Head Shake

[Northman]

Congrats, now ride the bitch!

[The XXorcist]

I plan on it, suppose to be like 55 here tomorrow, and I get the joy of working all day long :cry:

[Involute]

Well, I just rode with my new Avons and now have the dreaded head shake. Not bad (yet) but let go of the bars at 50MPH or so and viola. Just took off a Pilot Road with 6500 miles on it and did not have this problem. No problem with the D220 front either. Do you guys think that the huge staggered rain groove could be the culprit? I'm going to check all the obvious stuff tonight. The shop tells me they took extra care when balancing the tires because I asked then to do so. I also notice a very slight wobble feeling in the bars when slowly taking off from a stop for the first few feet. this is why I'm wondering about the tread pattern. The bike feels fine at all speeds other than walking speed and 50 MPH while decelaerating with hands off the bars. I can't image the head bearings suddenly causing this problem unless the tread pattern somehow helps loose bearings become evident.

[The Krypt Keeper]

My problem was fixed with yanking the weights off, and have to stupid ass grease monkey rebalance them..

I marked the weights and he had them placed over an inch off from the first balance :roll:

[Involute]

Yea, hopefully it's just a matter of taking the tire off (again :banghead: ) and getting it re-balanced.

edit: I just got off the phone with the Avon customer service guy. He teLls me to run the tires through 4 more heat cycles to see if they get better. He tells me that the way they store tires now is causing then to deform and it takes a little time for them to reach the proper shape. I think he's full of shit but I can't warranty the tire unless I do as they say. I'm going to check everything out tonight except the balance and see if the rear wheel is not aligned right or something.

Anyway, he also tells me that the "B" tire is specifically designed for heavier high powered bikes like ours and the Busa. He states there will be a "B" on the tire kind of off on it's own to the right of the size data. Mine are not "B" tires it seems. They are all z rated and he states that the non "B" versions really shouldn't be a problem on the XX.

[Northman]

Check your head bearings.

I haven't had any kind of wobble on decel since I replaced mine with tapered ones. My stockers (with 12K on them) were surprisingly loose.

[Involute]

Check your head bearings.

I haven't had any kind of wobble on decel since I replaced mine with tapered ones. My stockers (with 12K on them) were surprisingly loose.

Thats probably next on the list. I tried to feel for play with the front tire off the ground and it all feels like it did when I bought it. It seems like too much of a coincidence that I notice it right after a new tire is put on. I've got it off now. I'm going to be at a different dealer tomorrow as the doors open to have the "perfect balance" checked and redone if needed. I already verified the rear wheel was aligned properly and loosened up the front wheel and put it back to spec. I also did a quick check for the wheel and tire runnout. It all looks good. I'm starting to panic a little as I have a 2 day ride scheduled for next weekend.

Does the top clamp really need to be off the bike to snug up the head bearings or can I just slide it all up a bit to get to the locknuts and stuff? Do I really need to take off the tire? I did this numerous times on other bikes and it was not as complicated as the XX Service Manual makes it.

[Northman]

You can remove the top triple easy enough. Once you remove the clip-ons, just loosen the upper fork pinch bolts, and remove the center nut. It slides right off, and the locknuts are directly under it.

You could probably do the whole job in about half an hour with the proper tools.

Keep the front wheel off the ground, so you can feel the freeplay, or tension on the bearings.

You should have a bit of drag on them when you're done, but mine were barely finger tight. You'll probably find the same thing.

[Involute]

I just went out and played with it while the wheel was off. My fucking bearings are notched. There is still no noticable slop while jerking the fork tubes around but there is definatley less drag when they are centered. Where did you guys find the tapered ones? Any idea how much it will cost me to have them replaced? I don't see the sense in buying the Honda tools to do it myself.

Why the fuck didn't this make itself apparent with the other tires I used? I'm always letting go of the bars while decellerating to check for this shit. Never a shake until now. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[XX4me]

Little bit of a deceleration wobble here to with the Avons.

Don't notice any acceleration problems.

Bike has 2000 miles so I doubt the bearings have anything to do with it.

[Involute]

Little bit of a deceleration wobble here to with the Avons.

Don't notice any acceleration problems.  

Bike has 2000 miles so I doubt the bearings have anything to do with it.

Your front end never touches the ground anyway ya asshole.

[Involute]

Hey, look at me, I'm a post whore!

I ordered the tapered bearings from Dennis Kirk. I'll try to do them myself I think. Other threads make it seem like even I could do it. I'm not going to bother getting the wheel balanced verified. Looking at other threads I get the impression that the Avons are prone to causing a wobble unless everything is perfect. I know now that I've got a bearing issue so I'll change them out in a couple of weeks.

Do any of you think this is worth cancelling my 700 mile weekend? I think it's more of a mental thing with me now. I know there is a problem and it drives me nuts, but I don't think it's a safety issue yet. I'm a little sick when it comes to my computer and my bike. If they are not working perfectly I can't sleep at night. Kind of like DBLXX if his bike is dirty.

[Redbird]

Do any of you think this is worth cancelling my 700 mile weekend?

No, you should man up and make it at least 1500. you've just been spoiled by the XX's trademark stability, a little wobble here and there is something most guys just come to expect.

Seriously, I wouldn't cancel any trips over it, really.

[Involute]

Thanks guys. I'll ride her like the whore she is.

[Pete in PA]

Mine are still slightly notched, was going to upgrade to tapred over the winter but didn't. I don't get the bar wobble untill my tires are worn out.

With the old Avons I had it, with the new Z6's none.

On the subject of balancing I static balanced myself, no shaking up to 160MPH so far. :grin:

I'm theorizing here so help me out. I'm thinking if a front tire is out of balance it still won't cause a left to right shakeing Just a up and down shake.

I've seen cars on the hiway with tires so out of balance that they were leaveing the pavement from bouncing. :shock: But yet that shouldn't cause a left and right shake.

If I would get a front end vibration I would think balanceing. If I get the handlebar left, right shake I think steering bearings, allignment, tires, etc.

Opinions please.

[86gn]

I had a slight wobble on decel when I put the Avons on. Also had some funny sensations thru the bars and a vibration. I balanced the tire to no avail. Finally the light bulb came on to check the roundness of the front tire....it was out of round. It would balance fine but it had a section 6"-8" long that was 2-4mm off from the rest of the tire. After another new "round" Avon I have no problems now.

[Mykl]

Yea, hopefully it's just a matter of taking the tire off (again  :banghead: ) and getting it re-balanced.

edit:  I just got off the phone with the Avon customer service guy.  He teLls me to run the tires through 4 more heat cycles to see if they get better.  He tells me that the way they store tires now is causing then to deform and it takes a little time for them to reach the proper shape.  I think he's full of shit but I can't warranty the tire unless I do as they say.  I'm going to check everything out tonight except the balance and see if the rear wheel is not aligned right or something.

Anyway, he also tells me that the "B" tire is specifically designed for heavier high powered bikes like ours and the Busa.  He states there will be a "B" on the tire kind of off on it's own to the right of the size data.  Mine are not "B" tires it seems.  They are all z rated and he states that the non "B" versions really shouldn't be a problem on the XX.

I think that's what happened in my case. When I got my XX back from getting my A45/A46 combo installed it had this horrid weave/wobble at 70+ mph. Took the bike back to the shop and they said my wheel was bent? By that time I've got two heat cycles in them.

I did a quick chain alignment check, no strings, make a couple of small adjustments and go for a ride... felt fine. Went out again the next day and the problem shows back up but only at over 120 mph. So that was four good heat cycles. Bike is parked for a week because I'm in Illinois visiting family...

...got back from Illinois and break the strings out for a proper alignment. Wheels were aligned *almost* perfectly. It was maybe 1mm off, so I didn't mess with the adjusters... that 1mm was probably the strings being off ever so slightly or my eyes or whatever.

Gear up and go for a ride... straight as a fucking arrow. Spent eight hours on her the next day and she performed flawlessly. So yeah, I think there's a *lot* of truth to what the customer rep told you. I made no significant changes to the bike and it went from feeling like it wanted to go into a tank slapper just from getting hit by a strong gust of wind... to riding like a dream.

[speedygeezer]

Very interesting.......excellent research. Need to file that one away where it won't get lost. tks. :cheers: You copy that, Joe? Might oughta list that on the Garage forum.... :pointup: