| Author | Message | ||
     Truk |
I have a 03 XB9R. I ride pretty aggressive. I have tweaked with the suspension quite a bit. Finally back on the factory setting with preload set up for my 195 lbs. Bike does great at speed in the corners unless I hit a bump or dip. Then it seems the whole front end flexes. it feels like i am overloading the front end. I do tend to ride on the tank. Not an issue on my R1, but just seems the my buell is more affected then the R1 I know they increased the fork size on later models, but I have ridden other sportbikes with the same size forks without this issue Is it just the aggressive rake and trail, or something else... Any thoughts | ||
| M1combat |
Don't ride on the tank? I'm not too sure it would be rake and trail per se, but maybe the short wheelbase. | ||
| Truk |
M1 - I have ben trying not to ride the tank, but when it gets real aggressive and I am leaned over, arms parallel with the ground, I am down on the tank. I am 6'1". My weight is not on my wrist...If I do ride it incorrectly and stiff arm it, it is really bad...and rightfully so For me to stay completely off the tank I about have to sit straight up, which isn't right either. As long as the road is half way decent no problem, but if I hit a dip or bump it unsettles the bike more than any other bike I have had. I have done all the other obvious things, tire pressure, suspension settings, re-torqued head bearings. just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and if so what ideas they had? | ||
| M1combat |
I agree you don't want to stiff arm it  . I'm only 5'9" but I hold myself up with my back, and grip the tank with my legs... keeping my upper body loose of course. IT's hard to make any recommendation but I'm curious what you mean by flex... You mention that it "feels" like you may be overloading the front. I have the same problem. I've gotten pretty good at sliding the front tire around a corner. I did some thinking about it and played with the front preload a little... I ended up deciding that I am better served just getting on the gas earlier. Granted, I try to take it easy over bumps or ripples in corners but my 12R seems to just soak them up and not get unsettled at all. Where my front is sliding and feels overloaded is just after I flick it in. I learned that rolling onn a little as I add lean angle works well in my situation for un-loading the front. In your situation... over bumps specifically... Can you tell if it's actually happening when the front goes over or is it the rear? Is it when the tire actually hits the bump or as the tire is trying to get down the trailing edge of the bump? What tires? The D207's seemed a little squirmy to me... At the least they seemed more easily overheated than the M1's. | ||
| Truk |
M1 - Yes I too hold myself up with my spine, stomach muscles and thighs on the frame, keeping my upper body and arms loose using my hands for steering input only. The only time it is an issue is if I hit a bump or dip that is moderate or more in size while leaned over. It is just the front that seems to be most affected. I am not bottoming out, though I plan to place a tie wrap on one of the forks to be sure It happens when I initially hit the bump or dip. It seems to unsettle the front in a manner that I only know how to define as more of a flexing sensation of the forks. it isn't wallowing, seems to be of a flexing or twisting sensation I too have notice it helps to get on throttle if I can... In addition to the OEM tires, I have also used Dunlop 207 front and 220 rear, Michelin Pilot front and am currently using Metzler M1 front with Metzler Z6 rear. I am inclined to think it might be a characteristic of the radical design of the bike, 41 inch front forks and being 195 lbs riding aggressively on some occasionally rough roads....but my R1 seems to deal with the same situation better One good thing. It has taught me to be more correct in my riding habits. It lets me know real quick if I am getting lazy with proper technique. It rewards proper technique and lets you know real quick when you are not | ||
| M1combat |
Agreed with the proper technique rewards... This is (IMO) magnified with the stock tires. You're sure the pinch bolts are tight? Did you press down on the forks a couple times before you tightened the pinch bolts? Steering head tight enough? I'm wondering if it's a characteristic of the front M1? Maybe take both the bump and rebound damping down a little? It's hard to say. I've never really felt like the bike was flexing but I don't have a lot of experience on any other modern bikes either. The frame certainly seems stiff though... The only thing I've ever felt with riding over good sized dips while leaned over is the bike just sticking to the road and tracking over the bumps. It's never gone anywhere at all without either me telling it to go there or lots of warning. Are your triple clamps tight enough? It's an '03 nine... You have the new wheel bearings? | ||
| Truk |
Bought it used in Feb with 1800 miles. It is an 03 XB9R. Does have the orange bearings. It had some clunking in the front end. Been lurking on this board for years and knew it was the steering head bearings (stem cap)so got the SM from Daves and re-torqued it. I followed the procedure in the SM. It did come with Heli bars. But checked them out they seem fine. I have them on my R1 too. I now have 9,250 miles and am preparing to do the 10,000 mile service. I will re-torque the front end again, as I am planing on changing the fork fluids. Will see what happens after that. Thanks for your input... | ||
| M1combat |
Have someone else sit on the bike and hold the front brake while rocking it fore and aft. Place your thumb on one of the mounting bolts for the front rotor so that it touches both the rotor and the bolt at the same time while they're rocking the bike. The rotor will rotate a bit and I believe is what produces the slight thunk on an XB when you do this. I think I understand what you're referring to... My bike doesn't just glide over bumps like there not there exactly but I've never had it react in such a way that I thought it wasn't right. Again though, I don't have a lot of experience on many newer bikes. | ||
| Vader |
I have an 03 xb9r also. I changed the fork fluid. I believe the oem weight is 5. Tried 15 and it was too heavy. Went to 10 weight and it seemed to help out nicely. Still have to fine tune the overall suspension because I just bought it, but the front end seems to have tightened up a little more. | ||
| Buell12hundo |
truk, look at the front motor mount (rubber bushing) my bike felt like it too was bottoming out only in the front, did a little look over while bike was idling and found that the front mount was worn out at the rubber part, had it replaced and now the bike rides fine no more jolt trough the bars. | ||
| M1combat |
Good call Buell12hundo... Also... When you replace that part, get the Ulysses/SS part. I hear they've moved to a better vulcanization process for '06. Check with Daves to make sure it fits though. | ||
| Truk |
Buell12 - Anything in particular about your front rubber mount that led you to believe it was worn out. Mine looks fine. I had thought about that before too, but visual inspection shows nothing unusual??? | ||
| Trac95ker |
Have you tried increasing or decreasing your comp. damping? | ||
| Buell12hundo |
truk, rev the motor and if the aluminum part shakes alot then I say it bad. ther was a discussion on this before and a few other bad webers had pics of the front mount. oh ya the rubber had little balls of rubber on the top from the mount rubbing against it hope this helps man | ||
| Truk |
Buell12 - Mine doesn't exhibit any of those signs or symptoms, but thanks for the suggestion. My issue is not real significant, just that my other bike (01 R1)copes better under the same conditions. Perhaps with the fork oil and re-torquing of the front end when I do the 10,000 mile svc...or it might just be the nature of the bike due to its GP like rake and trail. I do love to lean and keep my corner speed up | ||
| M1combat |
Does it make you feel out of control? | ||
| Truk |
I ride through it, but it can knock you off line a bit. But yea, in a sense you loose a bit of control... Nothing that makes me feel in danger. It is somewhat similar in the sense of control you loose when the back tire steps out a tad from a bit of loose gravel It isn't like it always happens, just under the condition mentioned. Any bike would do it under the right conditions. It is just that it seems to be more noticeable than my R1 under the same condition. Or to put it another way it seems to do it to a greater degree than it would do on my R1 | ||
| Truk |
Trac - I have tried numerous different suspension settings. I have returned to the factory settings with preload set for my weight | ||
| CJXB |
In the future please post topics like this to the applicable topic in the Knowledge Vault. We'll be moving this one there soon. Thanks for helping to get BadWeB organized. |
