► Forks--clonks, gaiters and leaks

GS800NR9

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Anyone with the 800GS getting any clonking noises on bumpy ground/potholes? I'm sure it's pretty normal but perhaps someone else here can confirm it. I can reproduce it with the bike stationary and pumping the forks. It also gets a tad louder if on partial lock so i'm guessing it's just the fork internals.
 
Mine has a slight knock, I'm not sure if it does it while stationary, I'll check it out. It's a lot less severe than the knock on my TDM, so maybe I'm just not noticing it as much.

I'll report back later.
 
I've just been told (by the dealer) it's the brake discs moving, entirely normal. I'll have another look later too.

Edit: yep,there is quite a lot of movement on the floating discs.More than i've noticed on my other bikes.
 
Ok, just spend about an hour on that forum and i'm worried now. Apart from the clonking there are pages on the cut-out issue i had today (or a similar occurence). I hope the dealer is going to be receptive to my concerns this week!
 
GS800NR9 said:
Ok, just spend about an hour on that forum and i'm worried now. Apart from the clonking there are pages on the cut-out issue i had today (or a similar occurence). I hope the dealer is going to be receptive to my concerns this week!
Click to expand...

First, don't take what you read on a forum as a representative example. On a poll in the 1200 section a while ago, IIRC over 80% were happy with/had no technical issues with their bikes..... a figure that you'd never get by reading all the whinging.

Second, the F800GS has different everything to the S and ST, apart from the engine, so even if there is an issue with the brakes/suspension/whatever on the S or ST, it's not going to transfer to the GS.

Third, the issue with the S/ST cutting out has been resolved with a recall and fitting of a new fuel pressure switch. The new switch was shipped with all the F800GS bikes affected, and will have been fitted by your dealer. OK, that's not to say that you don't have an issue with your bike, but I know I've stalled mine on a couple of truely weird occasions. Get it checked out, but don't go all paranoid :thumb
 
Hi Wizard. having just come off a forum for another bike i know exactly what you mean about only seeing bad news. What's slightly worrying is not the clonking, but the number of genuine issues that showed up all of which contributed to odd noises. Everything from loose head bearings (on brand new bikes) to missing manifold gaskets,weak fork springs etc.

Having done 150 miles today i'm relatively happy that i know where the clonking noise is coming from and it doesn't worry me. Just go grab a brake disk and try moving it yourself (when cold obviously) and see the play designed into floating disks, at least on this BMW.

As for the cutting out, i'm prepared to accept any explanation except it being a normal stall. That just doesn't happen at that speed and going up through the gears.It hasn't happened today (but it was calm and dry, not wet and windy) so maybe water got in something.We'll see if anything comes up in the first service,like an alarmcode etc. :thumb
 
I've noticed that my sidestand switch is a little hit and miss - had a couple of occassion now where I've started the bike up, put the side stand up, put it into gear and the engine cuts out. Put the sidestand down and up again and its good to go. I've not had any problems on the move but if its only just on the edge of showing the side stand up I guess it wouldn't take much of a bump to cause it to trip. Was it very bumpy when your engine cut - just a thought? Thats the only issue I've had with mine so far - no FEC thankfully!
 
IanT61 said:
I've noticed that my sidestand switch is a little hit and miss - had a couple of occassion now where I've started the bike up, put the side stand up, put it into gear and the engine cuts out. Put the sidestand down and up again and its good to go. I've not had any problems on the move but if its only just on the edge of showing the side stand up I guess it wouldn't take much of a bump to cause it to trip. Was it very bumpy when your engine cut - just a thought? Thats the only issue I've had with mine so far - no FEC thankfully!
Click to expand...

Ah! I thought it was me- wheel bike out of garage, start on side stand, get on, side stand up, in gear - engine dies

something for the 500mile service to sort
 
Ian, it was the Warminster bypass, not bumpy at all. Havent had any problems with the side stand switch either yet.Good thinking though.
 
FEC

I've had my bike since the 29th, 3 days now 80 miles, & i'm getting this front end 'click' every time the forks depress (even slightly). This happens when riding over small bumps AND under braking so i'm fairly sure that it's nothing to do with the front discs, (but they do 'float' rather alot don't they). I had a pull on the forks last night with the bike up on it's centre stand & there was no discernable movement & no 'click'.

The F800riders.org forum talk about spring internals being suspect, then headstock bearings, then headlight mount, then engine mounts if i remember correctly, but this feels to me most like some kind of headstock issue. I'm sure i can feel the click through the bars also.

Im going to ask for a quick ride on my dealers demo bike at the weekend & see if it's the same & take it from there.

I'll keep this thread posted on what happens...

Apart from that though, what a great bike!!!!!! :bounce1
 
OK, I've just got back from my dealer where their test bike has the same clonk/click as mine. Their attitude is that if their demo bike (700 miles) is making the same noise as mine (130) then there's no issue, they can hear the noise i'm on about but don't think it's significant. My issue is that i AM bothered by it, i'm not happy that my new bike clonks, regardless if 'they all do that' or not. They didn't seem at all interested in what was making the noise (as i would have expected), as soon as they'd seen that their demo was the same it was end of discussion time.

& as no-else seems to be reporting this apart from 'GS800NR9' (he's happy that it's the floating discs) then i must just be a picky customer. :thedummy

(I do acknowledge that the discs appear to make a noise, but my bike clonks if i'm braking or not)

I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if anyone else chimes in in due course. :nenau

Perplexing.
 
Having done a mild bit of off road recently i can tell you that the noise is present a lot over uneven ground and i'm tending back towards the fork internals theory now.Sounds almost as though a bush is missing around the top of the inner fork tube allowing play.

I've been keeping an eye on this to see what you came up with Argonaught so it's a shame nothing more positive came out of it with your dealer.My bike is due in for its first service next weekend so i'll pursue it then .
 
I'd go for the fork internals.
On later Triumph 955 Tigers the forks were modified with an internal anti-dive valve to reduce the movement under braking. This valve makes the clonking noise you describe. Could be a similar thing in your forks as the F800s don't have the anti-dive geometry of the telelever.
 
Noise proved to floating discs.....definitive.


OK , this was starting to bug me . I figured i could prove if it was anything to do with disc movement or not by stopping the disc moving in their normal float range. You can try this yourselves in about 5 minutes.

Take a 6 inch cable tie( because they are about the right thickness) and push the thin end through the gap twixt rotor and one of its mount points then pull on this thin end until the tie is wedged firmly in the space. If you grab hold of the disc with both hands now you should not be able to move it back and forth as before .Note, you need to jam both front discs in this way.

Now grab the front brake and try pumping the forks again. All i got was stiction noises , clonking GONE!!

I'm entirely convinced now that the noises i was hearing on my bike were the front rotors moving . Since they are designed to do this then its not a fault, although the amount of freeplay is more than i have noticed on any other bike i've had.
 
Nice test!

Do you get this noise only when you're braking? or are you saying that any bump in the road will cause the discs to move within their mounts & create the noise?
 
I got a similar noise the other day doing some green laning. I may have had a finger on the brake whilst it was happening but i honestly cant remember. I suspect there is some disc movement even when not braking though, especially over rougher ground.
 
Sounds identical to my old Triumph 900 Daytona. I swore it was worn out, weak or poorly designed forks, just lived with the constant clonking on anything but smooth surfaces. Then the disks wore out ( 40,000 miles - acceptable life to me), when I replaced them the change was dramatic.

Immediately after replacing the disks they were held nice and tight by the wavy washers on the floating disk bobbins. Then they became a bit looser, and the clonk returned...
 
I don't really care why they clonk, I just wish they didn't. It's annoying me & i don't think any new bike should sound like a rattly old shonker. I'm basically dissatisfied. it's marring my enjoyment of the bike at the moment. I'm fixating on it...

Perhaps it's all just a metahphor for some badness perpertrated in a former life...:duno
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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