Looking for advice GS1200 2008

Steny365

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Hi all , I'm looking for advice , I noticed my bike seems very light on motorway speeds I have adjusted the preload up on rear shock and have front set at two , it feels like it's extremely light if you get me , I changed out headstock clamp bearing etc , I'm wondering if someone could advise the telelever ball joint can these cause a light feeling issue , rubber part looks perfect , when I have it up on stand there doesn't seem to be any play in ball joint , but with wheel of the ground turning handle bars left to right is extremely light I know it cause wheel of the ground but I'm wondering are these joints new are on the stiff side and maybe mine is worn internally and is on the loose side would that be possible , other thing I noticed is a clunk noise from front when I have brakes applied and pushing down I have found that this clunk noise is the discs moving on the rivets there's some play in them ,anything I can look for I believe the bike should more stable than that
 
Hello
What kind of tyres are you using, road, hybrid or off road? Do you run with cases on, or a loaded top box, have you checked your tyre pressures? Has the bike always been like this or is it a recent thing? :thumb2
 
Mac One said:
Hello
What kind of tyres are you using, road, hybrid or off road? Do you run with cases on, or a loaded top box, have you checked your tyre pressures? Has the bike always been like this or is it a recent thing? :thumb2
Click to expand...

Hi recently got the pilot road 5 trials fitted ,have only had bike a few months kinda was there from day one I put it down to the bad tyres that were on it and also the headstock bearing which I replaced
 
I'm wondering if someone could advise the telelever ball joint can these cause a light feeling issue
Click to expand...

Yes it does.

I had mine replaced last summer and had similar symptoms.
Apart from feeling "light" the bike's handling was very bad (the joint ovalised in my case).
I had other, worse, symptoms though, especially when the bike was loaded with panniers, etc.

It is a relatively cheap fix.
Bike seemed like new after.
 
er-minio said:
Yes it does.

I had mine replaced last summer and had similar symptoms.
Apart from feeling "light" the bike's handling was very bad (the joint ovalised in my case).
I had other, worse, symptoms though, especially when the bike was loaded with panniers, etc.

It is a relatively cheap fix.
Bike seemed like new after.
Click to expand...

Hi thanks for that ,did yours look ok when it was bad ,my boot is fine on it and doesn’t seem to be any play , I’m goeing to take top nut off and feel the joint , do new ones have a stiffness on the rotational side of things if you get me , if mine moves freely around when I have it out of the telelever would that be a sign of worn one
 
I would check everything. But I fitted road trial 5 and I really struggled with the speed my bike turned with after removing metzeler Tourane which were very square. It took me a little time to adapt to the trial 5. Now I absolutely love them just ordered another pair.
 
I’m goeing to take top nut off and feel the joint , do new ones have a stiffness on the rotational side of things if you get me , if mine moves freely around when I have it out of the telelever would that be a sign of worn one
Click to expand...

My bike was very light at motorway speeds (80 to 100) and scarily unstable at top speed.

Keep in mind while this started happening, as it got worse over time of course, and I got used to riding it that way, I had my shocks serviced (Ohlins TTX, due for service at the time) and changed tyres assuming the worn ones were the problem.

Then, on my way to Italy, the bike started weaving really badly in between left/right corners at speed while on the Alps.
In Italy my mechanic there checked it and the front joint was gone. It was stiffening up and the loosening all of a sudden leading to the shitty riding.
The ride back to the UK was much more enjoyable.

The joint didn't look ruined from "the outside".
When it was off the bike, moving it you could really feel the unevenness.

As CNC wrote above me: check everything anyway.
 
Well I checked ball joint and it does seem fine , anyway I took of the front wheel and I checked the wheel bearings one side does feel rough and notchy shop is replacing them in the morning ,would bad wheel bearings cause funny feel on the front
 
road tyres

as std it will wobble across the lanes 5 foot back and forth at 75mph, part buffeting, but mostly interesting set up and no grip tyres

fit Dunlop road smart 3s and grip goes up 5 fold and stability goes from none to normal.... luckily it retains the fun flickable handling that bm geometry allows

some road tyres cause severe issues with heavy steering at low speed and at high speed highlight the weak flexy forks (I had big issues with some Bridgestone BT21 and Michelin PS3 road tyres)

we shouldn't allow trail tyres on the road they are outrageous.... been riding my KTM 1290 on its stock tyres they don't work and nor do the ones on a brand new triumph 1200 explorer... I can't quite believe how treacherous they are... like in no grip anywhere wet or dry hot or cold
 
safety improvement (and additional ave speed increase / fun) to be gained by road tyres is far bigger than I had realised.

I've been on road tyres on my GS for last 8 years and I thought it was just normal levels of grip. But the stock things on my KTM 1290 have zero grip, large power drifts if below 14C on almost no throttle, vague nasty front end that's letting go all the time. Yet surprised me yesterday on 35 mile of heavy rain, you don't actually die, which I had expected. However the ride wasn't without nearly coming off twice. If you run parallel to a white line at low speed and snag it as you try to get past a door mirror the tyres tried throw me off with great enthusiasm by just totally letting go. On a number of occasions ending up with a sudden 18" lateral slip after a mild 1mm nudge of a line just doesn't happen with road tyres. And on a Triumph 1200 XR in hot dry conditions the rear was letting go on almost tick over.

Its incredible people actually try to ride on this rubbish... why? If you want to fall off take the bike to an ice rink... but don't tell me that its fun, safe or even necessary
 
Think I might try Angel GT next........they don't do the new version in Hexhead sizing.

Or maybe Road Attack 3

Sent from a U11
 
botus said:
Its incredible people actually try to ride on this rubbish... why? If you want to fall off take the bike to an ice rink... but don't tell me that its fun, safe or even necessary
Click to expand...

Of course full road tyres will be an improvement, but the hybrid tyres big trail bikes use nowadays (apart from 1 or 2 lemons) are incredibly good.
I've done trackdays with my GS (in wet and dry conditions) with Dunlop Trailsmart Tyres and they behaved magnificently (given all the limitations) apart from overheating at some point and being not so much directional when braking on straight lines... but hey... they weren't designed for that use.

I highly doubt any of us everyday riders will push any of those tyres towards any "crisis".

I really don't think Steny's problem is not using road tyres to be honest.
I've been there and seems like it can be the joint ball or bearings.
Of course, again, he should check everything starting with tyres, shocks...
 
mine wobbled about to an incredible degree - in windy conditions its almost using two lanes of a motorway once you go above 75, if you need to hold on tight coz massive head wind / high speed / small screen then its even more !!! fit road tyres, a non BMW screen, relax your grip and its stable-ish from 50 to 135mph no problem

on mine a 57 plate orig 1200GS, with the original Metz Tourrance tyres I couldn't ride it between traffic at walking pace as it was all over the road.... needing 2 metres to itself, same sensation from 0 to 130

I then fitted a Bridgestone road tyre that came out BT 21 or 23 I forget, the rear was great, but when the 19" front came out the bike was transformed as if the steering was locked straight-ahead, you then couldn't do low speed as you lost balance unable to move the front wheel and the forks / bar ends flexed 6" out of sync trying.... I threw it in a skip at 75 miles and tried the Road Smart 1 some similar issues but vastly reduced. Then road smart 2 very good (did 2 of them) then a Mich PS3 that went in a skip at 1000 miles as is was awful and for a reason I still don't get meant every big braking manoeuvre became 3 foot high stoppie. Then the road smart 3 came out and its the one I recco for the bike, almost normal, great grip, lasts forever, no inadvertent stoppies !!!

Its got a top brace now just below the ball joints allows +120mph big S bends to be taken safely and removes a few foot of delayed response at the handlebars and excessive arm twirling...and yet they went and fitted weaker forks on the LC bikes - and wondered why they fell off !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mXkdr4ZBAs

by the way the GS is far quicker covering ground than my KTM 1290 even with 60bhp missing
 
Steny365 said:
Hi all , I'm looking for advice , I noticed my bike seems very light on motorway speeds I have adjusted the preload up on rear shock and have front set at two , it feels like it's extremely light if you get me , I changed out headstock clamp bearing etc , I'm wondering if someone could advise the telelever ball joint can these cause a light feeling issue , rubber part looks perfect , when I have it up on stand there doesn't seem to be any play in ball joint , but with wheel of the ground turning handle bars left to right is extremely light I know it cause wheel of the ground but I'm wondering are these joints new are on the stiff side and maybe mine is worn internally and is on the loose side would that be possible , other thing I noticed is a clunk noise from front when I have brakes applied and pushing down I have found that this clunk noise is the discs moving on the rivets there's some play in them ,anything I can look for I believe the bike should more stable than that
Click to expand...

How much do you weigh?

Was there any change after you replaced upper cross brace bearing?

Did you remove forks and what was your process for refitting them?
 
botus said:
road tyres

as std it will wobble across the lanes 5 foot back and forth at 75mph, part buffeting, but mostly interesting set up and no grip tyres

fit Dunlop road smart 3s and grip goes up 5 fold and stability goes from none to normal.... luckily it retains the fun flickable handling that bm geometry allows

some road tyres cause severe issues with heavy steering at low speed and at high speed highlight the weak flexy forks (I had big issues with some Bridgestone BT21 and Michelin PS3 road tyres)

we shouldn't allow trail tyres on the road they are outrageous.... been riding my KTM 1290 on its stock tyres they don't work and nor do the ones on a brand new triumph 1200 explorer... I can't quite believe how treacherous they are... like in no grip anywhere wet or dry hot or cold
Click to expand...

botus said:
safety improvement (and additional ave speed increase / fun) to be gained by road tyres is far bigger than I had realised.

I've been on road tyres on my GS for last 8 years and I thought it was just normal levels of grip. But the stock things on my KTM 1290 have zero grip, large power drifts if below 14C on almost no throttle, vague nasty front end that's letting go all the time. Yet surprised me yesterday on 35 mile of heavy rain, you don't actually die, which I had expected. However the ride wasn't without nearly coming off twice. If you run parallel to a white line at low speed and snag it as you try to get past a door mirror the tyres tried throw me off with great enthusiasm by just totally letting go. On a number of occasions ending up with a sudden 18" lateral slip after a mild 1mm nudge of a line just doesn't happen with road tyres. And on a Triumph 1200 XR in hot dry conditions the rear was letting go on almost tick over.

Its incredible people actually try to ride on this rubbish... why? If you want to fall off take the bike to an ice rink... but don't tell me that its fun, safe or even necessary
Click to expand...

botus said:
mine wobbled about to an incredible degree - in windy conditions its almost using two lanes of a motorway once you go above 75, if you need to hold on tight coz massive head wind / high speed / small screen then its even more !!! fit road tyres, a non BMW screen, relax your grip and its stable-ish from 50 to 135mph no problem

on mine a 57 plate orig 1200GS, with the original Metz Tourrance tyres I couldn't ride it between traffic at walking pace as it was all over the road.... needing 2 metres to itself, same sensation from 0 to 130

I then fitted a Bridgestone road tyre that came out BT 21 or 23 I forget, the rear was great, but when the 19" front came out the bike was transformed as if the steering was locked straight-ahead, you then couldn't do low speed as you lost balance unable to move the front wheel and the forks / bar ends flexed 6" out of sync trying.... I threw it in a skip at 75 miles and tried the Road Smart 1 some similar issues but vastly reduced. Then road smart 2 very good (did 2 of them) then a Mich PS3 that went in a skip at 1000 miles as is was awful and for a reason I still don't get meant every big braking manoeuvre became 3 foot high stoppie. Then the road smart 3 came out and its the one I recco for the bike, almost normal, great grip, lasts forever, no inadvertent stoppies !!!

Its got a top brace now just below the ball joints allows +120mph big S bends to be taken safely and removes a few foot of delayed response at the handlebars and excessive arm twirling...and yet they went and fitted weaker forks on the LC bikes - and wondered why they fell off !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mXkdr4ZBAs

by the way the GS is far quicker covering ground than my KTM 1290 even with 60bhp missing
Click to expand...

Blimey , I never realized how bad they are, I should be dead,

My gsa has now covered over 100,000 miles , I have done all of those on original tourance, I've never found them to be problem.
I have been able to ride very swiftly through rough mountain roads to very fast smooth roads in around 20 different countries all over Europe, I've never felt them slipping at all in rain or sunshine, friends have not been able to keep up even on their sportsbikes when we are touring, even back in may when the,left hand side of my front tyre was almost bald in the picos mountains,
Maybe I need to take your advice and see how much faster I can really go!
Btw is English your first language?
Your posts are a little incoherent,
 
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