When I ride my motorcycle, I get a clunking noise from the front end when going slow over bumps and i get a little shake when braking hard. My bike has been lowered 1 1/2 inches. Is this a cause of my suspension or effects of lowering it or some sort of front end bearing? The bike even gets a little bumpy over just patched cracks in the road.
That's more than likely the stem bearings. Lift the front end off the ground and grab the fork tubes and see if there is any play. There should be no play.
Too late, the bearings need replacing, tightening them will not help. And it is dangerous and will not get any better you need to get them replaced quickly. First you need to identify which bearing it is – could be the bearings in the front wheel or the steering stem. Certainly the suspension changes might exacerbate the feeling but it is not the cause, do you practice wheelies – landing them heavily can damage bearings very quickly.
Loose steering head bearings are quite common, so if you think they might be loose, they probably are. You can find out easily enough by adjusting them.
