Stiffness of the spring is not a possibility. Check whether excess oil is filled.

I presume you've replaced fork oil once and going to do it soon in the near future.

Can you please let us know DIY steps..

- tools required
- replaceable parts (oil, seal etc with price)
- steps
- precautions to be taken

My ODO is @11000 kms; during last service I asked SVC if fork oil needs to be replaced(Owner's manual says so); response was a NO!
same was the response when I asked them to replace spark plug during previous service when my ODO was @8000 kms.

Interesting point: manual recommends Engine Oil (presuming mineral Oil) change every 4000 kms; we've noticed that changing it every 2500 kms is beneficial. In that case Suzuki is optimistic and has confidence in Engine/Oil. SVC technical staff are over optimistic or indifferent?

I'll be shifting to my hometown within a week; have to gather necessary tools..

SVC in question: Can't visit others as they're far from my location and I'm bit lazy to try other SVCs right now.

Value Suzuki
Yelahanka
Bengaluru

ThankS alot you ALL for replying... i will check it again....

@ all: On a probably related note, I had the fork nut (the single nut above the steering bearings...is that what you call it?) tightened today to address some general handling and cornering instability problems. The bike's handling initially seemed better than what it was before (it used to be very easy to turn but used to oversteer during corners....which I had earlier thought as lack of grip in the tires or loss of synch between the suspensions). Note that this is not factory setting. This was after my accident 2 months back and after the fork bend removal and reassembly. Factory setting was beautiful....how I wish I can get it back!

Back to my story....Though it initially seemed to handle better, as I put it through some tough turns, its showed its true colours. It unstable now, its very quick to react, gives too much feedback and the handlebar swings at all sides with its own mind. Sometimes, on bad surfaces, it threatened to throw me off the bike too. I noticed one thing the most.....the front suspension's rate of rebound seems to have increased a bit and this quick response to bumps coupled with an easy turnability of the handle is making my bike unstable.

But at the same time, the front feels more manouverable, with less effort required for a turn and manages to hold a line while cornering......its just that it doesnt handle anything other than smooth roads very well. I almost fishtailed off my bike, like some of those isle of mann TT jumps, at one point going above some road undulations and unevenness. I know it sounds like a contradiction but this is the best I can describe it for now....hope it makes some sense.

Anyway, what Im trying to say is: this is what is observed on my bike when the fork nut is tightened. If anyone is willing, they can try out tightening and loosening the nut to see what difference it makes. Size 28 spanner needed. I would have tried it myself if I had that spanner with me. I'll go buy one ASAP.

Until then, if anyone can shed some light on this matter, its highly appreciated. If someone can post the factory setting\number of turns\torque for the nut, even more appreciated. If soemone can let us know whats the best combination for fork oil level and nut torque, then its most appreciated. Regardless and nevertheless, I will post results of my attempts to correct my suspension in a few days.

BTW, my mechanic said that he had filled in a bit more oil than recommended. I remember him saying that he had filled in some 5cc extra...I wonder how much of a difference this makes. Definitely the suspension is a bit harder but I always thought that was a good thing.

One more thing......how can I make my handle bar swing less? Now its too easy to turn. I want it to stay in position without flopping to the sides. How can I get to do this?

Exactly the case with me....

my bike is 2 months old...
i heard about this Teflon coat that protects the bike from scratches...
is this really useful???
if yes where can i get it done???

also are there any good service centres in thane...
coz i had been to panvel service centre and i didnt find their work good enough.

It is not as easy as changing the engine oil. So get it replaced at the SC in every 12-15 K kms or, if necessary, earlier.

Next time,make sure that “change fork oil” is written in the work sheet either as part of servicing or as a repairing work.

It is the engineers designing the bike’s engine deciding the viscosity rating of the oil to be used and interval of changing. But most of us including me are changing it very earlier. Whether it is beneficial or not is to be discussed. One thing is sure: the oil company and the oil dealer is making benefit out of this frequent oil changing.

That polish contains no Teflon. It is as good as any other polish but the SC is charging about Rs. 400-450 for it. They are using a buffer machine to get good shining finish and it does not protect the bike from scratches.
Buy a good car shampoo and carnauba based wax polish and wash and polish the bike yourself. Many reputed brands like Armor All, Formula 1 (do not buy Formula 1 USA), Turtle, Meguiar’s, 3M (not the Indian duplicate), Collinite 845 etc are available in the market.

thank you @punarvasu

I am from Airoli, Navi Mumbai and currently living in Lonavala.
I want to join you for your rides....how can i get along????

I heard the panvel guys are far more better than the thane guys....for thane I went to Shri sai Suzuki svc.....they worked pretty good....and were understanding....

You can follow the Mumbai or pune offline thread and accordingly meet if any one is planning to ride somewhere....or also this one if its only a GS ride....
Meeting point in lonavala is usually RK's......go there on Sunday morning and you might bump in few biker buddies.....also fill in the details in the ice sheet on first page of Mumbai offline thread....that's for our convinience if in case any thing happens to you.....


Ride safe...

dont worry i m in the same bandwagon as u.... i hav all the symtoms u have mentioned in my bike toooo after the fall... only difference is i got the front spring rebound problem after i changed my fork oil @ 10K... the stupid SVC didnt know how much fork oil should go in the fork he said that since the fork is fatter than the slingshot it will be approx 10cc more than slingshot.... i had no option since i myself didnt know neither is anything is mentioned in the manual.... the first time he replaced the fork oil the front end was suuper soft ie if i brake a little the bike would dive dangerously..... went again n he warned me that if we overfill it it might leak.... second topup made it ok... but after some days it went back to the same supersoft no leaks observed..... i told him to top up again since i was not happy with the front end since the bike front end didnt give me any confidence while turning.... again 15cc was filled in both forks n this time the shocks were race speced hard.... but better under braking... after few days the shocks were behaving normally as when i had got my GS as new so i was happy.... but even now i dont know how much amount of fork oil is recommended for our bike
did tappet adjustment for the first time last month again those stupid pro SVC guys didnt get the clearance proper (ie they checked the play between the tappets instead of measuring the gap with feeler gauges) took the bike instantly felt a difference in the engine behavior n engine started getting hot(which has never occurred in the hottests summer of mumbai) took to the SVC n told them to check with feeler gauges in front of me.... those stupid pro SVC mechs hav now kept the clearance at 0.07mm on both the valves... engine is going gud no probs... but researched on the net n found out that exhaust valve clearance should be more than inlet valve.... read the whole manual but couldnt find anything in it.... I dont understand why suzuki is doing this ???? first crappy SVCs all over mumbai
n then they dont even provide necessary info to maintain their bikes m really pissed of with their attitudes towards customers
Can anyone please tell me what tappet clearances are to be maintained on both the valves will appreciate it....

Chal nadeem let's go together and kick them...any ways...the difference should be of .01 between the inlet and outlet valves....
I will be going to sahil for that....he stays in dombivali....just call me when you will be free....

I read up a bit on stem nut\steering stem adjustment and apparently, you need to do more work than just torqueing the stem top nut to get to it. Sorry for the earlier misleading info.

Has anyone seen any work being done on this adjustment on our bikes? Can anyone describe it? This is the setting causing my handlebars to flop about.

I cant believe how careless these SC mechs can get, screwing up a setting thats as important to handling as this.

Guyz from bangalore, long back there was discussion about meet up. How about a meet up this weekend? may be a ride to nandi or anywhere??