Nervous/twicthy front end - 1250GSA

[TheStammeringBiker]

Thanks again all, I'll get as much checked myself as I can. What I will say is that I rode it the day before it had the tyres swapped and it was perfect, the day after I got it back I rode it on the new ones and it felt awful so I'm hoping that lowers the change of it being anything too serious.

I did try bringing the pressures down from the recommended 36 to 34 and it made little to no difference but I'll get the rear balanced as well ASAP and then take it out on Friday after work.

 

[stick]

Have a check on this , may not be the issue but if it,s not connected it will have an effect on the front . It is the connection for the front shock to the wishbone , this is to the right of the wishbone to the rear . It is a vertical rod , with a swivel joint on the end , I have taken a photo but can load it as on my phone .

The link is next to the vin plate towards the back of the wishbone , silver rod with a rubber boot, it may have been knocked off ..

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

The link is next to the vin plate towards the back of the wishbone , silver rod with a rubber boot, it may have been knocked off ..

Thanks Stick! Just checked and that all seems fine and located properly

 

[Winjar]

Thanks again all. Just back from having the front wheel balance checked (ran out of lunch break to do the rear too). Front was out of balance but the guy then said "How much did you kick off at BMW for scratching your wheel?". My reaction "What scratch?".

With so much damage, I think maybe wheel is not round more.

 

[Santa-2512]

I notice you have an aftermarket suspension unit fitted,

when & who fitted that???

 

[stick]

I notice you have an aftermarket suspension unit fitted,

when & who fitted that???

Blimey 2 years ago ish , Tractive front and rear , fitted myself . Works really well .

 

[stick]

With so much damage, I think maybe wheel is not round more.

Looks more like a tyre iron mark ..

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

So I've just had the rear balanced (front was 25g out) and I could see the rear wobbling on the machine which if you increase that to motorway speeds would probably be the wobble I'm noticing. There were no wheel weights on the rear at all and no evidence of any adhesive to suggest they had fallen off. Rear was 75g out which he said would definitely be noticeable at speed. Whether it's the reason for the handling issues remains to be seen but I suspect when I ride it the wobble is likely to be gone.

Dealer have failed to respond to several attempts at contact about the wheel damage until today, it's being passed through to the Service Manager so I'm hoping for a resolution, especially since they all damaged the paint on the frame when they did the replacement engine for me last year.

 

[Slipperyeel]

Sounds like you're coming in on it Keep us posted!

I think if it was me, is be persimmons the dealer (or whoever it was that fitted the tyres). Someone in there knows they did it....

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

 

[Boxerlust]

Stick not to hijack this thread but I see you have Tractive shocks on your bike...I have a set with a 55 nm spring front and a 180 nm rear lying around but still wait for the adjustable steering dampener before I mount them or better have them mounted because the rear was not easy to get on when I put the Ohlins TTX on my 2017 GS-ADV...Are they worth the money $$$ and what spring rates do you run ? I hope it cures the high-speed wobble !

 

[Winjar]

Stick not to hijack this thread but I see you have Tractive shocks on your bike...I have a set with a 55 nm spring front and a 180 nm rear lying around but still wait for the adjustable steering dampener before I mount them or better have them mounted because the rear was not easy to get on when I put the Ohlins TTX on my 2017 GS-ADV...Are they worth the money $$$ and what spring rates do you run ? I hope it cures the high-speed wobble !

Denzo shock in UK good as tractive.

 

[CPJS]

Denzo shock in UK good as tractive.

No it isn't, TT shocks are much better than OE as you can adjust the damping and ride height, they are better quality everywhere.

 

[stick]

No it isn't, TT shocks are much better than OE as you can adjust the damping and ride height, they are better quality everywhere.

Absolutely

 

[Wapping]

Thanks again all, I'll get as much checked myself as I can. What I will say is that I rode it the day before it had the tyres swapped and it was perfect, the day after I got it back I rode it on the new ones and it felt awful so I'm hoping that lowers the change of it being anything too serious.

I did try bringing the pressures down from the recommended 36 to 34 and it made little to no difference but I'll get the rear balanced as well ASAP and then take it out on Friday after work.

I no longer own a GS but I had a very similar problem with my Hexhead GSA. Sometime around 2013 or 2014 it went in for a service, during which both tyres were replaced with Dunlop road tyres. On picking the bike up, I was really surprised that the bike, for no very good reason that anyone could find, suddenly took on what amounted to a really sharp ‘wobble’ (almost a mini tank slapper) at certain speeds. I first encountered this at night, not long after the service, riding an otherwise smooth road in London. It was so sharp that I assumed (wrongly) that I had ridden over something in the dark, causing the bars to shake.

It got worse. So bad that I was able to induce the shaking almost at will, accelerating or decelerating through certain speeds, the shakes becoming gradually worse. In short, the bike was now all but dangerous.

After several weeks and having checked the bike from front to back, including the tyre pressures and having both wheels rebalanced, with no improvement, I dumped the Dunlop tyres and bought either Michelin or Bridgestone, I forget which. The problem vanished instantly. The tyres were returned to Dunlop, who pronounced them perfect. The problem never returned.

 

[Winjar]

No it isn't, TT shocks are much better than OE as you can adjust the damping and ride height, they are better quality everywhere.

Sorry my bad explain, I mean when he give shock complete transform like Tractive, and price is very good, Tractive not far from my home but no discount typical Nederlander.

 

[CPJS]

Sorry my bad explain, I mean when he give shock complete transform like Tractive, and price is very good, Tractive not far from my home but no discount typical Nederlander.

Denzo's magic cannot turn a Ford into a Mercedes. Denzo can improve an OE unit but it will be nowhere near a TT shock, they are expensive for a reason.

 

[Winjar]

Denzo's magic cannot turn a Ford into a Mercedes. Denzo can improve an OE unit but it will be nowhere near a TT shock, they are expensive for a reason.

Sorry I speak about tractive upgrade not Touratech shock, I know Touratech are stronger and more metal and lot more price, but I not rich so Denzo Tractive style upgrade is very very good.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Bikes approaching 2 years old. But sadly they did the tyres back in March and I've only ridden it twice since then so didn't spot it. In the dark depths of my shed it's not very obvious especially stood side on to it, but now it's been pointed out it's like it's light up with neons.

I suspect they'll deny any responsibility on the grounds it was almost 4 months ago that they did the work.

When the bike had a brand new engine just over a year ago they also damaged the paint on the frame so my confidence in them has been dented to say the least which is a shame as they are brilliant to deal with.

New engine?

You are patient

 

[stick]

Sorry I speak about tractive upgrade not Touratech shock, I know Touratech are stronger and more metal and lot more price, but I not rich so Denzo Tractive style upgrade is very very good.

The Touratech and Tractive units are the same , the TT unit is just a differ colour , yellow , the tractive , orange gold sort of colour but the same .Tractive supply TT .

 

[Winjar]

The Touratech and Tractive units are the same , the TT unit is just a differ colour , yellow , the tractive , orange gold sort of colour but the same .��Tractive supply TT .

Yes I know but I talk about the Tractive upgrade, not the Touratech shock, or the Tractive shock same as Touratech, but ok everybody happy spend lots cash.