Im in need of some advice on my suspension.everytime I compress it there is a knocking noise? I have checked the steering head bearings and anything else obvious around that area and found nothing.The sound seems to be coming from inside the fork itself could it be a valve or a seal perhaps? I don't fancy taking them apart myself so I am probably going to ship them off for servicing at some point. Then get them set for my weight. They are showa forks from a 748s if that helps. Thanks in advance
a long shot that's worth ruling out first - sometimes the front brake pads can be a loose fit in the caliper body/bodies and produce a slight 'clunk' when performing a similar action i.e. compressing front suspension.
Yes, seems more likely to be the pads rocking in the calipers, I can't think of any reason for a knocking sound to come from the suspension. On the rear it could be a worn linkage, but on the front I can't think of anything that would cause it other than brake pads moving about.
Thanks for the input. Its definitely not the pads the noise seems to be from the inside of the rhs fork. I'm going to send them in for a service when I get round to taking them off. The bike is 10 year old so I think the forks could do with a service any ways.
I'm not with my bike to test this but I'm sure I tried it when I was checking the head bearing. I will try it tomorrow and see what happens Cheers
Sal, I have yet to see a 748/9xx with Showa forks which don't knock slightly. They all seem to have a quiet knock internal to the stanchion just below the bottom yoke. it is movement within the fork by the damping mechanism, most likely nothing to worry about (unless it is a big knock).
It is a pita on these models, I always die a thousand deaths come MOT time in fear that some anal retentive will pick up on it and fail it on some bullshit or other. The truth is, as Denzil says, is: They all do that Sir.
I had a knocking from my forks on compression like you describe and also thought head bearings needed adjusting, it's 10yrs old and done 22k so last week I got it indoors for it's service which was going to include changing fork oil anyway and when I took the front wheel out one wheel bearing had totally collapsed. It's only done 2400 miles since I last had the wheel out and everything was absolutely fine then. Can't say for sure that this was the cause of the noise as I haven't finished the rest of the work yet but suggest you give yours a check just to be safe.
Thanks for the replys I'm going to do a thorough check when I have a weekend spare. I will report back if I find anything
My old 748 Showas did this and the new 848 showas do it. I was at Castle Combe this weekend and had MH Suspension tweak my forks and rear shock. I mentioned the noise from the front and he said it was just unloading and nothing to worry about.
Had mine serviced and revalved it was a small cone I think in the bottom that had gone and that's what causes the knocking noise.
i took mine apart at the weekend to investigate and its not as bad with new oil in it lol but came across a few threads saying it was either the plastic cone or a spring in the damping
