vibration through the bars

[stevie Allen]

Hi guys, anybody got any advice on how to ease or illiminate vibration through the bars , Ive had the gs now a few weeks ,but any distance I put in has my fingers going dead, Ive done long distances on various bikes 1300,750,s and had some ,but not to the frequency of the gs , Ive thought of the usual ,maybe concentrating and holding on too tight etc , but some times its so bad , ive gotta let go one hand or stop and get off only after say ten minutes , and thats not a good omen for wanting to put in some decent mileage
thanks in advance.

 

[EggChaser]

Well relaxing your grip a little will help, also make sure your gloves are not too tight (as one of my sets of gloves seems to causes me an issue, but not the others.)

I believe it is possible to fill the bars with some form of damping material but I am not sure how effective that is or how much it might cost if you then had to have something like the heated grips replaced.

 

[Comfy Old Boots]

Perhaps change the angle of the bars. There are certain pressure spots at the heal of the hand that can cause deadness and numbness. I've had it myself and found moving the bars down a bit and relaxing the grip a bit got rid of most of the problems. A service and tune will sort the rest of the vibes out. Good luck

 

[Mutley]

Change up a gear

 

[RickG]

It's worth doing a search here as there are very, very many threads on the subject of vibration.

As to the causes and reduction of the source you need to do 2 main things:

1) ensure the throttle bodies are perfectly balanced (after setting valve clearances etc.)
2) have about 15,000 to 20,000 miles on the clock. Below this milage the vibes can be as bad as you describe. After a few thou' the bike will smooth up very considerably. No substitute for this I'm afraid.

 

[magpie]

They all do that Sir

 

[Gruffalo]

They all do that Sir

+1 but you get used to it after a while

 

[tunnie]

normal 12 GS here, the bars are as smooth as silk way into 3 figures

 

[jogo]

Mine once vibrated much more in the rpm range I usually use than what I thought was ok. Had serviced it at the dealer (had to do that to maintain warranty) at the end of the season before and after the winter it was just crap.

I did the valves carefully once more and they were not really wrong adjusted but not as good as you can do it yourself when taking the time. The throttles were far out of sync. I adjusted them carefully with focus on my most used rpm range and got a very smooth engine.
Approaching 20000km now and the engine has never been better.

Joerg

 

[mr badger]

As above plus Grip Puppies.

Glove size is a common issue with hand numbness. Should be a little air gap at finger ends when on the grips/

 

[Martin S]

I read somewhere that tennis/squash racket tape on the grips helps but not tried it myself.

 

[Riders Rest]

I have heard good things about a product called a bar snake www.barsnake.com if balancing the throttle boddies and other technicaly mechanical things doesn't work it must be worth a look

 

[stevie Allen]

I have heard good things about a product called a bar snake www.barsnake.com if balancing the throttle boddies and other technicaly mechanical things doesn't work it must be worth a look

Im not that technically sound to be doing that sort of thing myself ...yet!!!!! but will take it all onboard, its just passed 3,000 miles now ,so having so little on the clock ,may be another factor thanks again .

 

[madmax]

Spoke to someone a while back who complained of vibes through the bars, they tried everything, valve gaps set, throttle bodies balanced etc etc.
It turned out to be a hair line crack in the ball and socket on one of the mirrors, just enough to resonate and cause vibes through the bars.
Cost you nowt to check and eliminate.

 

[GSmonkey]

They don't all do that, so there's something wrong somewhere. You should be able to ride a GS all day and get off as fresh as a daisy.

 

[SPL]

Grip puppies;

http://www.sportouring.com/gallery.php?sectionHeaderActive=1000&rangeChoosen=353

You want the SMALL size for a GS.

Only a tenner, and made a big difference to my bike...

 

[Chris Terry]

They don't all do that, so there's something wrong somewhere. You should be able to ride a GS all day and get off as fresh as a daisy.

I agree
My old 05 GS was fine from new and did 22,000 miles.
My new GS has got 3,400 miles and is an "all day" ride as well.

 

[2 wheel humvee]

I think all big twins vibrate,be they flat,vee or parallel,balancer shaft equipped or not...............it's how they are transmitted to the rider that causes the problems,there are so many variables that a one fix cure-all for all riders is probably impossible as we are all different shapes and sizes with differing postures and riding styles
I felt vibes through my hands and fingers on my 06 1200GSA and got similar vibes through my 09 model but I wouldn't say the 09 was any worse than the 06 model,probably the reverse,I think the 09 engine is not only noticeably quicker everywhere but less vibey too. Nonetheless I had vibes and tingling most noticeably through the palm of my hand starting from the outside (little finger side) and gradually working across,this, I concluded was due to the amount of sweep back of the stock handlebars ,there are threads on this site covering the installation of after market handlebars in place of the originals but I tried the cheaper option of up & back risers which allowed me to rotate the handlebars in the clamps and to lessen the amount of weight taken on the outside of my palms,it's worked for me-it might not work for all but it didn't cost a lot of money to try this first as the cheapest option towards a cure just my 0.02c

 

[RickG]

Many of the 1200's vibrate until they are run in. It's known issue. If you search the threads you'll find tens of examples. Some bikes may vibrate less than others, if you get a good-un consider yourself lucky.

 

[MartinL]

Many of the 1200's vibrate until they are run in. It's known issue. If you search the threads you'll find tens of examples. Some bikes may vibrate less than others, if you get a good-un consider yourself lucky.

I know this is a common perception, indeed I would say mine has smoothed out slightly over the last 12K miles but I've yet to have anyone satisfactorily explain to my why an engine should get significantly smoother with mileage?

Assuming correct service parameters (e.g. throttle synch.), for a given engine layout / geometry the vibration developed is surely dependent on the various masses of the moving parts and how they are timed together. Discounting a few milligrams of ash or whatever on the piston crowns none of that is going to alter much regardless of mileage so how can the engine get smoother?

I rather think outside of any sloppy factory set up (rare methinks given modern technology, I stuck the vac gauges on my GS when it was a couple of days old and the synch was better than any boxer I've ever had before) that may be corrected by servicing we just get use to the shakes the more we ride.