Front wheel noise/vibration

[Juneight]

Hello Folks,

After about 300 miles of street riding, I took my new FJR 2006 for 1500 mile ride south of the border. at about the 1000 mile mark, I started feeling a slight vibration on the handlebars during turns on the highway. I feel this from approximately 30 mph up and only when the bike is riding with a slight right or left turn. The vibration is slight but it is annoying (to me) and it just was not there when I purchased the bike.

I checked, to the best of my abilities, and do not feel loose bearings up front. I do not know if the front wheel bearing can be tightened either.

Any comments would be most welcome.

Juneight

 

[temp357]

Hello Folks,
After about 300 miles of street riding, I took my new FJR 2006 for 1500 mile ride south of the border. at about the 1000 mile mark, I started feeling a slight vibration on the handlebars during turns on the highway. I feel this from approximately 30 mph up and only when the bike is riding with a slight right or left turn. The vibration is slight but it is annoying (to me) and it just was not there when I purchased the bike.

I checked, to the best of my abilities, and do not feel loose bearings up front. I do not know if the front wheel bearing can be tightened either.

Any comments would be most welcome.

Juneight

Check and see if the weights are still on the front tire. What you describe could be caused by the weight used to balance the wheel falling off. If it has you need to rebalance the wheel.

 

[C&C]

Is the vibration more of a buzz? It seems a little early for tire cupping but I would check that out. A cupped tire will give you that buzz when turning.

 

[Juneight]

Check and see if the weights are still on the front tire. What you describe could be caused by the weight used to balance the wheel falling off. If it has you need to rebalance the wheel.

I just checked and there are no weights on the front tire. A close examination reveals that there were none in the first place. That may be associated with the fact that when I let the handlebar free, it wobbles slightly at a frequency which is consistent with wheel rotation. So I may indeed need wheel balancing. However, the "noise" I am feeling on the handlebar is more a buzz as suggested by C&C below. Again, I only feel it when the bike is banked past a certain angle, not when I am riding straight ahead. Not much, even a mild turn causes it. Seems like a brearing noise to me but I may be wrong.

 

[temp357]

It'd be unusual (a bonfide miracle - someone call the church) if the wheel is fully in balance without any weights. If the wheel is not balanced, you will experience all kinds of issues depending on the turn angle, rotation speed, etc...

 

[co425]

Mine has neither front or rear wheel weights. I broght it up to the damn dealer and they say it rides and drives normal. I say it has a little too much of a buzz in it.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

also, check the steering stem nut...tight?

 

[Juneight]

Sorry for the absence folks and thanks for your input, I will check everything being recommended to try to find the source of the buzz. I let go of the buzz for a short while because.... courtesy of some asphalt which because of the unusually hot weather, decided to liquify itself under the weight of my bike on its center stand... yes, my two month old FJR fell on its side! :angry2: :angry2: :angry2:

What a disappointment! Luckily, the mirror took most of the impact and the bike fell over a bed of... gravel! Nothing else broken except the mirror. Fairings will require some close attention over the week-end so I can get rid of the scratches as much as I can. It's actually the clear coat that got scratched the most and the scratches did not go all the way to the ABS material. And no... there is no Cobalt Blue touch up paint anywhere to be found.

I have a Montreal-Orlando-Montreal trip coming up so if anyone knows a store in the US where I can get spray or touch up paint for a '06 A, let me know!

:blink:

 

[temp357]

Sorry to hear about the mishap. D@mn kickstand strikes again! Have you considered the following?

1) centerstand

2) skyway frame sliders

3) heavy bar ends

 

[Juneight]

Sorry to hear about the mishap. D@mn kickstand strikes again! Have you considered the following?
1) centerstand

2) skyway frame sliders

3) heavy bar ends

Believe it or not... it WAS on the center stand. Any time I have any doubts, I put the bike on the center stand. Which is why I felt safe. So... if it's really hot, be careful because if the asphalt is not compact enough, that thing just digs right in. Bad luck I guess.

What are options 2 and 3?

 

[temp357]

frame sliders will keep the bike off the ground in case it does drop to minimize damage to the fairing. Check out the skyway frame sliders in the vendors section (yamaha has some oem frame sliders for the bike as well).

Heavy bar end reduce vibration on the handle bars, in case the problem is just "normal" engine vibration.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Sorry to hear about the mishap. D@mn kickstand strikes again! Have you considered the following?

1) centerstand

2) skyway frame sliders

3) heavy bar ends

Believe it or not... it WAS on the center stand. Any time I have any doubts, I put the bike on the center stand. Which is why I felt safe. So... if it's really hot, be careful because if the asphalt is not compact enough, that thing just digs right in. Bad luck I guess.

What are options 2 and 3?

It get's that hot in Montreal?

Oh, it must have been the day Patrick Roy's induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame was announced

 

[Juneight]

It get's that hot in Montreal?

Oh, it must have been the day Patrick Roy's induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame was announced

Oh yes it does! And this year seems even hotter than usual.

Still remember Patrick Roy's last game in Montreal. Sooooo long time ago. We could chat hockey but then again... what would that have to do with a vibrating handlebar?

 

[user 213]

Some questions on the buzz issue -

What tires do you have? (Bridgestones are notorious for cupping easily)

What pressure are you running?

How much do you weigh?

Do you feel like you "ride hard" in the tight corners?

Do you like to come in fast and brake as you enter the corners, or brake before the corner, then go through the corner at a constant speed, accelerating again as you apex?

Sorry to hear about the parking lot incident. I would like to suggest that the side stand is actually a better choice than the center stand in these questionable conditions. When on the center stand you have a lot of weight on the two smallish points of the stand, (yes, one leg is larger), and the front wheel. When on the side stand you have the bulk of the weight on the tires, with some on the single point of the side stand.

I've seen more bikes fall over parked on the center stand than on the side stand, but it's kind of hard to document all the conditions and make a concrete prediction.

I'll park on the side stand, and have taken to keeping a sidestand plate in the glovebox for risky areas. Often I just find a flat rock or something handy, but in parking lots the plate is nice so I don't have to worry. You can make up your own or there are many sold for this purpose. From plain to expensive carbon fiber ones, you choose.

 

[madmike2]

I've seen more bikes fall over parked on the center stand than on the side stand, but it's kind of hard to document all the conditions and make a concrete prediction .

OC, was that an intended pun?

It sounds to me like "tire buzz" as it is happening only at certain angles of lean during a turn. My Bridgestone 020s were terible in certain corners...most notably the intersection turning onto my street and then braking while turning into my driveway (I know, bad technique).

 

[Juneight]

Some questions on the buzz issue -

What tires do you have? (Bridgestones are notorious for cupping easily)

What pressure are you running?

How much do you weigh?

Do you feel like you "ride hard" in the tight corners?

Do you like to come in fast and brake as you enter the corners, or brake before the corner, then go through the corner at a constant speed, accelerating again as you apex?

Sorry to hear about the parking lot incident. I would like to suggest that the side stand is actually a better choice than the center stand in these questionable conditions. When on the center stand you have a lot of weight on the two smallish points of the stand, (yes, one leg is larger), and the front wheel. When on the side stand you have the bulk of the weight on the tires, with some on the single point of the side stand.

I've seen more bikes fall over parked on the center stand than on the side stand, but it's kind of hard to document all the conditions and make a concrete prediction.

I'll park on the side stand, and have taken to keeping a sidestand plate in the glovebox for risky areas. Often I just find a flat rock or something handy, but in parking lots the plate is nice so I don't have to worry. You can make up your own or there are many sold for this purpose. From plain to expensive carbon fiber ones, you choose.

Howdy,

I have the stock Metzeler tires and the last time I checked, they were at 39 psi front and 42 psi rear. I do not see any cupping at all. The bike is at 5,500 Km, roughly 3,500 miles.

I cannot really say that the bike rides "hard" in tight corners although I do believe it rides differently than the '04 model I rented 2 years ago for a week (and that rental was instrumental in buying the FJR this year).

I definitely will brake before entering the corner, constant speed followed by acceleration on exit.

Let me add this: I feel the buzz even when taking a very wide turn on the highway, at almost any constant speed between 30 and 70 mph. Even as a change lanes to pass another vehicle, for a short time, I will feel the buzz. If I am riding straight, no buzz at all at any speed.

I learned my lesson (the sad/hard way) with the center stand. What a bummer! Spent the whole week-end doing touch up paint and full paint job on areas that were scratched the most. Another lesson learned: Do NOT skip the base color for the DPBMU (blue) color. You WILL (as I did) end up with a slightly lighter color. I incorrectly thought that painting over paint would not require the base color (which is probably black).

Heading out to Orlando next week... Dragon's Tail is definitely on my route!

OC, was that an intended pun?

It sounds to me like "tire buzz" as it is happening only at certain angles of lean during a turn. My Bridgestone 020s were terible in certain corners...most notably the intersection turning onto my street and then braking while turning into my driveway (I know, bad technique).

Madmike, it really does not "feel" tire buzz to me. It's more... mechanical. it seems to be associated with lateral pressure/force on the bearing rather than lean angle on tire. And it is not associated with braking either since it will happen even as I accelerate or just simply riding at a constant speed on a curvy road.

 

[madmike2]

Heading out to Orlando next week... Dragon's Tail is definitely on my route!

Madmike, it really does not "feel" tire buzz to me. It's more... mechanical. it seems to be associated with lateral pressure/force on the bearing rather than lean angle on tire. And it is not associated with braking either since it will happen even as I accelerate or just simply riding at a constant speed on a curvy road.

It sounds to me like you have a front wheel disassembly in the very near future. If it iis a front bearing, this is NOT something to gamble your life on....a sudden failure wouldn't be on my short list of fun things to experience. Pull the wheel and "feel" the bearings!

It is "remotely possible" it is the calipers/floating discs, but I'd make sure before I took a trip.

 

[user 213]

No pun was intended.

The questions were intended to rule out the tires. From what you have answered, I don't believe that is what you are feeling either. The only question you missed was your weight. If you're over 200 lbs, you may want to consider more pressure in the front tire. I'm 260 lbs. and run 42 psi on both front and rear to minimize front tire cupping. All front tires will eventually cup, but it doesn't really sound like this is an issue for you at the moment.

As MM2 has said, take a look at the brake rotors and calipers to see if anything is loose. If it's a bearing, it will likely get worse quickly. There have been some front wheel bearings that went bad, though it has been fairly rare. Sorry to not be of more help.

 

[radman]

300 miles is about right for a few things to be checked. First off, Frank came without any wheel weights applied, and was vibration free for most of the Stones life-no weights is common for a factory mount, as they appear to know where the wheel is heavy as well as the tire, and adjust as needed. It's time to re-torque the neck bearings, as they will loosen up quite a bit in the first few hundered miles, if they were even tight to begin with-many aren't , and need tightening right off the floor, though the loose neck symptom usually results in a "clunk" feeling through the bars, rather than a vibe. Only real way to check the wheel bearing is to remove the wheel and rotate the bearing by hand, feeling for looseness, tightness, or rough rotation. Wheel on the bike checking will not give one a good feel for condition. Also time to check torque on motor mount bolts, tree mount bolts, etc-anywhere one can readily apply a wrench. Different bikes have had various loose fasteners, built by men, screwed up by men is the rule. The first TBS isn't far off, do it now and it may clear the vibe up. Yam recomends all this at the 600 mile mark, doesn't hurt anything to do it early.