Rubber isolators between forks and bars worn on 99?

[TurboMike]

Excuse my lack of proper part terminology here my first bike was a cruiser. Went to buy my 99 Kat used with a friend who was into sportbikes to help me check it out. The big round area around the tops of the forks where the bars are seem to have some kind of rubber isolator to absorb vibration or something and he mentioned it seemed real loose and jiggley to him. You can move the bars a little without it effecting the forks at all and it wiggles around while you ride. He thought the rubber between the forks and the bars might be shot and might need replacing.

Coming from a big ol nasty cruiser the ride feels fine to me. However I do get a lot of bar vibration, but that may be normal cuz I'm used to a V4.

How much should the bars move independant of the forks? Is that supposed to be stiff as hell like a car motor mount or is there supposed to be a lot of easy movement there? Should you be able to easily cause the bars and forks to move seperatly just my pushing the bars back and forth while the bike isnt moving or should that be solid and tight in there?

[Black_peter]

Hmm not too hip on the 98+
But on the 750 Kat there are rubber isolation bushings
between the plates. Bolts hold it together with more
bushings.
The nuts are kept from falling off by clips..
It might be that the bolts are loose.
The iso is for vibration.. You shouldn't see any
wiggle, maybe feel a tiny bit..

[The CyberPoet]

That rubber sheet is unique to the 98+ Kat 750's. The four caps you see on the yoke above it are bolt covers; popping them off will let you see the bolts that run through the rubber sheet and tie the upper portion to the lower portion. There should be some play in the system (about 1mm movement left-to-right at the handlebars without moving the wheel is normal if you've got the wheel pinned between your knees; more than that and they are set way too loose). If you tighten down the bolts too much (compressing the rubber), you lose the vibration damping effect, but get rid of the play as well. If in doubt, check the service manual or pop by your local dealer and ask him what the torque setting for those four bolts should be.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[TurboMike]

Poet- your knowledge scares me. Are you really a man or a Suzuki God connected to the internet from heaven? If so answer me this: are there helmet laws in the afterlife since we just land on fluffy no-road-rash clouds?

I'll experiment torquing the bolts down a little to see if I'm happier or if the nasty vibrations get worse. Thanks!

[katana bob]

that would scare the shiate outta me if I could move the bars without moving the forks! sounds like those bolts are way loose.

[The CyberPoet]

that would scare the shiate outta me if I could move the bars without moving the forks! sounds like those bolts are way loose.

A little bit of vagueness never really gets interpretted by the brain as vagueness; if your line isn't what you expect, you just change it subconsciously (just like with a car that under-steers). 1mm is a worst-case scenario (figure 1/2mm left and 1/2mm right -- that's not enough to panic the mind normally). But I normally ride a 98+ 600, so I have direct-bolted steering

My advice remains the same: get the correct torque measurements and set it to that. If that's vague in feel, replace the rubber sheet (or consider swapping to the set-up on the 600's -- I'm sure there's someone somewhere that would trade).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[TurboMike]

The torque specs are not in the "owners manual". I dont have the shop manuals. Anyone?

I tried to make a vid of the movement:

http://home.earthlink.net/~publisherscc/PICT1583.MOV

[The CyberPoet]

The torque specs are not in the "owners manual". I dont have the shop manuals. Anyone?

I tried to make a vid of the movement:
http://home.earthlink.net/~publisherscc/PICT1583.MOV

That looks a little more than typical but not significantly so IMHO. Call you shop and get the torque specs from your service advisor. I have the manuals for the 98+ 600's, but not the 750's and that particular set-up is unique to the 750 (sorry).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[TurboMike]

Ok the looseness has gotten worse over the summer, and recently I threw a front wheel weight which made the bike unrideable until I could get a balance. So its time to fix this problem. I tightened all 4 bolts as much as I could, and it made no difference. So its time to buy new rubber. There are two sandwhiched rubber gaskets under each bolt (number 9 in picture). They're $20 each and there are 4 bolts, ouch. Also theres some kind of rubber around the forks (number 22 in picture).

I'm not sure if its the rubber around the bolts or the rubber around the forks that control the movement.

I dunno what number 10 is in the picture, but its no longer made. Looks like a sleeve for the bolt. I could see the sleeves being too long and letting the rubber move too much also. (shrug)

Anyone do this before or fix their loose 750 bars some other way?

[tone]

Both my 1100's had those rubber isolators not discounting what cyberpoet said as it could be because mine were obviously uk models but i did have to replace a set on one of the bikes

i'm not 100% sure in this but they look suspiciously like the rubbers from a set of bandit 12 risers, so it might be worth a look at some of those

hope it helps

[TurboMike]

Did you replace the ones around the 4 bolts or around the 2 forks?

[tone]

#9 in the diagram are tha ones i'm talking about

[hardlydangerous]

I replaced #22 on my 750 to get rid of the slop, even then there is still some slight side to side play.. if you want to eliminate any play just wrap the top of the forks with electrical tape or majic wrap before you install the top piece/bars

[TurboMike]

I ordered all the #9s and the two #22s. Not cheap but if the problem goes away I'll be happy.

ps- bobbits was wany cheaper than bandits for the #9s for some reason, but the #22s were about the same.