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Suspension DisasterA V65 Magna story by Tony DonisiAfter being very happy with my 1984 V65 Magna for about 2
years and 50,000 miles, I decided that I wanted better handling,
so I decided to start modifying the suspension. I installed a set
of Progressive Suspension springs in the front, and shocks in the
back. This improved the handling immensely, especially with
radial tires. It felt more like a performance motorcycle in the
corners than a cruiser. I had a handlebar mounted fairing, a
Rifle sport. At one time I had hit a curb, which bent up my front
fork just a little. I had them straightened, but I got it into my
head that the triple clamp was bent. I had a junk V65 hanging
around for parts, which I purchased for $100, it was in rough
shape. I wanted to chrome a lot of parts, and still have a set of
original everything, so I chrome plated the front fork legs from
the junker to put them on the good one. Not only did I do that,
but I used the fork tubes from the junker, without first checking
to see if they were straight. They were badly pitted, which
should have given me an Idea of their condition, but I ignored
that. Then, as if that wasn't stupid enough, without checking
either for straightness, I just assumed that the triple clamp off
the good motorcycle was bent from hitting the curb, while the one
from the junker was straight!. I didn't check either one! So, I
took everything apart and reassembled it to specification. I like
to think that I am mechanically inclined, I guess I'm just prone
to fits of stupidity. I put 10W oil in the front forks to begin
with, at the stock level, and cut the spacer to the length
specified by Progressive Suspension. The motorcycle rode fine
(although it really shouldn't have, I guess) for a while. At this
point let me describe the handling of the V65 Magna, stock, and
with the non-junk suspension modifications. At high speed the
drive shaft can be felt a little when taking a good left corner.
The PS suspension modifications and the radial tires helped this
out a lot, almost to the point of non-existence. With the
handlebar mount front fairing, the motorcycle had a
characteristic weave at about 135 - 140 mph (at the track, of
course). I assume, and have yet to verify that, removing the
fairing, or using some sort of a frame mounted fairing will
relieve this. The characteristic weave is a warning -- do not go
any faster! I've had that warning many times and have always
modified my speed accordingly (slowed down). Now back to the
suspension story, keeping in mind all of the above
"junk" modifications. After these modifications, I
mounted some used hard luggage, in preparation for a trip to
Colorado. I like to mount everything at least two weeks before a
major trip in order to get a feel with the added accessories. I
felt the suspension was still a little stiff, so I cut down the
front spring preload spacer by about 1/4". I rode with this
for another week, with bags, and felt it was still too stiff. I
then put 5W oil in the forks instead of the 10W. One week before
the Colorado trip I was on the highway, and started to go about
85mph. It isn't that fast, speed limit 65, open road, super
highway, keeping up with and away from traffic. On the Magna,
right up to this one last modification, I've been a lot faster
without even realizing I'm speeding. Anyway, at about 85mph,
there was that familiar 135mph weave. This was very strange,
occurring at this low speed. When I went to slow down, the weave
did not stop, as it did many times at 135mph, it got worse! It
ultimately became uncontrollable, and it fell at about 80mph. I
jumped away from it, and both the motorcycle and I slid for about
500 feet on the pavement, the motorcycle leading the way. Of
course I have full leathers, zip together jacket and pants, and
kevlar-leather boots & gloves. I am usually very good about
wearing them, I rarely ever ride without them. They did me no
good this time, however, since they were in the sidebags. I was
wearing a full face helmet. I didn't have to since it's not
mandatory in New Hampshire (Hooray for NH!). I'm glad I was,
because the top layers of fiberglass material right by my face
were scraped down pretty far. If I was wearing a regular helmet,
or none, half of my face would be gone. I slid pretty evenly, and
scraped up my arms pretty bad, that's about all that happened. It
could have been a lot worse. If I was using my brain at the time
and wore my full leathers, like I usually always do, I wouldn't
even have been scratched. When I finally came to a stop, there
was a crowd of cars, women crying, kids screaming, and motorcycle
parts everywhere. I have to admit I looked in pretty rough shape,
but I was still able to get to the motorcycle, stand it up (with
a little help), start it, and ride it to the exit before one of
the people gave me a ride to the hospital. As I was falling, I
noticed one thing. As the motorcycle was going down, the fork
brace had separated from the forks. The four bolts were still
attached, but the middle section was completely separated. This
led me to my observation on the fork brace, since I had plenty of
time to think while I was sliding. I have to add a thank you
here, to the people who were so nice to stop & help. Also,
one of the guys who helped performed an act of bravery that made
the motorcycle wipeout pale in comparison. I had lost one of my
sneakers during the wipeout, and as I thought about it, standing
there on the right hand shoulder, it came flying by in the left
hand lane, pummeled by a car. This brave soul ran across three
lanes of busy highway traffic, and successfully retrieved my
mangled sneaker . . . and successfully made it back. All this
before my very eyes. He and his wife and extremely scared kids
also drove me to the hospital. I was too shocked at the time to
get their phone number. I wanted to call him and thank him the
next day, when my body felt well enough to think straight, and
there wasn't blood gushing out of the majority of my bodily
limbs. To summarize, I will give my personal formula for V65
suspension disaster. I do not mean to imply that any individual
one of these would cause any problems whatsoever. In reading in
plenty of MC mags and talking to quite a few mechanics in the
past 6 months, they all agree that the front end has to be
severely messed up to cause any type of uncontrollable situation.
In most cases they say that the motorcycle gives plenty of
warning, and usually you just slow down and the problem will
subside. Formula for front end disaster 3. A triple clamp that might have been bent 4. Front forks that probably were bent 5. Performance shocks, front & rear 6. Performance tires 7. Cut down the spacers by 1/4" from recommended 8. Use 5W fork oil 9. Attach hard luggage 10. Use stock fork brace 11. Handlebar mount fairing 12. Travel at speeds in excess of 85mph |