Sounds petty, but I have a
gift/curse in that I can see slight off-angles and misalighments - I
can see a 1/16" variation in my new retaining wall from over 40 feet
away - look like a 6" ripple to me. At any rate, that fender makes my
teeth hurt every time I look at it
I have movement in my rear suspension - slop, if you will. No side-to-
side, but (while on a stand) with the rear wheel off, I can lift the
swingarm and it will move slightly with little effort before the
suspension tightens up. It's not loose and flopping around - but it
doesn't take much force to move what amounts to just about 1/8" of up-
and-down distance at the end of the swingarm. I've never seen this
before, except in my completely unmaintained for the last 5 years
XR80. Even my XR4, after 10 years on all original components, has
absolutely zero play anywhere, and I think the GG is solid as a rock
too, though I didn't put it on a stand to test it.
I just checked my son's CR80, and I was able to get similar movement
in his swingarm, so maybe it's not all that unusual - I've just never
seen it before. OTOH, while recently serviced, that CR80 is 6 years
old and has been well ridden.
Oddly enough, when I move the swingarm up and down through the slop
range, I can't see any unusual lateral movement in the linkage,
swingarm, or shock pivot points, so I can't find where the movement is
coming from. Of course, 1/8" at the end of the swingarrm translates
to a few thousands at the linkage, but I think I could see it if
something was slopping around.
What do you think? Does this sound normal or not?
JayC
> Hey spodes - gotta tell ya, I'm not real impressed with Honda's job
> this time around. Pretty damned dissatisfied actually. First, my
> rear fender is crooked. I thought the subframe might be bent at
> first, but it's not, the fender is just crooked, so the end of it is
> about 3/8" off from the center of the tire. There is no slop in the
> mounting system so I can't straighten it. Sounds petty, but I have a
> gift/curse in that I can see slight off-angles and misalighments - I
> can see a 1/16" variation in my new retaining wall from over 40 feet
> away - look like a 6" ripple to me. At any rate, that fender makes my
> teeth hurt every time I look at it
> I have movement in my rear suspension - slop, if you will. No side-to-
> side, but (while on a stand) with the rear wheel off, I can lift the
> swingarm and it will move slightly with little effort before the
> suspension tightens up. It's not loose and flopping around - but it
> doesn't take much force to move what amounts to just about 1/8" of up-
> and-down distance at the end of the swingarm. I've never seen this
> before, except in my completely unmaintained for the last 5 years
> XR80. Even my XR4, after 10 years on all original components, has
> absolutely zero play anywhere, and I think the GG is solid as a rock
> too, though I didn't put it on a stand to test it.
> I just checked my son's CR80, and I was able to get similar movement
> in his swingarm, so maybe it's not all that unusual - I've just never
> seen it before. OTOH, while recently serviced, that CR80 is 6 years
> old and has been well ridden.
> Oddly enough, when I move the swingarm up and down through the slop
> range, I can't see any unusual lateral movement in the linkage,
> swingarm, or shock pivot points, so I can't find where the movement is
> coming from. Of course, 1/8" at the end of the swingarrm translates
> to a few thousands at the linkage, but I think I could see it if
> something was slopping around.
> What do you think? Does this sound normal or not?
> JayC
JayC,
Just push the button and ride, life is too short as it is!
KW
> Oddly enough, when I move the swingarm up and down through the slop
> range, I can't see any unusual lateral movement in the linkage,
> swingarm, or shock pivot points, so I can't find where the movement is
> coming from. Of course, 1/8" at the end of the swingarrm translates
> to a few thousands at the linkage, but I think I could see it if
> something was slopping around.
> What do you think? Does this sound normal or not?
It's the heim joint at the top of the shock. Every XR I've owned has had
this slop, even after replacing the joint. Don't sweat it. It's
unnoticeable when riding.
Still, it sounds like these things are really bothering you. The logical
solution is to ship the bike to me. Anything to help a friend. I'll even
cover half of the shipping cost.
Fix the fender by ovaling a mounting hole, or just take a heat gun to the
entire fender :-/
I just put an old XR front fender on my ATK. It's a lot sturdier than the
original fender, so should hold up better with my burgeoning front fender
pack.
-Jeff-
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> this time around. Pretty damned dissatisfied actually. First, my
> rear fender is crooked. I thought the subframe might be bent at
> first, but it's not, the fender is just crooked, so the end of it is
> about 3/8" off from the center of the tire. There is no slop in the
> mounting system so I can't straighten it. Sounds petty, but I have a
> gift/curse in that I can see slight off-angles and misalighments - I
> can see a 1/16" variation in my new retaining wall from over 40 feet
> away - look like a 6" ripple to me. At any rate, that fender makes my
> teeth hurt every time I look at it
> I have movement in my rear suspension - slop, if you will. No side-to-
> side, but (while on a stand) with the rear wheel off, I can lift the
> swingarm and it will move slightly with little effort before the
> suspension tightens up. It's not loose and flopping around - but it
> doesn't take much force to move what amounts to just about 1/8" of up-
> and-down distance at the end of the swingarm. I've never seen this
> before, except in my completely unmaintained for the last 5 years
> XR80. Even my XR4, after 10 years on all original components, has
> absolutely zero play anywhere, and I think the GG is solid as a rock
> too, though I didn't put it on a stand to test it.
> I just checked my son's CR80, and I was able to get similar movement
> in his swingarm, so maybe it's not all that unusual - I've just never
> seen it before. OTOH, while recently serviced, that CR80 is 6 years
> old and has been well ridden.
> Oddly enough, when I move the swingarm up and down through the slop
> range, I can't see any unusual lateral movement in the linkage,
> swingarm, or shock pivot points, so I can't find where the movement is
> coming from. Of course, 1/8" at the end of the swingarrm translates
> to a few thousands at the linkage, but I think I could see it if
> something was slopping around.
> What do you think? Does this sound normal or not?
> JayC
JayC,