Help Needed in Tallahassee

[user 18298]

Anyone near Tallahassee that can help me with a “problem” I think I have with my FJR. My bike is very unstable on the interstate. Since this is my first FJR I’m not of it its characteristics while in traffic at 7-80MPH. I can tell you it feels , at times, like it’s on ice. It could be the steering head bearings, but I don’t know how to check them. Local shop wants $350 to do that. Rode like this with old tires and new tires. Tried windshield combinations. Have adjusted front forks. No change. Anyone with experience that can help would be greatly appreciated!! I’ll ride (slowly) to you location.

Thanks

Charles-Florida

 

[Fred W]

Anyone near Tallahassee that can help me with a “problem” I think I have with my FJR. My bike is very unstable on the interstate. Since this is my first FJR I’m not of it its characteristics while in traffic at 7-80MPH. I can tell you it feels , at times, like it’s on ice. It could be the steering head bearings, but I don’t know how to check them. Local shop wants $350 to do that. Rode like this with old tires and new tires. Tried windshield combinations. Have adjusted front forks. No change. Anyone with experience that can help would be greatly appreciated!! I’ll ride (slowly) to you location.
Thanks

Charles-Florida

Do you have a rear trunk on the bike? Try running without it.

 

[JamesK]

What tire pressures are you running?

 

[majicmaker]

Anyone near Tallahassee that can help me with a “problem” I think I have with my FJR. My bike is very unstable on the interstate. Since this is my first FJR I’m not of it its characteristics while in traffic at 7-80MPH. I can tell you it feels , at times, like it’s on ice. It could be the steering head bearings, but I don’t know how to check them. Local shop wants $350 to do that. Rode like this with old tires and new tires. Tried windshield combinations. Have adjusted front forks. No change. Anyone with experience that can help would be greatly appreciated!! I’ll ride (slowly) to you location.
Thanks

Charles-Florida

Do you have a rear trunk on the bike? Try running without it.

This is true. If you're going at a good clip with the trunk on and no passenger to fill the void between you and the trunk, It will get jittery as hell on you!

 

[wfooshee]

I could swear I posted earlier today . . . . .

I'm in Panama City and wouldn't mind meeting you somewhere, halfway between or even in Tallahassee. But there are several forum members in town there, just don't know who's still active right now. Capt. Bob comes to mind, but I don't recall seeing him around lately. His profile says he was here last week, though.

I don't know how many large fully-faired bikes you've been on, but the FJR is a sail in crosswinds or semi-truck wakes, and in the turbulence behind other vehicles. Don't follow too closely.

 

[user 18298]

Anyone near Tallahassee that can help me with a “problem” I think I have with my FJR. My bike is very unstable on the interstate. Since this is my first FJR I’m not of it its characteristics while in traffic at 7-80MPH. I can tell you it feels , at times, like it’s on ice. It could be the steering head bearings, but I don’t know how to check them. Local shop wants $350 to do that. Rode like this with old tires and new tires. Tried windshield combinations. Have adjusted front forks. No change. Anyone with experience that can help would be greatly appreciated!! I’ll ride (slowly) to you location.
Thanks

Charles-Florida

Do you have a rear trunk on the bike? Try running without it.

Yes I ride with a trunk. Ill take it off and see if that helps.

Thanks

 

[MartyA]

I have a Givi E52 (that's a big one) and while I ride 2-up 95% of the time, I have put a few thousand miles on solo with the Givi loaded, and with a CalSci XL windscreen, I have never experienced anything like that. Not disputing that others have, just saying I have not.

I crossed South Dakota with a 50 MPH (according to the weather channel that night) cross wind all we did at 80-90 MPH is lean a little to the left and kept right on going. The fun was when an oncoming 18 wheeler broke the flow and we kinda zigged then zagged, but after it passed we went back to stable but leaning all the way to Wyoming.

I have ridden a borrowed bike with dry steering head bearings, THAT was an interesting 500 miles. You cannot make those very minor steering corrections, the effort gets exaggerated and the bike wanders terribly. The more you try to compensate with those tiny corrections the more you start to wander.

And when my rear tire started going flat down in Virginia on a couple of consecutive sweepers it felt like I was on ice. Get a reliable air gage and put 36-38 psi in the front tire and 38-42 in the rear tire.

I'd check the air pressure in your tires, then I'd check for dry steering head bearings. Also I'd spin the wheels in the driveway and see if one is bent, if the tire beads are seated properly, and check that the axles are tight.

Check the steering head bearings - put the bike on the center stand, have someone lean on the back to get the front tire off the ground. Gently (two fingers gently) move it left and right, it should move freely without any binding or clicking lock to lock. I hold on to mine to feel it for myself. Then center it and go to the front of the bike and pull and push on the front of the wheel while it is off the ground to feel the front-to-back free play.

 

[flapsup]

PM sent - maybe we can get it figured out!?

 

[flapsup]

PM sent - maybe we can get it figured out!?

So, we finally managed to hook up on Sunday, and found a number of issues.

First was the steering head bearings. Applied the test and the found the front end was sloppy loose. I got scared at first when I took the cap nut off and it was just a little past finger tight. We got the bars and triple clamp off and it took about 3/4 of a turn to get the torque in the vicinity of 37 foot/pounds. Put it back together and Charles went for a test ride. Charles reported that the clunk is gone and the steering is much better but it was still twitchy in any kind of turbulence. He brought it back and asked me to take it for ride, so I took his '05 and he took my '06. I wasn't sure if it was the 6 inch over stock tall windshield or the tail trunk, but it definitely is squirrelly in any kind of wake turbulence. It tracked well in still air, but something is still not right.

So we started looking at suspension settings. Rear shock spring was set to the hard position. Front spring preload was set soft showing three lines. Cranked that down to one line left showing. Checked the compression damping and found the right side was down as tight as it could go, and the left side needed 5 clicks to completely tighten it down. Reset both to five clicks and Charles went on his way, now I'm waiting on a report on the ride home.

So now we need to start tuning, but we ran out of time. Did not check rebound damping. Could not remember what the middle numbers are for the rear shock or rebound damping adjusters.

After checking the tech section threads for the middle numbers, and resetting everything to the middle, then start testing settings by changing one thing at a time, is there anything else we should have been doing at this early stage? I thought about swingarm bushing/bearings but thought it was too soon in this process to start digging into that.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MotorToad]

I don't think suspension settings are going to cause the problems you describe. If the steering head bearing was that off, I'd bet that the wheel bearings and possibly even the swingarm bearings aren't far behind.

 

[Fred W]

Did he try riding it with the trunk off yet?

Mine does it. I only use a trunk when I also have a passenger.

 

[FJReady]

The type windshield is also a likely contributor. My barn-door CalSci (largest available for a Gen 1) is much more stable at high speeds than the Cee Bailey's +4, +2 that it replaced.

 

[dlfunk]

My 05 with a JC Whitney trunk, stock windshield and no passenger likes to dance a little on the interstate (or anytime speeds are above 65mph). Its unnerving but I've gotten used to it. Some days I don't notice it all (as in it doesn't do it) and some days its bad enough that I'm white knuckling it. I think it depends on wind direction/speed, and as others have said I think its due to the void between rider and trunk creating weird wind vortex physics blah blah. I need my trunk for stuff so I deal with it.

 

[Charlie Hoss]

I ride with my Givi V-46 trunk in place most of the time and never experience these problems. (95 to 105 across much of South Dakota to WFO.) I do get some side to side buffeting when following 18 wheelers but it's only irritating, not scary.

Did you check the tightness of the pinch bolts on the fork tubes and the front axle?

If I recall correctly, the number of clicks on both the front and rear shock adjustments is a total of 24 from all the way in to all the way out. A good starting point is at 12 out. This setting should give a well damped soft ride. You might want to try tightening the adjusters to increase damping but do it ONE click at a time and test ride. Most of the settings I've seen on the forum end up between 8 and 12 clicks out. When you hit bottom, do it gently so nothing gets deformed. (I hear that all the time.) :blink: I think 5 clicks is too stiff for most riders. You ARE aware of two adjusters on each of the front forks, compression and rebound, right?

Of course, worn tires can cause serious squirreling. Many here recommend 40 to 42 lbs in the front tire.

Let us know how you make out with this.

 

[flapsup]

I ride with my Givi V-46 trunk in place most of the time and never experience these problems. (95 to 105 across much of South Dakota to WFO.) I do get some side to side buffeting when following 18 wheelers but it's only irritating, not scary.
Did you check the tightness of the pinch bolts on the fork tubes and the front axle?

If I recall correctly, the number of clicks on both the front and rear shock adjustments is a total of 24 from all the way in to all the way out. A good starting point is at 12 out. This setting should give a well damped soft ride. You might want to try tightening the adjusters to increase damping but do it ONE click at a time and test ride. Most of the settings I've seen on the forum end up between 8 and 12 clicks out. When you hit bottom, do it gently so nothing gets deformed. (I hear that all the time.) :blink: I think 5 clicks is too stiff for most riders. You ARE aware of two adjusters on each of the front forks, compression and rebound, right?

Of course, worn tires can cause serious squirreling. Many here recommend 40 to 42 lbs in the front tire.

Let us know how you make out with this.

Thanks for the numbers, and yeah, I am aware that you can tune on compression and rebound damping and spring preload on the front. He's got new rubber front and rear, and I left him with instructions to check tire pressure and recommended 40 front and 39 rear. Next thing was to take off the trunk and duplicate the test ride we had just taken (interstate tucked in tight enough behind a car or pickup truck to get the full test benefit of wake turbulence). Haven't heard anything back yet.

 

[JamesK]

I always ride with the saddlebags and the Givi E52. I don't experience the problem you describe. The settings on my suspension are pretty much the default recommended (12 clicks) and I run 40F & 42R on the PR2s.

 

[FJR-RemingtonRider]

Gotta chime in on this one.

FJR has been very stable and nimble throughout riding.

Going to Dallas couple weeks ago, I put the trunk on (yamaha) and rode for the first time with it.

Did not take it off, because I found it very nice to put the helmet in there when riding about.

Not really noticing going or coming back (but I wasn't above 70mph, wifey was trailing on her shadow 750. I began noticing on a subsequent trip traveling this weekend alone, it was a bit squirrely and not as stable at high speed (above 75-80).

I pondered if something was wrong or loose or maybe a series of crosswinds (trees weren't bending though).....but reading along on this one, it has to be the trunk. Only explanation. Perhaps, some trunks are more better for handling the wind, but I have the stock yamaha trunk, and that has been the only change made. So, I think that is the biggest thing to account for in this scenario... however they did find some other issues that definitely required attention.

$.02...no change needed.

 

[madmike2]

Try putting a soft bag on the pillion seat. I used to travel with a tail pack on the pillion seat to fill the void between me and the top case. That solved the vortex issue and increased my gas mileage by 1-2 mpg.

I used to notice different effects with different windshields mounted. Every ride and combination will have it's own "personality".

 

[FJR Flyer]

What tires is he running? I found after I put the PR2s on, that it was really squirrely using the same pressures that I did with the Storms. Others suggested lower pressures, and that cleared it up, mostly (and I'm getting used to it).