I have noticed that on my 03 R1 I get a pretty good head shake on decelleration between 50-60mph. But I can only feel it if I take my hands off the bars. If I just even lightly have them on it doesn't do it. But it is really smooth, even with my hands off the bars at any other speed. :dunno Anyone know what might be the cause of this?

What your front tire look like? Is it balanced good?

 

The front tire is in pretty good shape. I put it on myself and checked the balance before putting it on. It looked at the time to be balanced pretty good. But I am now wondering if it might just be the tire. I did not have this problem until I put this tire on.

 

The front tire is in pretty good shape. I put it on myself and checked the balance before putting it on. It looked at the time to be balanced pretty good. But I am now wondering if it might just be the tire. I did not have this problem until I put this tire on.

Do you have a balance stand? If so, check for out of round condition and re balance tire! See if that helps!

 

I have a homeade balance stand. It works though. I will do that. Thanks.

 

Check the air pressure of the tire to make sure it is correct and look to see if the tire is cupping. You can rub your hand over the tire in both directions and you should be able to feel if it is cupped or not. What kind of tire is it? Dunlop's are know to cup pretty easily.

 

Check the air pressure of the tire to make sure it is correct and look to see if the tire is cupping. You can rub your hand over the tire in both directions and you should be able to feel if it is cupped or not. What kind of tire is it? Dunlop's are know to cup pretty easily.

It is the Maxxis Supermaxx. I will also check the air pressure. I know I lowered it a while back for the track and mountains. I may need to add some more air.:dunno

 

It's your tires. ALL tires are not made equal and the QC allows some that are "not quite round" or alittle out of round to make it to the stores.

Not enuf to be a safety issue, but u'll feel that slight wobble if u release the bars at about 50-60 mph.


Nothing to worry about. If you take it to the dealer he'll check the bike till he's blue in the face and not be able to tell you why.

It's the tires. Just ride the bike, wear them out and replace them. The prob will more than likely go away with the new tire swap. Also be aware, as u wear the tires out your wobble may become alittle more pronounced..

Now the condition I'm speaking about is when u declerate and perhaps let go of the bars, or only touch them slightly u have a very slight shimmy on the front end, nothing dangerous and more an annoyance than anything. This is normal and is the tires (as said above) if you have a saftey issue or tank slapper type force, it's something else.

I've owned many bikes over the years and swapped many, many sets of tires. About 35% - 40% of the tire swaps I've had have those symptoms (to one degree or another) as you describe. I just rode and wore them out. Swapping tires (and no other adjustments) fixed the condition.

Tarl

 

and if it's not in the tires, it could be loose steering head bearings.

 

hmmm... maybe i'm overthinking things a little here, but i think i have a solution?


don't let go of the bars while riding 50mph!

 

Greg is right also. I'm talking when you've checked all things, wheel allignment, steering head bearings, tire pressures and so forth and all those things are fine and it's still there and there is no clue as to why, it's the tires. Wear them out, swap them, prob goes away.

Tarl

 

i had the same problem a few months ago... i had the suspension checked and that didn't help... i changed the front tire and problem solved... that was my case anyway... but the same shake slowing down was happening

 

I get the same thing. Stock from front tire. Dealer told me that it's just what happens when there is no additional pressure on the bars. I'm not worried about it because it only happens when i'm not holding on, and well you should be holding on just about all the time!

Or just get a steering damper....end of issue. Just my $.02

 

your problem is due to lack of air pressure. that combined with "cupping" of the tire will produce this effect. however it is easily fixed/reduced by putting some air in your front tire.

 

your problem is due to lack of air pressure. that combined with "cupping" of the tire will produce this effect. however it is easily fixed/reduced by putting some air in your front tire.

After it cups to a point there isn't much you can do. The problem will get better with more air, but it won't go away. Alot of people that get this problem is because their air pressure is 2-4lbs low consistently when they ride.

 

There's been ample discussion of this very problem before, but the culprit was always Dunlop 208 tires. It may be that the Maxxis is causing the issue. Not many folks that I know run that brand, which may be why we've not seen the headshake issue attributed to that tire before.

If you cannot dial out the shake with pressure or suspension tweaks, be patient and buy a set of BT012SS or Diablo Corsas to replace the Maxxis' when they're kaput.

 

Thanks guys. The tire is about half worn. So it has a good bit of life on it. Especially in the middle of the tire. But I am gonna add a few pounds of pressure to it. I will probably be changing it out soon. I am currently checking into a set of Diablo corsas and have a set of Diablos already sitting at home. I also have another brand new Maxxis sitting at home too. I will up the air pressure and see how that does. If is doesn't get much better, I'll probably go ahead and change the tire. As far as the steering bearings, they should be fine. It is and 03 and less than a year old and only 8000 miles on it.

 

your problem is due to lack of air pressure. that combined with "cupping" of the tire will produce this effect. however it is easily fixed/reduced by putting some air in your front tire.

I had the exact same problem on my FJR last year . Tightening the steering head bearings made a good improvement but it went away completly as soon as I replaced the frt tire . Just a bad Pilot Sport I guess .

It only happened at 50mph with hands off the bars but if left unattended it surely looked like the beginnings of a tankslapper !

 

Yea, I forgot to mention, from my experience it was the Dunlops that did it the most. I had a few Metzlers do it, but by and far it was mostly Dunlops.

My 02 has D208's and does it.

Tarl

 

My R used to do it to. I had the steering head bearings tightened and the problem has never come back (unless you punch the clip- ons while riding!)

 

It only happened at 50mph with hands off the bars but if left unattended it surely looked like the beginnings of a tankslapper !

THat is exactly what mine does. I always grab it before it gets to bad.

 

This phenomenon is called shimmy, as said by somebody else yet.
You cannot do ANYTHING against it. It is generated by minor imperfections of the front rim or tire, resulting in either minor unballance or even an imperfect roundness.
At a certain speed (typically somewhere between 30 and 60mph, depending on the bike, masses involved) the rotation speed of that unballance gets close to the resonant frequency of the front suspension assembly and this oscillations start. Normaly friction keeps the oscillations at a low level but under certain circumstances the bar may hit from stop to stop.
A steering dampener will prevent that from happening but you still may see minor oscillation.

 

Thanks guys for all the input. Now I know what the problem is and don't have to wonder anymore. Hopefully a new tire will fix it.

 

my o2 was fine till i changed the tire with a knew one last week and it does the same thing,just slightly,soon as you touch the steering it stops

 

My first Dunlops were great, but then I noticed the problem on my second set. Looked at everything changed to a new Dunlop same thing. Went to an M1 and problem solved.:fact

 

Went to an M1 and problem solved

The M1 has a different shape than the Dunlop. This results in slightly more force needed to turn the front whel, enough to dampen out the shimmy...