randomdude
New Member
Greetings to all of you from the other side of the big pond, non-native English speaker here so, pls, bear with me O : )
I don't know where to put this thread as I have no clue where the problem comes from so moderators pls feel free to move it to where it belongs.
I got an '11 EU model with only 12k miles on the clock, it's been sitting for the most of it's life in someone's garage and I'm sure most of you've heard that before, this is the best bike I've ever owned, by far. Train-like stability, fully loaded on the highway, more than happy on the tight twisties, even capable of tagging along with the gnarly KTM dudes in most terrains(if they dont mind waiting, that is). However for the last few months I've been chasing an issue that takes away IMO one of the bike's best attributes, stability at low speed.
So a few words to describe the issue which is very strange to me: It's about some high frequency vibration/shake that occurs accurately everytime at walking speeds, from 0 to 6m/h when I take off or vice versa when coming to a stop. It can be felt through the seat & pegs but it also gets transferred to the front end making the screen/instrument cluster violently shake sideways. Strangely, it cannot be felt so much on the bars.. When I go past exactly 6m/h everything magically smoothens out?! It's really annoying and my OCD doesn't help either, as it knocks me off my balance when I try to ride through tight spots, parking lott maneuvers or practising low speed drills. It happens even while on neutral or with the motor shutt off so I guess that excludes anything engine/transmission related..
I'm not so mechanically inclined but so far I have ruled out:
* steering head/wheel bearings at that milleage as there's no free play whatsoever and pls correct me if I'm wrong but I think usually bearing related issues are felt at higher speeds?
* tires/rims, as the problem started with a pair of Anakee 3's that the bike came with, then I swapped to MotoZ tractionator GPS hoping that the old ones where cupped but ..nope, issue still there. I have also checked the rims for dents etc but nothing to be seen. Plus, if that was the issue , I think again, I would've felt the vibrations at higher speeds, right? It now vibrates left-right multiple times in a single rotation of the wheel. Spokes are doublechecked, all tight.
* Suspensions/COG as I cranked the shock all the way up, removed the top box but still the same..
* rotors. The vibration occurs without using the brakes (however the new front pads are dragging a bit too much on the disks, i noticed)
I think the problem started somewhere during the same period when I let the farkling begin together with the following mods, that I'll mention just in case it helps:
Fork/shock Hyperpro spring kit made for the S10 + thicker fork oil recommended by HP.
Steel braided lines for brakes/clutch + new pads
Adding weight by the huge Hepco & Becker sump guard, Altrider crash bars, upper & lower, bark busters, fender extender and m.m
Two different mechanics have rested their cases so far on this, telling me that it will basicaly cost too much if they start blindly pulling out/replacing parts on a low mileage bike like this, so I thought of giving it a shot here in this awesome forum.
I apologize for writing this enormous text, any input/direction would be *greatly* appreciated, thanks in advance
proud to be a member of this great community
Cheers
/Panos
I don't know where to put this thread as I have no clue where the problem comes from so moderators pls feel free to move it to where it belongs.
I got an '11 EU model with only 12k miles on the clock, it's been sitting for the most of it's life in someone's garage and I'm sure most of you've heard that before, this is the best bike I've ever owned, by far. Train-like stability, fully loaded on the highway, more than happy on the tight twisties, even capable of tagging along with the gnarly KTM dudes in most terrains(if they dont mind waiting, that is). However for the last few months I've been chasing an issue that takes away IMO one of the bike's best attributes, stability at low speed.
So a few words to describe the issue which is very strange to me: It's about some high frequency vibration/shake that occurs accurately everytime at walking speeds, from 0 to 6m/h when I take off or vice versa when coming to a stop. It can be felt through the seat & pegs but it also gets transferred to the front end making the screen/instrument cluster violently shake sideways. Strangely, it cannot be felt so much on the bars.. When I go past exactly 6m/h everything magically smoothens out?! It's really annoying and my OCD doesn't help either, as it knocks me off my balance when I try to ride through tight spots, parking lott maneuvers or practising low speed drills. It happens even while on neutral or with the motor shutt off so I guess that excludes anything engine/transmission related..
I'm not so mechanically inclined but so far I have ruled out:
* steering head/wheel bearings at that milleage as there's no free play whatsoever and pls correct me if I'm wrong but I think usually bearing related issues are felt at higher speeds?
* tires/rims, as the problem started with a pair of Anakee 3's that the bike came with, then I swapped to MotoZ tractionator GPS hoping that the old ones where cupped but ..nope, issue still there. I have also checked the rims for dents etc but nothing to be seen. Plus, if that was the issue , I think again, I would've felt the vibrations at higher speeds, right? It now vibrates left-right multiple times in a single rotation of the wheel. Spokes are doublechecked, all tight.
* Suspensions/COG as I cranked the shock all the way up, removed the top box but still the same..
* rotors. The vibration occurs without using the brakes (however the new front pads are dragging a bit too much on the disks, i noticed)
I think the problem started somewhere during the same period when I let the farkling begin together with the following mods, that I'll mention just in case it helps:
Fork/shock Hyperpro spring kit made for the S10 + thicker fork oil recommended by HP.
Steel braided lines for brakes/clutch + new pads
Adding weight by the huge Hepco & Becker sump guard, Altrider crash bars, upper & lower, bark busters, fender extender and m.m
Two different mechanics have rested their cases so far on this, telling me that it will basicaly cost too much if they start blindly pulling out/replacing parts on a low mileage bike like this, so I thought of giving it a shot here in this awesome forum.
I apologize for writing this enormous text, any input/direction would be *greatly* appreciated, thanks in advance
proud to be a member of this great community
Cheers
/Panos