Instability on C5

[gashousegorilla]

If you got washers with the inside diameter a little larger than the steel collar inside the rubber bushing you could put them in to take up the slack between the bushing and the shrouds on the side.

Not sure on the shocks, I'll check my Snidal manual when I get home.

Scott

Yup, thats the idea scotty me boy. Check it if you would please, that would be great!
You Da Man!

[gashousegorilla]

 r80rt, when you loosened the rear fender on your bike, anything weird happen? Like the rear fender stay shifted on you?, you know, the ones on either side of the fender. Is your fender centered over the wheel? More importently, are your fender stays centered over the rear wheel with a loose fender? Maybe it's nothing, but there pretty sturdy and I just had a screw shoot out on me.

[r80rt]

Didn't notice anything unusual, just had to jimmy things around a bit to get the bolts back in like any fender would be. Everything is centered like it should be.

[gashousegorilla]

Alright cool. do you remember if one or both of the fender stays squeezed in on the fender? did you remove the fender Sta's? There is alot of tension on mine, so much that I can't remove the fender, without removing the stays. the one on the left on my bike, kicked over a good 1". Maybe, just maybe here's my torsional load?

[r80rt]

No tension that I remember, it all went together and came apart easy enough.

[gashousegorilla]

Alright good. I'm gonna try and get a pic posted, gonna take a few. Stand by ,will ya?

[r80rt]

I stuffed some grease rags between the tire and fender to hold things in place, then removed the fender stay bolts by the passenger pegs on both sides, then removed the stay bolts at the top by the shock towers on both sides, then I lifted the fender and stays as an assembly just high enough to pull the shock bolts out. I put it back in reverse order, no surprises or anything springing, nothing difficult about it. you may have a bent stay?

[gashousegorilla]

I stuffed some grease rags between the tire and fender to hold things in place, then removed the fender stay bolts by the passenger pegs on both sides, then removed the stay bolts at the top by the shock towers on both sides, then I lifted the fender and stays as an assembly just high enough to pull the shock bolts out. I put it back in reverse order, no surprises or anything springing, nothing difficult about it. you may have a bent stay?

Maybe more then that, stand by.

[gashousegorilla]

Ok, anything look wrong to you in these pics?

[r80rt]

Sure looks off center to me, now I wish I'd taken the fender off the stays so I could say for sure, I think Bob needs to look at those pictures.

[gashousegorilla]

Yes he does, but he's probably home in his Jammie's, like any sain person would be at this hour Listen, when I pull on that left fender stay, like when the fender is in place, all nice and centered, the whole left side of the frame and bike moves forword and to the right. Remember the engine test? Well the bike would move to the right and back, in a clock wise fashion, get it? that left rear section of the frame is pushing the bike clock wise, so when my handle bars are straight on the highway, the bike is pushing right. I'm unknowingly trying to steer left. The constant battle. Hot damn!!!!

[gashousegorilla]

 Yea know I'm  a dumb a&! for not thinking of this earlier, cause I've seen it before. On a bike I built no less. Only it was on the front. I made a cafe front fender for that blue bike you may have seen in the magazine. Well I made the thing real strong, with steal round bar beading around the edge. The bike would track straight, the alignment was good, but the damn bars were  cocked to the left. Drove me crazy, thinking the bars were bent, or the neck was twisted, maybe a bent top tree? You know that damn fender had enough strength to twist the legs a bit.
r80rt, you are the man for sticking in with me on this.
Dan

[gashousegorilla]

Here's the bike.

[SSR]

Ok, anything look wrong to you in these pics?

Seems like its to the left, tyre on mine is a bit to the right but it was never in the center

[gashousegorilla]

Those side fender stays are very stiff. So much so that if pushed in either direction,left or right, they will load the frame,and push it in that direction. You can imagine the fender centered between those misaligned stays. It's stored energy, constantly pushing my frame, from the left rear ,clockwise. So while your riding your bike, there's a push to the right, constantly. You don't feel the push, you feel the instability of you trying to keep the bars straight, while on the other side of the pivot, (steering head), the frame is pushing right. In this case I believe it is due to the fender stay mount, where it welded to the frame, not being welded in at the correct angle. Look closely at the pics. Notice the difference between the left and right welded in mounts?  The difference is slight at that point, but at the other end of the fender stay its huge. See what I mean?
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