Hi everyone! I recently crashed the sm610 and just got it back from the shop...the issue is with the front tire / forks / handlebars (obviously I don't know which one) When I go around a corner 40+mph and hit the odd little bumps in the road, I get a sort of steering wobble that lasts for a second then goes away...basically the forks or the steering feel loose.. The bike, before the wreck, would follow a perfect line when going around a corner and hitting a bump. Now the bike feels a little scary and I'm afraid to corner too hard fearing the steering will fail me. Does anyone know how to fix or tighten this problem? Thanks! Mike
First off make sure nothing is bent or broken. Then check your steering head bearings. Then wheel bearings. Tire pressure. Something is obviously not right and you need to figure out what it is.
Also check the spokes for tightness and check that the front tire isn't suffering form some separation.
If your steering stem bearings were a teeny bit loose and then the front end experienced an impact in a crash, it could have made some little indents in your outer races (or so I've been told. I think that the races are pretty hard material). When you go around a turn, the front end wants to fall into the turn, but the little indents in the race make the bike want to come back to the position were the roller settles into the indent. The result is a slight wobble. You would know if you tightened up the races till they had some resistence when you pushed the handlebars from side to side. There would be a notchy feeling in the movement. Anyway, I have experienced those symptoms from damaged races on a street bike steering stem.
well the bike more just slide along the ground so no major impact to the bike. it survived with broken cosmetics and a scratched inner fork tube that had to be replaced. i tightened all the bolts that apply to handlebars, tir-columns and rode it, it feels like it might be tighter. we'll just have to see with some more riding. thanks for your feedback..if it still feels loose i might play with the fork pressure adjustments.
