Five tips to improve the handling of your vintage motorbike

Five tips to improve the handling of your vintage motorbike

Five tips to improve the handling of your vintage motorbike

Some worn parts can take the fun out of riding an old motorcycle, but a little time in the garage can solve the problem. We work from the ground up to cover some improvements you can make to a classic motorcycle to make it look like new again.

Wheels and tires

I often see quite a few vintage bikes out there wearing rock hard, dry rotted and cracked tires. Replacing them with new tires is the simplest and biggest improvement you can make to improve the ride quality and handling of your old motorcycle. There are plenty of vintage-style tires available to match the look or performance you're looking for, and most importantly, they're available in the correct size for your bike. 

Many vintage motorcycles have spoked wheels, which means they can usually be re-tensioned and straightened (straightened) if they wobble. 

If your rims have seen too many potholes or have rusty spokes, you can replace them yourself and have perfectly round and straight wheels, just like when they rolled off the showroom floor decades ago.

Replacing your old wheel bearings with a new set of sealed bearings is a relatively easy job that will not only allow the bike to roll nice and smoothly, but will also eliminate any lateral looseness from the hub caused by worn ball bearings and races. A small fraction of an inch of play in the bearing can easily mean a much larger tire wobble. New bearings are a big improvement in the way a bike handles

Front suspension

Start by checking the play in the fork sliders. This is easier to do if you have the front wheel off, allowing you to feel each independently. Many forks come with replaceable bushings to ensure that the forks lower and the sliders move up and down smoothly, without looseness. Once the front wheel is removed, it is usually only one slider bolt that separates them from the fork legs. This is a great way to ensure your shock rods move freely and don't rust. This is also a great time to replace your fork seals and wipers.

With the fork legs remaining in the triple clamps and the sliders removed, place a straight edge on all sides of the fork legs to ensure they are not bent. If you don't have a straightedge, you can simply remove each tube from the triple clamps and roll them onto a flat surface. This is a surefire way to spot a bent fork tube. 

If you find that you have no reason to disassemble the fork, at least change the fork oil. With older style shock rod forks, you can experiment with different weights of fork oil to change the response of the fork. Heavier oil equals more damping, while lighter oil reduces damping. I recommend going just a degree or two in either direction from what your manual recommends for best results. 

For people pushing the limits on their old bike, a great improvement for your front fork is a Race Tech gold valve cartridge emulator. They are available for many different models and make your fork perform like a modern cartridge fork while maintaining the look and originality of the stock fork.

Rear suspension

Twin rear shocks commonly found on older motorcycles are easy to inspect and replace. Make sure there is no play in the top and bottom eyelets where they mount to the bike by lifting the rear of the bike and moving them. A little movement is fine, since they may have rubber bushings, but if there is noticeable noise, it's time for new bushings. Also, check for leaks and pitted shock shafts. Rear shocks are filled with oil from the factory to provide damping and are usually neglected for the life of the bike. If you remove them and give them a quick bounce with your hands against the ground and they get stuck or spring back too quickly, it's time to replace them.

There are many replacement shock absorbers available for a variety of motorcycles and in many different lengths. You can upgrade to better ones that feature more preload adjustment and adjustable damping, which will definitely improve the ride quality of your vintage bike.

Chassis

Steering head bearings are another often overlooked service item when dealing with older motorcycles. This causes the bike to want to self-center the fork while riding, since the ball bearings have usually made indentations in the cups. This definitely makes the bike feel strange to ride. Luckily, replacement bearings and races are easy to find for most older motorcycles. 

A popular upgrade is to switch from ball bearings to tapered roller bearings. These bearings spread the load over a larger surface area, which prevents them from creating those indentations I mentioned earlier. 

Add swingarm bearings or bushings to the list of often overlooked maintenance items. When these elements are neglected, excessive play is created between the swingarm and frame. This causes the rear wheel to move relative to the front wheel. Definitely another “bad feeling” when it comes to riding old bikes. You can usually check this play by grabbing the top of the rear wheel and trying to move it from side to side while holding the motorcycle seat. You shouldn't hear any looseness or rattling here. 

Luckily, this is a relatively simple fix. Replacement bushings or bearings are available for most motorcycles. Sometimes you may be better off taking your swingarm to a local motorcycle shop to have them put in your new bearings and seals, but this is a relatively inexpensive way to get your old bike running properly. 

Transmission

If your vintage motorcycle is chain driven, you'll want to inspect the condition of the chain and sprockets to see if anything needs replacing. After making sure the chain and sprockets are in good condition, check the drivetrain tires. These are rubber shock absorbers typically found in the rear hub that isolate the drivetrain from the rear wheel. This serves to protect the transmission from mechanical shocks transmitted to the rear wheel by the road surface. Once these rubber shock absorbers break down, they allow the drivetrain to tilt from the acceleration and deceleration forces from the chain to the rear wheel. This excess movement makes the bike feel disconnected from the accelerator. You may also hear a pinging noise in the footpegs of worn suspension tires. 

Again, this is a relatively inexpensive and easy repair to make. Simply remove the sprocket holder and replace the old tires with new ones. This has made a big difference in the overall feel of some older bikes I've ridden. Some motorcycles have a damper drive built into the clutch or primary drive instead of the rear hub, so be sure to refer to your factory service manual to see where they are specifically located in your machine. 

The takeaway here is that old bikes tend to be worn out. This can make them feel a little unstable or unpredictable during a ride, but with a little TLC and thoughtful upgrades, your old bike can feel like new again and be much more enjoyable to ride. 

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