was out riding last week when i heard my mate shouting of me to stop.

when i went back to him he told me his handle bars had locked up and wouldnt turn.

i sat on the bike and tried turning the bars and they were so stiff they only moved a fraction and because we were quite far away from the van my mate got in a bad mood and give a good kick to the front wheel and it fixed it but it happened twice more on our way back and the only fix being a good kick to the front.

can anyone help us out with this and tell us what is wrong.

thanks.

Could be headset bearings breaking up.

:agree: could be something also to do with light console removal aswell.

When did he grease the headstock last?

If none of the wiring or cables are fouling then it's almost certainly the head stock bearings.

If they've got that bad they are scrap, so don't even think of regreasing them, just fit a new set. Remember when you fit the new ones to grease them before assembly and don't overtighten them.

saw a gas gas yesterday (new years day) on the dartmoor trial

the whole front end fell off,looked like the stearer tube had broken in half.

is this common? i know a few years back they had frame probs,??????

I used to find with mine that sometimes the front mudguard would slip over the top of the front exhaust pipe when the forks were fully compressed which caused the steering to lock until you untangled things. This seemed to happen on lots of bikes before the pro came out. Raising the mudguard as you do when it gets muddy increases the problem so i'd check that before you go striping things out.

Edited January 2, 200719 yr by Blocky

nah its definatley not the mudguard.

and nigel as far as i know he has never greased the headstock.

maybe he should start and should prob check the bearings sounds like what it will be.

saw a gas gas yesterday (new years day) on the dartmoor trial

the whole front end fell off,looked like the stearer tube had broken in half.

is this common? i know a few years back they had frame probs,??????

I think that was Adam Raga's after a failed 50ft step up. Or was it a Montesa??

saw a gas gas yesterday (new years day) on the dartmoor trial

the whole front end fell off,looked like the stearer tube had broken in half.

is this common? i know a few years back they had frame probs,??????

didnt see that good trial but tough especially after only 3 1/2 hours sleep. what route was you on?

j@mes hi

i ride the clubman rout,that was quite hard enough.

poor old experts,looked like they where pretty beat up by some of those bolders.

saw a fair few loop outs,what rout you on???

clubman expert missed out on 3rd place by 1 point last year on the clubman route so thought it was time to move up. It was probably my bike your saw looping i think i left half the alloy on some of those granite rocks.