having issue with new tires

[818Guy]

Had my 8000 mile service. Dealer put on two new OEM tires on the bike (Bridgestones).

I've got this wobble now when riding on grooved roads - mainly on the freeway. Handlebars will shake back and forth.

Speed doesn't matter. In fact, in slower traffic (around 35 mph) it is more noticeable.

Tire pressue is per factory settings.

Did not have this whatsoever before the new tires.

Any thoughts on this and possible fix?

I should add that when I was talking about new tires before the service, I was told by the dealer to not use anything BUT the OEM tires. He said others "will cause a wobble" and that Yamaha is aware of it but has no idea why it happens.

That is why I went with OEM tires.

Now I have the same problem... :angry2:

 

[GunMD]

I cannot speak about the Gen II bikes, but I know that Gen I bikes have a tendacy to wobble as you're describing at around the 40-45 mph area. (Some have mentioned speeds outside of that window, but 40-45 is what I recall be most common).

As for "only use the OEM tires". What a load of crap. First of all, Yam has put both Metz's AND 'stones on bikes as OEM. Aside from that you'll find TONS of opinions about tires on this forum and I don't recall a real huge following for the Bridgestones. That's not to say that there is anything wrong w/ them, but there are certainly other choices. Since your dealer opened the subject of wobble, why not call 'em up and ask them about this problem? Maybe they didn't balance them properly?

Perhaps they have some other suggestion. Give 'em a chance to make it right before you get much wear on those new tires.

 

[818Guy]

Yeah, I'm going back tomorrow to have them look at it.

It's just strange that it only happens on grooved roads.

I did call them yesterday and they said that it might be because the new tires are still "round" and that over time they will "flatten."

Don't know exactly what that means...

Maybe more grip than I'm used to? *shrug*

 

[odot]

Yeah.....round tires are bad, mmmkay. I think your dealer was being "humorous".

 

[GunMD]

Yeah.....round tires are bad, mmmkay. I think your dealer was being "clueless".

Fixed it for ya, 'dot.

 

[weekend rider]

I say your dealer is smoking some crack!!!!!!

You either lost a wheel weight or your steering head bearings are loose.

Have him check this. that means he has to un-weight the front wheel

weekend rider

 

[worldbound4now]

Ummm, your dealer has you hook, line, and sinker.

 

[818Guy]

You either lost a wheel weight or your steering head bearings are loose.
Have him check this. that means he has to un-weight the front wheel

Thanks for the info.

I thought about that as well but since I'm only getting the wobble on grooved roads... well it's puzzling.

 

[cougar8000]

is the tire mounted correctly i.e direction wise.

Oh and tell your dealer to stop using crak.

 

[rocketdoc]

I found the same thing with Bridgestones on grooves section of I-5, not very nice. Same road on Avons and Dunlops were fine. The Superbrace will minimize the action of the grooves until you have worn them out. Check your tire pressures, increase to 40 f and 42 r or decrease and see if there is any difference.

After dealers have messed with my bike, I used to always double check everything from tire pressure to pinch bolts, often found poor attention to detail.

 

[Geezer]

Some tires are better on grooved pavement than others, due primarily to the tread pattern. Has Bridgestone changed their tread pattern recently? If the tire is 'new and improved' then it is no longer the same as the ones you took off your bike. Even if the tires have not changed, the same tires can behave differently when new. Did you ride the same grooved road with the original tires when they were still fairly new?

I doubt it is a balancing issue since it only happens on the grooved pavement. Loose steering head bearings are a possibility, but that also would show up on other road surfaces, and loose bearings usually come with a clunking sound on rough surfaces.

Although the Avon Storms have their own wobble problems on deceleration, I find that they do not follow the grooves on grooved pavement (no wobble) and even work surprisingly well on metal grate bridges.

 

[Bounce]

Also toss the book when it comes to PSI. Your Stones will be toast in half the time if you follow those guidelines. Try 41 front and rear and see how it works.

 

[818Guy]

Thanks for the suggestions.

After four days of calling the service department they were able to talk with the Yamaha DSM about my issue.

They are going to check the balance - remove the tire and rotate 180 and remount.

They also said they are going to check the steering head bearing as said above.

I would agree that I'm wondering if it's just poor reassembly. And that's what kinda bothers me. Simple trouble-shooting would have you think to re-check everything. I never even had that suggested by the service department to bring the bike in to check everything.

They did say that if what they are going to do does not solve the problem, they will just replace the front tire.

Also, no change in the thread pattern. I confirmed that myself after the first day with the issue. Exact same tire.

Update later...

 

[STL FJR]

Soooo ... just curious, are these BT 20's or 21's being discussed here? I just ordered a set of 21's and had heard good things about them.

 

[818Guy]

Previous: BT020

New: BT020

 

[TruWrecks]

Every bike I've ever ridden on grooved roads has some amount of wobble. The amount of wobble seems to always be related to the amount of waver in the grooves themselves.

If it don't wobble under braking then the bike is probably mechanically sound.

I have a grooved road I have to ride from work to home. My bike feels like I'm riding on marbles with almost 7000 mi. on the tires.

 

[Whichsideup]

Soooo ... just curious, are these BT 20's or 21's being discussed here? I just ordered a set of 21's and had heard good things about them.

Have a friend who just put the 021's on his VFR. He's a pretty aggressive rider, so his tires do get put to the test. Says they're absolutely fantastic. They'll be the next thing to go on mine. I've had the same "groove" issue discussed here with these OEM 020's.

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

I hope the Tombstones, I mean Bridgestones are much improved over the other models.

 

[Whichsideup]

I hope the Tombstones, I mean Bridgestones are much improved over the other models.

Bridgestone seems to be working real hard lately at putting out some good "rubber" ('002, '014, '021). Maybe they're inspired by having some GP wins under their belt.