I think this has been discussed before but I don't remember the details. My 14 makes a definite "clunk" over railroad tracks and when dropping off a low curb. It's always done it and doesn't seem to get any worse or hurt anything so I've just ignored it, I just figured the front fork was topping out. I noticed yesterday my new 6R does the same thing over railroad tracks but my CBR does not. It may just be a Kawasaki thing. I haven't noticed the 10 doing it but will check tonight.

Same here. CLUNK! Sounds like it reverberates a bit in the front fender. I believe the sound became a lot less common after stiffening up the front suspension settings. That was one of my first wrenching projects back in 08. I rarely hear it any more. It probably is the forks tapping bottom. You could adjust the front. Make sure you note where the settings were before adjusting. Also, if you touch the front, that will more than likely throw the back out of whack as far as sag height. I'm investigating that on my 14 now. Seems to ride great but I have scraped exhaust in cornering, as you know.

Only once did my forks clunk.
That happened at about 10 MPH when I rolled over a hole (and into it) on a dirt road.
Since I weigh only 117# there's not much weight on my 14.

This does not happen at speed, at least I can't hear it. It's only at very low speed, when crossing rail road tracks or dropping off a 2 or 3 inch curb on the sidewalk at about 2 mph It's definitely not bottoming out, could be topping out but jerking up on the front end doesn't replicate it. I've heard reports it could be coming from float in the front brake caliper or loose steering head bearings. The 6R has only a thousand miles, doesn't make sense they would loosen up that quick, I'll have to investigate this.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 8/9/2010 @ 12:35 PM *

Could it be that at very low speed impacts there is not enough hydraulic fluid force generated to properly actuate the hydraulic valving mechanisms inside the forks?

1000 miles on a new bike is insufficient milage to cause out-of-spec wear or looseness of properly manufactured and fastened/torqued components.

* Last updated by: DZINURZZ on 8/9/2010 @ 12:54 PM *

That's what I'm thinking, I don't expect these kinds of issues with a two month old machine.

I don't think yer bike's got anything wrong going on.My 14 WILL reverberate a tad going over cattle crossing deals.Like Rook said...in the frontal area...the fender it sounds like.I KNOW she's not bottoming.I wouldn't worry as long as you've inspected the triple clamps and such.Maybe a fender screw loosened up?

The brake caliper float, I believe is the tiny click you hear when you roll your 14 backward an inch. Roll it forward and it goes back into position. I doubt you would hear that with the bike running.

Hub recomended this to me back in 08. Look for a dust film on the shock tube. That will clearly show how much travel you are using. The polished steel (I think it's like and anodized black surface on the ZX-6 very pretty) will collect dust but that gets wiped away as the tube pushes into the fork. I would say if it looks like you are using a lot of travel, you need to tighten up on that suspension.

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/9/2010 @ 2:25 PM *

Rook: The brake caliper float, I believe is the tiny click you hear when you roll your 14 backward an inch. Roll it forward and it goes back into position. I doubt you would hear that with the bike running.

On the "other site" we discussed that click. As I recall, (it's a vague recollection) there was some discussion about the front caliper pads being spring-loaded to keep them in the forward position. When the 14 is rolled rearward and the front brakes applied, the pads move slightly rearward as they grip the backward rotating disc. When the front brake is released, the pad springs move the pads forward until they hit their stopping point. When they hit the stopping point we hear the click.

EDIT: This morning I checked the front pad click. I pushed a pad downward and felt the pad spring pushing it back.
I released the pad and the pad spring pushed it up . When the pad hit its stopping point it made the clicking sound.

* Last updated by: DZINURZZ on 8/10/2010 @ 7:45 AM *

Kruz: I think this has been discussed before but I don't remember the details. My 14 makes a definite "clunk" over railroad tracks and when dropping off a low curb. It's always done it and doesn't seem to get any worse or hurt anything so I've just ignored it, I just figured the front fork was topping out. I noticed yesterday my new 6R does the same thing over railroad tracks but my CBR does not. It may just be a Kawasaki thing. I haven't noticed the 10 doing it but will check tonight.

FWIW: The one time I experienced the clunk as described, my distinct impression was that the forks had indeed bottomed out and that the clunk was caused by internal, bottoming-out contact; it sounded like the clunk came from the fork guts.

Last season my ZX14 did the same thing. Over the winter and through the woods, I also changed the rebound and compression damping settings per the video posted elsewhere in these forums.

Since doing that, no clunking, and much better manners over bridges, tracks, and the like.

I'll zip-tie one of the front fork legs and see how much travel I'm using. If I'm bottoming over a railroad track at 2 miles per hour this thing either has no compression damping or I need to lay off the cream filled doughnuts.

noticed yesterday my new 6R does the same thing over railroad tracks

forget about the donuts----just don't come down hard out of a wheelie until you get it figured out. The 14 comes down so gently out of a wheelie if you let up on the gas just a bit. Still, gotta have that suspension stiff enough and def make sure the fork clamps are torqued properly. (mine were torqued incorrectly)

I'm beginning to think it's just a case of chain slap on the swingarm. The 6R especially has a large, hollow swingarm with thin walls that acts as a sound chamber and amplifies any noise. When I go off a curb or over railroad tracks I back off the throttle, top chain run goes slack and when you hit a bump....thack...the chain slaps against the chain gaurd. On the gas, I can hit big bumps at speed and no sound, top chain run is under tension.