Free Play in Sachs Forks?
 

I've got a 2010 300 with about 20 hours on it. I had the bike up on the stand and noticed I have a very noticeable amount of free play between my sliders and upper tubes. At first I thought my steering head bearings were loose. They are tight, as well as my front wheel bearings.

Is this normal? I checked my Husky with Zooks and they are tight, no play and that bike has a ton more hours. I have never noticed this on any other bike I can remember.

Crickets? No one? So I've got the only one?

I can't believe I've got worn out bushings with this few of hours.

I ran Sachs forks all last year and noticed play in the front end at the end of the season, but most of it was related to the steering head loosening up.

Some grease and a re-torque later they were fine.

It's not the steering head bearings. I'm really beginning to hate these Sachs forks. So far they have cost several people lots of money, including yourself and have been a general pain in the butt.

I'm going on a two day ride this weekend. We'll see if they stay on the bike.

Zoke Shivers can feel loose too. Mine do and so do my brother's Husky Zokes. Better loose than too tight, as there is room for flex. Anodizing gets trashed in the clamp area that way.

I wouldn't sweat it. If the oil is not black muck your fine.

The WPs on my '03 have always felt loose when on the stand. They have quite a few miles on them and the internal coating is still fine. Oh, and they've never fallen off.:D

The WP's on my KTM have a bit of this play as well. It's very noticeable, too. I was told it was normal, but when I first felt it I sure thought it was worn bushings. It wasn't and after years on them I've never had any problems. I'm picking up a new Sachs-equipped 300 soon, so it will be interesting to see if it has the play as well. The suspension gurus I've been talking to actually prefer the Sachs units over the Zoke/Ohlins units they are using.

Hi,
first post from new member on gasgas rider
Have an EC300 -10 (mine) and an EC200-10 (girlfriends) in the garage, both with +100 hours.

Checked both for freeplay but could not find any. They felt as good as when they were broken in.

Sachs have caused me no problems, all new forks I have tried (Showa,WP, Zoke) has needed some initial rework
to get tuned to personal riding style etc.

I put in a 100 miles of rocky single track this weekend and the forks didn't fall off the bike, so I guess I'll just ignore the free play. After going through a revalve ordeal, I'm glad to say the harshness in the rocks is gone. Now I just have to try some more open faster stuff and see if they blow through the stroke or not.

Some forks will have a bit of play(or more play) in them at full extension but tighten up during compression.
Since your bike is new...I'd rule out worn bearings.
As for the harshness...there's a lot of threads on this issue and a respring / revalve is the only real fix and makes a world of difference in the GG's ride.
Check out LTR.