Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Handling Issues - I'm Thinking "Head Bearings?"....

[zhed44]

I was out on a ride tonight with a mate and although I'm usually as quick, if not actually a bit quicker than him, I wasn't able to keep up due to a severe lack of confidence in my bike (Ducati 748).

The bike kept running wide in bends, so much so that I was sometimes having to take 2 "bites" at the corner - I'd settle on a line, only to have to counter-steer quite hard halfway though the turn to avoid running out of road. It also felt like the front wheel was "stepping out" when leaned over, especially over bumps, and all in all the front end felt very vague, loose and twitchy. I also had a bit of a weave in a straight line on the motorway on the journey back home.

With open pipes on a 748 it's hard to hear any odd noises, so I stopped, switched off and held the front brake on whilst compressing the forks and there was definitely a distinct clonk/click and a general loose feeling, although it was difficult to hear exactly where it was coming from. When I was down by the fork bottoms (with my mate compressing the forks), it seemed like it was coming from that area, but when sat in the seat, it seemed like it was coming from the headstock.

The bike is going into Tecmoto for some other work in a couple of weeks, but your sage advice would be greatly appreciated as always

.....bloody flipping motorbikes .

Thanks

[skidlids]

With the weave you mention I would be looking at the Headraces as soon as possible, also check the action of the steering damper, my mate came into work with his one a few weeks ago and it was notchy, making squelching noises, bearings in its mounts were shot all in all well knackered

[mitchc]

Andy,

you've checked the obvious stuff like tyre pressures haven't you?......

[jodycraw]

When my head bearing went the bike felt really weird - going round corners it felt like the bike was going to go straight on and just fall over as I was leaning it. Coming up to traffic lights it was very difficult to steer, i had to make a big movement to get the bars moving, which made it difficult to ride slowly too....

The dealer can tell you if its the head bearing pretty easy! Just whack the front end up on a jack or something and spin the bars round - thats probably all they'll do. See if it feels rough or smooth as cashmere

[Jools]

If there is definitely a clonking from the front end you might also want to check that your wheelbearings are sound, after all, wheelbearings go a lot more often than headrace bearings unless you make a habit of badly landed wheelies. Clonks and clanks are always difficult to trace because they get transmitted through the frame.

You might also want to consider checking out the rear end. The symptoms that you describe are exactly how my bike felt on the two occasions that my rear wheel bearings were on the way out and the rear wheel was steering itself.

Oh yeah...forgot to say that when you do the 'hold front brakes on and compress forks' you get a clunky clicking noise like you describe from the brakes...they all do that sir...

[zhed44]

Originally Posted by mitchc

Andy,

you've checked the obvious stuff like tyre pressures haven't you?......

hi mitch,

i'd checked the tyres just a day or 2 before - i've just been outside and re-checked and they are at 32F and 34R stone cold. so a tiny tiny bit low, but not so much that it would ruin the handling.

another thing to add to the job list for the 12th - i'll u2u in a mo