Touratech Hand Spoilers - Engine Vibrations

[tadhgocuilleain]

I fitted Touratech spoilers to the hand protectors on my R1150GS Adventure on Friday evening and went for a ride yesterday. I immediately noticed that I can feel the engine vibrations a lot more through the handle bars. I ignored it for a while, but it gets very tiring. If I clutch and let the revs drop, it disappears, so it's definitely engine vibrations, rather than wind on the spoilers. I stopped, took them off and threw them into the top box and the vibrations disappeared. I'm assuming that the spoilers have changed the fundamental frequency of the bars or hand protectors, which is causing them to resonate at engine revs (particularly around 3.5k rpm). Has anyone else had this? I could add a small bit of weight to them to stop them resonating, but if it's not usual, I might try to get them exchange for a set that will hopefully have a slightly different weight.

 

[MikeO]

Although I have not experienced any increase in vibration, I noticed that my gloves got considerably wetter with the spoilers fitted - counter-intuitive as that seems. I binned them...

 

[tadhgocuilleain]

So, I'm guessing nobody else has had this problem, going by the number of views and Mike O is the only one that replied.

Although I have not experienced any increase in vibration, I noticed that my gloves got considerably wetter with the spoilers fitted - counter-intuitive as that seems. I binned them...

The angle they were at must have caused turbulence, which caused the rain to get sucked in behind them. I'm more concerned with keeping the cold air flow off the backs of my hands because they get cold, while the heated grips are scorching my palms.

 

[Stujw70]

Don't recall noticing any issues over the years.
Maybe just play around with the angle of the handguard, minding not to fowl the levers.

 

[Captain Black]

I have them on a GS1150 not a problem. Have you fitted them properly ? That to say is it the spoiler vibrating when the speed increases ? Try playing with the angle of the hand guards a bit and are they tight ?

 

[tadhgocuilleain]

Don't recall noticing any issues over the years.
Maybe just play around with the angle of the handguard, minding not to fowl the levers.

I might try different angles to see if it makes a difference, but I don't think so because the vibration is there even when the bike isn't moving.

I have them on a GS1150 not a problem. Have you fitted them properly ? That to say is it the spoiler vibrating when the speed increases ? Try playing with the angle of the hand guards a bit and are they tight ?

It's not the spoilers and/or handguards that are vibrating, it's the whole bars. While riding, I pressed the spoilers with the tips of my fingers, to make sure they weren't just causing the vibration. Even when I press quite hard on them, they still vibrate, the same as if you pressed the engine to stop it vibrating. I feel the same vibration with my knees when I grip the tank, but that was always there. Now, with the spoilers fitted, I feel it through the bars too. I'm going to stick wheel balancing weights to them, just to see if the extra weight changes anything.

 

[tadhgocuilleain]

I added 15g of wheel weights to each spoiler, and refitted the handguards to the bike. I slightly adjusted the angle of the guards upwards (making sure they didn't foul the levers). I went for a spin and the vibration was gone. I took the weights off and the vibration was still gone, so either changing the angle (very slightly) made a difference, or the handguards weren't as tight as the should have been and by taking them off and putting them back on, I reseated them properly.

All sorted now, anyway. Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

 

[Captain Black]

I added 15g of wheel weights to each spoiler, and refitted the handguards to the bike. I slightly adjusted the angle of the guards upwards (making sure they didn't foul the levers). I went for a spin and the vibration was gone. I took the weights off and the vibration was still gone, so either changing the angle (very slightly) made a difference, or the handguards weren't as tight as the should have been and by taking them off and putting them back on, I reseated them properly.

All sorted now, anyway. Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

Post #5

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