Belated ride report

[Afast03nNJ]

I'm trying to come to gribs with the fact that both my '03 and '04 FJR's were obviously seriously defective. They both had absolutely no headshake at any speed. I guess I better fire of a letter to Yamaha.

Interesting, I must have a defective 03 as well.

It never shakes at any speed either.

 

[FantasticJohnR]

The one thing I'm glad is the new set of Avons didn't diminish the built-in 50mph decel headshake. And don't start with the "it's an Avon problem" replies, or "did you torque your stem nut". Plain and simple, FJRs shake their schnozzes when decelerating around 50mph. We've read about it time after time here in this forum. I've experienced it on an '03, my '04, a friends '04, a brand new '05 and it's being reported by '06 owners. If yours doesn't wobble around 50mph, then something is masking it, 'cause it's there, plain and simple.
Anyhow, the new skins went on at 33,488 miles. I'm gonna round that up in my memory to 33.5, an easier number to remember, so now I can shoot for 45k before needing new ones. 11.5k is a reasonable mileage to hope for based on reports of Avon owners here.

Oh, 42psi f & r if anyone wants to know.

I have also owned a 03 FJR and now have an 06. Can honestly say that I have never experienced a decel wobble.

Seems like your experience/reflections are perfect for the high mileage posts-: Yes, you can get 10 K out of your tires, you just sacrifice lots of performance and safety. Sometimes saving cents is more non-sense

I personally always seem to change my tires out at around 5 K miles. Yes, I spend more money than you high milers- but it seems like I am driving more 50% miles more miles on my bike as it should perform. :yahoo:

 

[SkooterG]

Yes, you can get 10 K out of your tires, you just sacrifice lots of performance and safety.

Excuse me? Justify that ridiculous assertion, please.

 

[Bearly Flying]

And you lost me totally with this jewel...

I personally always seem to change my tires out at around 5 K miles. Yes, I spend more money than you high milers- but it seems like I am driving more 50% miles more miles on my bike as it should perform. yahoo.gif

How do you drive a 50% mile????

 

[RadioHowie]

Thank God the spotlight is off me for a second with this one

Yes, you can get 10 K out of your tires, you just sacrifice lots of performance and safety.

Excuse me? Justify that ridiculous assertion, please.

...and this

And you lost me totally with this jewel...

I personally always seem to change my tires out at around 5 K miles. Yes, I spend more money than you high milers- but it seems like I am driving more 50% miles more miles on my bike as it should perform. yahoo.gif

How do you drive a 50% mile????

Ain't forums fun???

 

[gulag]

my 06'is in the garage. Haven't noticed any head shake at any speed. Of course, I haven't ridden it yet either. Spose that makes a difference? jus wondered.

 

[Ari Rankum]

Care to be the forum guinea pig?

Whoa! First gerbils, now guinea pigs?!? I almost don't want to mention that kangaroos are *also* in the rodent family, but I do see a dangerous trend.

Disgusting.

 

[Scab]

Disgusting.

And thus, the "head shake". We even make our bike sick.

 

[FantasticJohnR]

I was just reflecting on radio howies statement "Now I can honestly say I know now why my FJR handled like a pig on roller skates and steered like a cow. Those damn wore-ass-out tires! "

That sounds like a bike that has lost performance- or do you guys prefer a bike that handles like farm animals?

All of my riding is generally on back country twisty roads- I have fun chewing my tires up on them but also really rely on them being able to make the turns without having to call in Mr. Green Jeans to help me

 

[Bearly Flying]

BUT.... if your driving 50% miles, Your tires should last twice as long !

 

[FantasticJohnR]

BUT.... if your driving 50% miles, Your tires should last twice as long !

Yes, Don, I screwed up on the syntax on that one- you win :clapping:

But I think most knew what I meant- even though my miles were lower- by changing the tires more often I was riding with tires with higher performance per mile than those who allow themselves to ride on "squared off tires" for thousands of miles.

The counter argument is really that a worn tire is a worn tire- and if there was a accurate comparison that could be done someone like me would achieve a certain tire wear at much lower mileage than someone else who is more conservative and say does all superslab riding.

But I guess what I was trying to get at is the handful of riders that like to wear there tires all the way down to the core/with the belt showing, before changing their tires :dribble: This wins them the award for the most miles on there tires and the greatest savings of money- but is it really worth the miles and miles of riding on suboptimal tires?

Le sens commun n'est pas si commun (Common sense is not so common)

--Voltaire [Francois-Marie Arouet]

 

[Ari Rankum]

Disgusting.

And thus, the "head shake". We even make our bike sick.

Oh. Sorry. I completely misunderstood. When TWN said THE forum guinea pig, I just assumed that "head shake" was some feeble attempt at between use hygiene that was applied to the guinea pig.

So, what you're saying is...there is no between use hygiene applied to the guinea pig? That's even MORE disgusting.

 

[Fencer]

I shake my head after going to the mens room. I was told wringing it out wasn't good for blood flow

What brand of tires did you replace, Howie?

 

[RadioHowie]

I shake my head after going to the mens room. I was told wringing it out wasn't good for blood flow
What brand of tires did you replace, Howie?

Metzler on the front, Avon V46 on the rear. Those were on it when I bought the bike.

 

[twowheelnut]

Disgusting.

And thus, the "head shake". We even make our bike sick.

Oh. Sorry. I completely misunderstood. When TWN said THE forum guinea pig, I just assumed that "head shake" was some feeble attempt at between use hygiene that was applied to the guinea pig.

So, what you're saying is...there is no between use hygiene applied to the guinea pig? That's even MORE disgusting.

See, the problem is that you guys contrive this sick **** in your heads and then twist it in your oh-so-unimaginative and unoriginal ways in a feeble attempt at humor. Really, stand down and let the pros handle the funny stuff, okay? Sheesh, ******' rookies. :glare:

Howie, I tried your hands off bars request... about 4k miles on my front Pilot Road, slight triangulation. Dead stable. No shake what so ever. PM Fred-H and see if he can give you any insight on this bearing deal. He's supposed to be a Wing guru or some ****...

 

[RadioHowie]

See, the problem is that you guys contrive this sick **** in your heads and then twist it in your oh-so-unimaginative and unoriginal ways in a feeble attempt at humor. Really, stand down and let the pros handle the funny stuff, okay? Sheesh, ******' rookies. :glare:

It's a pisser, ain't it. G'damn humorless poltroons.

I tried your hands off bars request... about 4k miles on my front Pilot Road, slight triangulation. Dead stable. No shake what so ever. PM Fred-H and see if he can give you any insight on this bearing deal. He's supposed to be a Wing guru or some ****...

Dude, I appreciate you giving it a fair shot. More than some others will do probably. Thing is, all I have to do is touch a grip and the oscillation will stop. Don't even feel it in my hands when they're on the bars deceling down through the "shake" range.

Before I try anything as drastic as rebuilding the steering stem, or dropping a couple large on a damper, I'm gonna try a couple of other angles, namely, changing the steering angle by varying the fork tubes in the triple tree.

I remember reading a long time ago to help prevent a tank slapper (I'm from the old Kawi H2/H3/Z1 days and you needed to know that kind of thing with early Kaws) if a wobble started, to slide as far forward in the seat, and even up on the tank, to weight-load the front end. Raising the forks in the triple tree would accomplish the same thing, not to mention speeding up the steering by reducing trail.

I'll give it a go this weekend.

If we don't get another tropical storm.

 

[dcarver]

My 06 with brand new tires and fresh from the dealer had the shake. At the 600 service, had the mech check / tighten the head bearings. It still shakes. Just like RadioHowie stated above. Z6 tires, 42 psi f&r.

 

[Mike-H]

My 06 with brand new tires and fresh from the dealer had the shake. At the 600 service, had the mech check / tighten the head bearings. It still shakes. Just like RadioHowie stated above. Z6 tires, 42 psi f&r.

My 04 only shook when the front bridge started cupping....put on z6's front & rear no shake ....go figure :blink: ....

 

[odot]

Hey, let's all take our eyes off the road and watch our handle bars. I'll do that....but, I won't be looking at the bars....I'll be looking at some skanks ass walking on the side of the road. lololol

 

[Silverbullet]

Not wanting to be lumped into the group of those who didn't "give it a fair shot", all I have to say about your test method is, "Been there, done that". And, at both higher and lower speeds than you mention. Both my FJR's have been rock steady. If I have a different experience with my '06, I'll find it, and correct it. Having had more than one 70's/80's vintage motorcycle where headshake was much more common than not, it is one of the things I check for on any bike I own. I'm fully aware that it doesn't seem to have any adverse effect on the handling of the bike. It's just one of those things I'm rather anal about. Every bike I've ever owned that had this issue was corrected with either tires, or tire balance, steering bearings, or even just getting the suspension dialed in correctly. To me, being able to correct it means it is not a normal condition. That doesn't make me any more "right" than anybody else, it's just how I see it.