One of my son's racing buddies is having a nightmare time with his 04 RMZ-250. I figured I'd prod some of the experts here to see if I can come up with something to help him as the kid is ready to quit racing because this bike is treating him so bad.
The rider is a 123 lb. MX'er not an expert but an accomplished racer with several years experience on 80's before this bike. The bike suffered from severe headshake from day 1, his Dad has had the suspension revalved twice now, sprung appropriately (forgot to ask him the spring rates) and the bike is still trying to kill this kid. The last detail that likely leads us to the problem is fork sticition or binding. With the forks off the bike they are soft as can be and move fluidly, put them on the bike and they barely budge if you grab the front brake and try to compress the forks. Near as I can tell Dad is putting everything together correctly and not over tightening the pinch bolts. It has to be something tweaked or something in the assembly process causing this problem since the forks move well when off the bike. Any ideas where to start?
The rider is a 123 lb. MX'er not an expert but an accomplished racer with several years experience on 80's before this bike. The bike suffered from severe headshake from day 1, his Dad has had the suspension revalved twice now, sprung appropriately (forgot to ask him the spring rates) and the bike is still trying to kill this kid. The last detail that likely leads us to the problem is fork sticition or binding. With the forks off the bike they are soft as can be and move fluidly, put them on the bike and they barely budge if you grab the front brake and try to compress the forks. Near as I can tell Dad is putting everything together correctly and not over tightening the pinch bolts. It has to be something tweaked or something in the assembly process causing this problem since the forks move well when off the bike. Any ideas where to start?