Vague Front End

[sproggy]

I'll confess that I'm used to the rock-solid behaviour of an 1150 but the front end of my new 1200 feels very vague when riding upright in a straight line, at any speed about about 20mph. When tipped in to a bend it's fine but in a straight line it inspires no confidence at all. I know it's a much lighter bike than the 1150 but..... Is it a case of "they all do that, Sir"? Or is it the Trailwing tyres? Both demonstrators that I rode wore Tourances and I didn't notice this problem - I'd love to have an excuse to ditch the Deathwings at the earliest opportunity

I have the front preload on minimum, rear on about 3/4 in so it's not an 'attitide' problem. Anyone else experienced this or do I just have to get used to it (tall bike, less weight, poor aerodynamics blah blah blah) whatever tyres are fitted?

 

[Tim Cullis]

No, they don't all do that.

Tim

 

[Engineer]

I'll confess that I'm used to the rock-solid behaviour of an 1150 but the front end of my new 1200 feels very vague when riding upright in a straight line, at any speed about about 20mph. When tipped in to a bend it's fine but in a straight line it inspires no confidence at all. I know it's a much lighter bike than the 1150 but..... Is it a case of "they all do that, Sir"? Or is it the Trailwing tyres? Both demonstrators that I rode wore Tourances and I didn't notice this problem - I'd love to have an excuse to ditch the Deathwings at the earliest opportunity

I have the front preload on minimum, rear on about 3/4 in so it's not an 'attitide' problem. Anyone else experienced this or do I just have to get used to it (tall bike, less weight, poor aerodynamics blah blah blah) whatever tyres are fitted?

Mine feels fine - but I haven't ridden a 1150 - I don't think anyone has described the front end on a 1200 as vague - sounds like some sort of tyre issue.

 

[Shep]

I'd love to have an excuse to ditch the Deathwings at the earliest opportunity

Junk them, they're crap

 

[Tomcat]

When I first rode a 1200GS demo I thought the straight line steeering was scarily vague at fast motorway speeds ( . The advice from Vines was to increase the preload, so on the next ride I adjusted the front up one notch, and set the rear a tad firmer than standard. Big improvement - still slightly vague compared to a sports bike, but then you get all the advantages of the telelever etc. when hacking through bends . And it still feels plush and comfortable. BTW, I use Tourances, which are brill - quite long-lasting (7500 rear) and surprisingly grippy and stable in the twisty stuff.

TC

 

[sproggy]

When I first rode a 1200GS demo I thought the straight line steeering was scarily vague at fast motorway speeds ( . The advice from Vines was to increase the damping, so on the next ride I adjusted the front up one notch, and set the rear a tad firmer than standard. Big improvement - still slightly vague compared to a sports bike, but then you get all the advantages of the telelever etc. when hacking through bends . BTW, I use Tourances, which are brill - quite long-lasting (7500 rear) and surprisingly grippy and stable in the twisty stuff.

TC

'Fast Motorway Speeds' have yet to be investigated as I'm running in, but the behaviour at vaguely legal speeds doesn't encourage me..... Adjusting the front preload up one notch isn't likely to improve the front end feel (the opposite, actually) - it's increasing the rear preload (and rebound to compensate) that makes the difference. Done that already.

I had Tourances (2 sets) and BT-020's (also 2 sets, one on standard rims and one on alloys) on my 1150 and rate both highly. I'll probably fit 020's and see if things improve - I'll save the Trailwings to re-fit to the bike when I trade it back in after a couple of years. That'll teach the dealer to supply me with them in the first place.... Not that they had any choice - all new GS's are arriving with Trailwings at the moment.

 

[Tomcat]

Hi Sproggy - try front end preload, it only takes a moment to adjust. It, plus a bit more rear preload certainly made the difference on my bike.

TC

 

[sproggy]

Hi Sproggy - try front end preload, it only takes a moment to adjust. It, plus a bit more rear preload certainly made the difference on my bike.

TC

When I collected the bike it had front preload on the second notch, I reduced it to minimum (at the same time increasing rear preload from 'standard' to about 3/4 of full) to put more weight over the front and quicken the steering - same thing I did to my 1150. Steering response was noticeably improved but vagueness wasn't affected. I can't imagine I've altered the steering geometry to the point where the bike's become unstable....

I can try increasing the front preload again but that goes against what seems 'right' as I know it'll adversely affect the front end feel. My money's still on the tyres, but as you say preload is easy to adjust so it's worth experiementing.

 

[sjwb]

Forget all this preload crap!
Check the tire pressures, security of the lower yoke screws (4 off) and freedom of movement of the steering system through its working arc.
If your still not happy, take it back to the dealer.
The 1200 is not vague at the front, lacking in feedback yes, but not vague. In comaprison to an 1150 the first impressions of the front end are, lightness and speed of response. Where you refer to the 1150 as rock solid, I would lean more towards stodgy.
Provided that there is nothing mechanically wrong, get used to the bike and enjoy its capability.

 

[chasr]

I agree. It's more likely to be tyre pressures, or that you're not used to the bike. By the way, I ran a set of Trailwings (Deathwings ) for 6000 miles, and they were fine for pure road use (and I wore them to the edges ...... 'ish). Unless you're a track-day expert, I doubt you'll reach any limits. That said, my last 2 sets have been Tourances.

 

[sproggy]

Check the tire pressures, security of the lower yoke screws (4 off) and freedom of movement of the steering system through its working arc.
If your still not happy, take it back to the dealer.

Tyre pressures are fine. Same vagueness issue riding solo (32/36) or two-up (36/42) although I had suspected that reducing the pressure at the front might help a bit. Yolk screws I'd trusted that the dealer would check as part of the PDI (it being such a well-publicised problem) but perhaps I should check them myself anyway. Freedom of movement not a problem.

I'll probably change the tyres before the 600 mile service anyway - if the problem remains after changing them I'll certainly raise it when I take the bike in. I'm glad to hear it's not a case of "they all do that" as it's the only thing about the bike I'm not happy about.

 

[sproggy]

I ran a set of Trailwings (Deathwings ) for 6000 miles, and they were fine for pure road use (and I wore them to the edges ...... 'ish). Unless you're a track-day expert, I doubt you'll reach any limits.

I'm within 5mm of the edges - there's no problem in the dry when the bike's tipped into a bend, only in a straight line. I'm told they won't fulfil their true Deathwing reputation until the roads are wet.....

 

[Schtum]

The Trailwings definitely offer a bit less straight line stability than Tourances. That twitchiness can be quite entertaining as it speeds up the steering.

As for suspension settings, as I'm sure you know it depends upon your weight, but at a relatively sylph-like 12 stone, I'm running my front preload on the second notch from fully soft and the rear cranked up to almost fully hard. The rear preload has a significant effect on the bike's rate of turn but also on its stability.

In contrast with what you might expect, more rear preload equals more front end stability. The downside is that it takes the rear sag outside the correct parameters. It would be better to devise a method of setting the rear ride height independently of spring preload.

 

[atkigasser]

You could try dropping the front pressure to 28psi. Mine felt vague after the 1150, but more stable with 28psi.