squirrely

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by larry tom, Sep 26, 2019.

  1. larry tom

    larry tom New Member

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    I don't know if anyone else has encountered this issue with their vfr. When hitting bumps going thru a sweeper, the front end feels squirrely. I've never had any handling issues with my cbr. Any thoughts on this issue? Thanks in advance.


    larry
     
  2. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    how many miles on the beast ? squirrely isn't always bad.........

    could be low fork oil, bad tires, loose steering bearings. smart to find and fix the problem b4 much more riding.



    052_52 sweetye.JPG
     
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  3. larry tom

    larry tom New Member

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    It 's got 18,0xx on the clock. Tires seem fine, no dry rot or cracking. I haven't checked the creation date on them. They're metzeler tires. I'll have to check and see what model tire they are. Nice name. I can see why you chimed in on this thread. lol
     

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  4. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    OK, your VFR is warning you to find and fix the problem b4 it slams your butt onto the pavement. at 18K it's not likely to be steering bearings, so must be something else. u checked tire pressure? 33/34 front and 36/38 rear.

    001_1HIMeeeml.jpg
     
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  5. sudolea

    sudolea New Member

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    I thought to raise this same issue one of these days, IF this "squirrely" is the same feeling I'm experiencing myself. Are we talking about a mild wobbly feeling in the front under lean angle ? After changing my (end-of-life) front tyre, it is still present. The tyre pressure is OK. Mine has 16K km (around 10K miles), but I bought it second hand at 3K km and this feeling is present already as from its first day.

    To me, it doesn't feel alarming, but just enough to not make too much lean angle in curves (especially in the wet). Coming from my K1300S, it felt as some kind of lack of chassis rigidity initially, and I have no clue if that's the real issue...
     
  6. larry tom

    larry tom New Member

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    If I have some time on Saturday I'll check her out and see what's going on. I'm thinking it might be suspension related. It's got helibars on it, so maybe there's to much weight in the back and the front not loading correctly. I will check the bearings and tire pressures while I'm at it.


    Thanks for the input
     
  7. larry tom

    larry tom New Member

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    Mild wobble is correct. More so when it hits a bump while leaned over. So, you never sorted it out and has the wobble gotten worse?
     
  8. sudolea

    sudolea New Member

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    No, it didn't get worse in these 13K km. But I do wonder what that is caused by, nevertheless. Time passing, I considered several possibilities, like :
    - the rim having been "touched" in some hard way before (e.g. by some curb, or by some stone on the road of the bigger-than-usual size); time having passed, I tend to think this is the real cause
    - some lack of balance in the weights on my front wheel (but having changed and re-balanced my front tyre since hasn't shown any difference)
    - lack of chassis rigidity (that had been my very first impression, but time passing, I've started to doubt this)
    - something in the front party (loose bolts, ..., ...), but as it didn't get worse, I doubt that thát would be the cause too, especially given that the behaviour is quite normal otherwise
    - some too soft setting of the rear spring preload (a "too low back party"), but setting it harder than it really had to be set didn't really show any noticeable difference (unless I'm too numb to notice - which I don't think)

    All taken together, I don't really think it's something big or very serious (as the behaviour is quite normal otherwise), but this doesn't mean I wouldn't like to know what it really is. My best guess is that the rim has had some serious "injury" not noticeable from the exterior...
     
  9. Laker

    Laker New Member

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    I would check steering head bearings. After 18 years of sitting they may have a notch. Good luck.
     
  10. larry tom

    larry tom New Member

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    I wonder if anyone that purchased this gen brand spanking new ever have this issue or not. Have you tried swapping out the rim with a good one to see if the wobble is still there?
     
  11. larry tom

    larry tom New Member

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    I'm going to check that and the wheel bearing also. The bike has 18,000 on it. I don't think it was sitting around in their garage all that time, but you never know.
     
  12. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    those bearings may need cleaning, re-packing and adjustment, but they don't wear out until after about 25-35,000 miles.
     
  13. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    It's suspension and chassis geometry related. What sag numbers are you seeing? Ever had the components serviced? VFR chassis are typically solid, when set up correctly.
     
  14. sudolea

    sudolea New Member

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    Feel free to call me stupid, but can you explain what sag numbers are ?
     
  15. sudolea

    sudolea New Member

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    You may be right about the wear (coming later), but what about an eventual bump against a curb or something alike, could it then possibly be occuring ?
     
  16. sudolea

    sudolea New Member

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    Sorry, Larry Tom, no, I haven't tried swapping my (front wheel's) rim. What I didn't mention (yet), is that I have the impression that the wobbles are occuring at the same frequency as the wheel's turning frequency. What's your impression ? This might gice some more probability to the worn bearing theory (or my bent/touched rim theory).
     
  17. larry tom

    larry tom New Member

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    I haven't had a chance to check it yet. The bike is stored over at a friend's garage.
     
  18. larry tom

    larry tom New Member

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    Just when hitting bumps while leaned over in a sweeper. Hopefully I can find some time next week to check it out. Is it happening to you when going around corners or sweepers?
     
  19. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    sure, that could have happened.
     
  20. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    get the front wheel up and spin it. should be ez to find a bad spot.
     
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