Motorcycle: Swaying Problem

Wind splitter · 19th April 2011, 14:17

I have a 5 year old Karizma and have a strange problem associated with it since I bought the bike

.

While riding the bike, when ever the bike runs over a pot hole or a hump no matter the speed of the bike the front part (not sure if its handle, fork or wheel) of the bike starts swaying left and right and it feels very scary. I will have to either slow down the bike until it stops swaying or I will have to stop it and have to push the front suspension of the bike back and forth.

I have complained about this problem to Sai motors from where I bought the bike thrice over the span of 1.5 years and have never got it repaired, each and every time they say they have fixed it which is never done until now.

Where and how can I get this problem fixed?

HighOctane · 19th April 2011, 14:21

Check for the fork bent in another service centre (Majestic Motors in RV Road) Karizma is the best in Indian Bike segment for handling characteristics.

Mr.Boss · 19th April 2011, 14:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wind splitter

.....While riding the bike, when ever the bike runs over a pot hole or a hump no matter the speed of the bike the front part (not sure if its handle, fork or wheel) of the bike starts swaying left and right and it feels very scary......

Faced same problem in my Pulsar. Replaced the Front & Rear wheel bearings & the stay bush (Swing arm bush) Now she takes every pot hole / hump without any such issues. Changing the front tyre (earlier it was almost bald) improved the handling better.

TaurusAl · 19th April 2011, 14:43

Looks like you have a bent rim or the balancing of the wheel is improper. Go to a tire store and get the wheel checked. All the best.

n_aditya · 19th April 2011, 14:55

Check if the fork seals are intact. If they are busted, then fork oil must be leaking leading to hard dives and loss of control.

Also get the cone set and bearings checked. If the problem has been brought to the notice of the service guys and nothing has been done so far to rectify it to your satisfaction please contact the Zonal office (details below).

Hero Honda Motors Ltd.
No - 294, 2nd Floor,
6th Main, Off 100 ft Road,
HAL 2nd Stage,
Indira Nagar
Bangalore - 560038

Tel: +91-80-25550430, 25584436, 25582436, 25321139
Fax: +91-80-25594036
Email: bangalore@herohonda.com

I had a HH CD100 long back when i was studying. The fuel tank rusted and fuel started to leak through a crack from the rusted area in the tank. The bike had just crossed 1 year and i was denied a replacement tank under warranty. Approached the Zonal office and after a lot of running around i got a replacement tank free of charge

Spitfire · 19th April 2011, 15:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wind splitter

I will have to stop it and have to push the front suspension of the bike back and forth.

You mean the whole front suspension moves back and forth? Your T stem is busted - badly. Get it checked before you end up hurting yourself. + bearings + forks.

Wind splitter · 19th April 2011, 15:19

Service guys mentioned that there was wheel alignment problem which has been rectified but even after that bike has not stopped swaying, I see no oil leaks from the fork.

@Aditya, thanks for the details, I will call them up and bring all this to their notice.

My bike had cracked bore which lead to oil leak, when I complained about that I got the bore replaced under warranty without any hassles but not sure why handling problem of the bike is not taken seriously by the service guys.

v.anand · 19th April 2011, 15:33

I completely understand what you mean by the front swaying, I faced the exact same problem in my 2005 Karizma too. It was so scary and irritating that I stopped riding it for a while until I found a good service center which diagnosed and rectified the problem.

Like @n_aditya mentioned, problem with my bike were the cone set. Also, the engine mountings to the chassis had got loose which further contributed to this.

The biggest problem of all is a competent mechanic, I tried really hard and luckily found Mr. Sudhakar, the service supervisor at Nikki motors located on Bellary road near Sadashivnagar. He is one very comptent guy, contact him and I am sure he will sort it out for you. PM me if you need his number, he should generally be available at the dealership service center though.

Wind splitter · 19th April 2011, 15:58

@v.anand thanks a lot for helping me on this, I have sent you a PM.

DRIV3R · 19th April 2011, 16:06

How old are your tyres? If the tyres have miniature horizontal/vertical cracks, wobbling and swaying can happen. Check on these lines too.

HighOctane · 21st April 2011, 20:36

Dear Wind Splitter, Please let us know, if the issue got rectified, so that, we would get to know, what was the real problem.

Wind splitter · 25th April 2011, 14:44

All, I tried calling the Hero Honda zonal office numbers but numbers do not exist any more, will be writing a mail to them shortly.

Bike's problem is still existing, thanks for all your concerns.

v.anand · 25th April 2011, 19:00

^^Did you try Nikki motors? What did the service engineer had to say? For my bike, everything was tried out like change of rear shocks, tightening of engine to the frame, refilling the oil in the front shocks and finally changing the cone set which resolved the issue.

Wind splitter · 26th April 2011, 09:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by v.anand

^^Did you try Nikki motors? What did the service engineer had to say? For my bike, everything was tried out like change of rear shocks, tightening of engine to the frame, refilling the oil in the front shocks and finally changing the cone set which resolved the issue.

@v.anand, I haven't yet called nikki motors, I will be taking my bike directly to Nikki motors on weekend as I stay quite far from Bellary road.

Wind splitter · 1st May 2011, 09:57

Yesterday I went back to Sai Motors and spoke to service manager once again and asked him to test drive my bike, as he rode my bike for a while my bike never showed the symptoms of swaying, I asked him to ride it little bit faster over not so good roads, finally when we were about to get back it finally start to sway while the service manager was still riding the bike and that is when he agreed that bike has the problem.

When I asked him what could be wrong he said he will have to dismantle the front fork assembly and will have to check and said that he is suspecting the issue with cone set.

He asked me to leave the bike at the service center on Monday morning for the repair.

I will be leaving the bike to service center on Monday morning and hope this time bike comes out clean without any problems hanging on to it.

Will keep you guys posted.

19th April 2011, 14:17	#1
Wind splitter BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 131 Thanked: 9 Times	Motorcycle: Swaying Problem I have a 5 year old Karizma and have a strange problem associated with it since I bought the bike . While riding the bike, when ever the bike runs over a pot hole or a hump no matter the speed of the bike the front part (not sure if its handle, fork or wheel) of the bike starts swaying left and right and it feels very scary. I will have to either slow down the bike until it stops swaying or I will have to stop it and have to push the front suspension of the bike back and forth. I have complained about this problem to Sai motors from where I bought the bike thrice over the span of 1.5 years and have never got it repaired, each and every time they say they have fixed it which is never done until now. Where and how can I get this problem fixed?
	() Thanks

19th April 2011, 14:21	#2
HighOctane BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 385 Thanked: 194 Times	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem Check for the fork bent in another service centre (Majestic Motors in RV Road) Karizma is the best in Indian Bike segment for handling characteristics.
	() Thanks

19th April 2011, 14:43	#4
TaurusAl BHPian Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Mumbai - MH 01 Posts: 609 Thanked: 528 Times	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem Looks like you have a bent rim or the balancing of the wheel is improper. Go to a tire store and get the wheel checked. All the best.
	() Thanks

19th April 2011, 14:55	#5
n_aditya Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Namma Bengaluru Posts: 5,356 Thanked: 3,743 Times View My Garage	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem Check if the fork seals are intact. If they are busted, then fork oil must be leaking leading to hard dives and loss of control. Also get the cone set and bearings checked. If the problem has been brought to the notice of the service guys and nothing has been done so far to rectify it to your satisfaction please contact the Zonal office (details below). Hero Honda Motors Ltd. No - 294, 2nd Floor, 6th Main, Off 100 ft Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indira Nagar Bangalore - 560038 Tel: +91-80-25550430, 25584436, 25582436, 25321139 Fax: +91-80-25594036 Email: bangalore@herohonda.com I had a HH CD100 long back when i was studying. The fuel tank rusted and fuel started to leak through a crack from the rusted area in the tank. The bike had just crossed 1 year and i was denied a replacement tank under warranty. Approached the Zonal office and after a lot of running around i got a replacement tank free of charge
	() Thanks

19th April 2011, 15:19	#7
Wind splitter BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 131 Thanked: 9 Times	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem Service guys mentioned that there was wheel alignment problem which has been rectified but even after that bike has not stopped swaying, I see no oil leaks from the fork. @Aditya, thanks for the details, I will call them up and bring all this to their notice. My bike had cracked bore which lead to oil leak, when I complained about that I got the bore replaced under warranty without any hassles but not sure why handling problem of the bike is not taken seriously by the service guys.
	() Thanks

19th April 2011, 15:33	#8
v.anand BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 331 Thanked: 47 Times	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem I completely understand what you mean by the front swaying, I faced the exact same problem in my 2005 Karizma too. It was so scary and irritating that I stopped riding it for a while until I found a good service center which diagnosed and rectified the problem. Like @n_aditya mentioned, problem with my bike were the cone set. Also, the engine mountings to the chassis had got loose which further contributed to this. The biggest problem of all is a competent mechanic, I tried really hard and luckily found Mr. Sudhakar, the service supervisor at Nikki motors located on Bellary road near Sadashivnagar. He is one very comptent guy, contact him and I am sure he will sort it out for you. PM me if you need his number, he should generally be available at the dealership service center though. Last edited by v.anand : 19th April 2011 at 15:38.
	() Thanks

19th April 2011, 15:58	#9
Wind splitter BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 131 Thanked: 9 Times	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem @v.anand thanks a lot for helping me on this, I have sent you a PM.
	() Thanks

19th April 2011, 16:06	#10
DRIV3R Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: India Posts: 1,920 Thanked: 2,297 Times	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem How old are your tyres? If the tyres have miniature horizontal/vertical cracks, wobbling and swaying can happen. Check on these lines too.
	() Thanks

21st April 2011, 20:36	#11
HighOctane BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 385 Thanked: 194 Times	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem Dear Wind Splitter, Please let us know, if the issue got rectified, so that, we would get to know, what was the real problem.
	() Thanks

25th April 2011, 14:44	#12
Wind splitter BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 131 Thanked: 9 Times	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem All, I tried calling the Hero Honda zonal office numbers but numbers do not exist any more, will be writing a mail to them shortly. Bike's problem is still existing, thanks for all your concerns.
	() Thanks

25th April 2011, 19:00	#13
v.anand BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 331 Thanked: 47 Times	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem ^^Did you try Nikki motors? What did the service engineer had to say? For my bike, everything was tried out like change of rear shocks, tightening of engine to the frame, refilling the oil in the front shocks and finally changing the cone set which resolved the issue.
	() Thanks

1st May 2011, 09:57	#15
Wind splitter BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 131 Thanked: 9 Times	re: Motorcycle: Swaying Problem Yesterday I went back to Sai Motors and spoke to service manager once again and asked him to test drive my bike, as he rode my bike for a while my bike never showed the symptoms of swaying, I asked him to ride it little bit faster over not so good roads, finally when we were about to get back it finally start to sway while the service manager was still riding the bike and that is when he agreed that bike has the problem. When I asked him what could be wrong he said he will have to dismantle the front fork assembly and will have to check and said that he is suspecting the issue with cone set. He asked me to leave the bike at the service center on Monday morning for the repair. I will be leaving the bike to service center on Monday morning and hope this time bike comes out clean without any problems hanging on to it. Will keep you guys posted.
	() Thanks