| Author | Message | ||
     Okc99 |
This happened last summer too. She tracks straight as an arrow until about 75mph and then a visible sine-wave starts to appear in the bars. I rode with a group on Sat and the guy behind me said he could actually see my entire bike doing a mini fish tail for a good 1/4 mile. So I know it's not in my head. Last year someone suggested I was in the "rain groove" of the road but given that was an entirely different state and these are new tires (and different type) I think it has to be something else. I don't think it's the wheel weights because wouldn't you progressively feel a sine-wave come on from 40mph on? Could your wheels be balanced until 70 and then become unbalanced??? I'm guessing it's the bags catching wind. Has anyone experienced this? | ||
| Svh |
Not me even riding with them empty. Very wierd and could be very scary. My Uly sure likes to be in that 80-85mph range. | ||
| Nobuell |
Just last weekend I had the XT out on a trip with all bags fully loaded. I ran 90+ many times during my trip and it was steady as a rock. You may want to check your steering head bearing for adjustment. If they are to tight, the handling gets squirrely. | ||
| Okc99 |
*GULP* This is not promising feedback | ||
| Froggy |
Ive done well over a hundred many times with bags. Your issues are not with the bags. | ||
| Pontlee77 |
I put some bard en weights, and it cured the problem i had when cruising at 80+ miles. | ||
| 12bolt |
Not the bags, Check steering head bearing, preload adjustment and if this doesnt solve the problem you can lower your forks in the triple clamp a little bit. Oops forgot to mention that the stock front dunlop tire has a tendancy to wander at high speeds! | ||
| Barker |
Im guessing suspension is out of whack. | ||
| Glen |
back end too high or front end too low, or both. did ya try riding it without the bags? | ||
| Okc99 |
Consequently, I had a dealer set up the suspension for me just over the winter. So both instances occurred under 2 different setups. Thus Load/Rebound isn't it. Can anyone at least concur that it can't be unbalanced wheels for the reason stated above? | ||
| Ironhead1977 |
Anything is possible. My vote is for the head bearings need setting. Easy enough to check. Prop the front end up and check stiffness. By the way my XT does not get real good until 80 mph. | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Just got back from a 2500+ mile trip. The bike was loaded to the max, I even had gear bungied to the top case. Solid as a rock up to triple digit speeds, regardless of pavement type/condition. Even handled grooved pavement in the construction zones without incident. The bike is very sensitive to rider/passenger input. My wife can get my bike into a good sine wave pattern if she has the right tunes playing on her i-pod. If you're running solo, try a lighter grip on the handle bars, you'd be surprised at the unintentional input you can be applying. My 2¢.... | ||
| Okc99 |
Cyclone....are you kidding me? That is hard to believe! | ||
| Road_kill |
My '08 is rock solid with very different combinations of load, speed, gear mounting, bags on/off, etc. I did experience some sine wave wiggle with the D616's I tried. Back to Scorps! | ||
| Mad_doctor |
My 08 XT loves the higher speeds, (I have my top case loaded pretty heavy). It loves the corners too, (at high speed), I also would check the neck bearings. Just my .02 | ||
| Crusty |
Not to state the obvious, but have you checked your tire pressures lately? Both my '06 Uly and my '08 XT were rock steady at all speeds up to 115 MPH. (Even with the stock Dunlop 616s) | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Okc99 - "Cyclone....are you kidding me? That is hard to believe!" No, not kidding. But I have experienced the bike start to "wander" a bit when I get tense, i.e. heavy traffic on the interstate, lots of buffeting from dirty air off vehicles in front of me. Relaxing my grip and letting my shoulders relaxed allowed the bike to maintain a solid line. I'm definitely not saying that there isn't some mechanical issue with your bike, just something worth pondering. There's been many reports of guys wearing gear that catches the wind causing unintentional input into the handle bars; once they changed to less wind catching gear or relaxed their grip, the problems went away. Once you've double checked that there is no mechanical issue, take a ride with a conscious eye on how much input you might be putting into the bike, intentional or unintentional - you might be surprised. I'm impressed with how stable a bike the Ulysses is. | ||
| Armymedic |
Could it be a bad bearing issue??? | ||
| Okc99 |
I doubt it. It happened at 3k miles too on some roads at that speed. My production date is May 08, one of the latest ones. | ||
| Ourdee |
I've had the 08xt past 125 speedo indicated with the bags on, it was straight and smooth. | ||
| Luftkoph |
06 with side bags and top case all loaded,dunlop 616's took it out to the old air strip to make sure it would be ok on a long trip ran it up to an indicated on gps 115 mph no prob. | ||
| Xbimmer |
First get out your owner's manual and set the suspension to spec per your weight bracket. My bike was set up by the dealer completely wrong when I bought it. It's easy to do, trust yourself. Tighter than spec steering head bearings transfer road-to-tire oscillations straight to the frame and will induce a weave, a properly torqued steering set dampens those inputs. Too loose creates other problems and beats the bearings up. Adjustment isn't difficult at all. Just jack up the front, loosen the appropriate bolts and go to work with a torque wrench on the cap nut. Tighten everything back together with the appropriate color LocTite and it should be fine. The factory service manual and the parts catalog are extremely useful tools also. | ||
| Yankee_dog |
my Ural has a steering damper. If the damper is set to tight the bike tends to weave at higher speeds. This points to your steering head bearing if you ask me. yankee Dog | ||
| Thunderbox |
Here is something to try. If you have the stock mirrors, remove them and try the ride at the same speeds over the same road and see if it occurs again. I had a bit of a wiggle until I replaced the Mickey Mouse mirrors with the mirrors from the Aprilia Tuono. This won' cost you a cent to verify. What have you got to lose. | ||
| Debueller |
Quote: I had a dealer set up the suspension for me just over the winter.) I would suggest that anyone with a bike with suspension and chassis as finely tuned as the Ulysses rely only on themselves to set-up the suspension. The owners manual explains how to do it properly. | ||
| Okc99 |
Where is the steering head bearing? I checked tire pressure. I was 36 and is supposed to be 42. Not that far off. | ||
| Jphish |
OKC - I Can appreciate your apprehension. I have experienced the 'death wobble' on my improperly loaded 650KLR. Scarry! For the ULY, Loaded or lite - with bags or without - No squirreliness, even at triple digits. I also have a 16' Parabellum windscreen with Palmer brackets. Lots of area for the wind to work on. So... 1)Tires, 2)head bearings, 3)wheel bearings, (check for lateral play & insure all bearings in good order & torqued to specs) 4) suspension set up for your load. #2,3& 4 - about 2 hours worth of work. once you eliminate those it only leaves Tires - havent heard of any weaving except on the 616's, but never had them on the Uly, so can't really comment. Like cyclone sez...relax the grip and let the machine find it's way without excessive input from the rider. I have had improperly balanced tires - I get more of an "out of round" thumping experience, than a weave or wobble. Other than some other weird anomaly, like a rear shock being blown (a quick check for oil at the bottom mount might be worthwhile) I can't think of any other obvious cause. Let us know what you find. good luck! j | ||
| Ratbuell |
Wow, is that the same owners' manual we dealers use? Use a *2009* manual, it has a separate chart for the X/XP and has a good guideline for the added weight of the bags. The '09 book also has a good chart for the XT (not in the '08 book). I know, the suspension components are different, but I have personally used XT settings on an X with bags with good results. If you don't have an '09, register as an owner on buell.com and you can view 05-09 books online. But I'm just a dealer, what do I know.... | ||
| Ratbuell |
And OKC - 36 to 42 is a HUGE variance. Although thinking about it...where are you getting 42 from? I'd have to check my book, but I think it's 34/36 F/R for tires... Steering head bearing is adjusted by the big nut on top of the triple tree, by the base of the handlebars. I would NOT recommend adjusting it without a shop manual due to the number of steps and torque values. (Message edited by ratbuell on May 28, 2009) | ||
| Okc99 |
I have michelins. Maybe is says Max 42psi. It was dark and I could barely see. But all I could see is 42. Anyone up for a testride? I 'll only charge ya $5 for this carnival ride. |
