Front end bouncing around

[RoostRM125]

When I'm running wide open and when I hit quick little bumps my front end starts bouncing around from side to side and up and down real quick making my tire shake from side to side which is pretty scary running wide open. Now what do I have to adjust on my '94 RM 125 to make the front end not do this and ride smooth, I am 5' 7" and only weigh 135 lbs. Any help would be appreciated.

[YZalltheway]

well first you need to make sure that your sitting forward on the bike, that always helps headshake. I dont know of anything else except for a steering stabilizer, but those are big buck$

[Billyboypaints]

make sure the forks are set even adjust your clickers and see if that helps
this helped my bike a little maybe someone with more knowledge will help us

[Silver_Fox]

Headshake, it can be very scarey. It bucked me off once and broke my collarbone. It can be caused by one of many factors or a combination of factors such as tire pressure, fork height in clamps, rear shock rebound, sag height and body positioning. First things I would adjust is lowering the forks in the clamps by 3 -5 mm and increase rear shock rebound damping and see how that works.

[RoostRM125]

Is rear shock rebound when you press down on the seat and the bike should slowly raise back to regular height? If so I've tried to make it so the rear slowly rises but it's still like a spring just spring back up really quick. Where is that clicker adjustment located just to be for sure?

[RoostRM125]

Bump ???

[triplendo]

It sounds like you need your forks rebuilt, you should have compression and rebound dampening. If your seals are shot or have dirt inside it lets the fork oil leak out and you won't have any dampening at all, in either direction. And if your getting head shake the last thing to do is put more weight on the front.

[RoostRM125]

They are not leaking just squeek sometimes when they haven't been rode for a few days.

[yz125#22]

my 1997 yz 125 does the exact same thing. I am kinda new to the mx world so i dont know alot about forks and stuff. i am about same height and weight. My forks do feel a little stiff but i dont know whether to adjust the compression or the reabound?

[bmxer0101]

it sounds like your front end is too stiff. come out on the compression two clicks. also you could try slowing the rebound 1-2 clicks. make sure your sag is properly set. your pretty light for the bike so you may need lighter springs. drop the forks in the tripple clamps a couple of millimeters. reduce air pressure a couple of pounds.

[Dell30rb]

If your fork have worn out internal (squeaking?? sounds bad dude) parts you can mess around all day long with clicker settings and never get anywhere. With bikes that old, if you have never had them rebuilt or don't know when the previous owner had them rebuilt.. chances are they need to be rebuilt.

what bmxer said is all right.. get your sag set, check your bearings (wheel bearings, steering stem bearings, linkage/swingarm bearings). If all of those things check out, then you've probably got issues. Think about the kind of pressure and constant cycling the forks endure when riding.. coupled with the fact that most people never change their fork oil (so its always dirty)... a good year or two of riding is all it takes to start wearing stuff out.

135 lbs is a little light for the springs but you arent terribly far off.. if you're getting bad headshake then chances are you've got problems somewhere

[low430]

Originally Posted by Dell30rb

If your fork have worn out internal (squeaking?? sounds bad dude) parts you can mess around all day long with clicker settings and never get anywhere. With bikes that old, if you have never had them rebuilt or don't know when the previous owner had them rebuilt.. chances are they need to be rebuilt.

what bmxer said is all right.. get your sag set, check your bearings (wheel bearings, steering stem bearings, linkage/swingarm bearings). If all of those things check out, then you've probably got issues. Think about the kind of pressure and constant cycling the forks endure when riding.. coupled with the fact that most people never change their fork oil (so its always dirty)... a good year or two of riding is all it takes to start wearing stuff out.

135 lbs is a little light for the springs but you arent terribly far off.. if you're getting bad headshake then chances are you've got problems somewhere

Great thread, I almost died twice from this what I call the bike "shaking its head" Its usually when Im Wide open and hit a succesion of bumps or puddles, the bike violently shakes far left to far right and you have to fight it hard to regain control and not go down, My 02 cr250 is doing this and it has very low hours, I had a feeling it might have something to do with suspension settings so, untill I get it fixed Im taking it easy

[Dell30rb]

headshake is definitely dangerous, you really have no control

[Oklahomarider]

Don't forget your shock, get it rebuilt too. If it feels like just a spring its not working properly either.