FRONT END SHIMMY

[OB_Bob Lynch]

My Busa has a front end shimmy. I checked tire pressure, and all front end adjustments. If you release the handle bars the steering will shimmy. Also in a 30 MPH right hande turn this problem can be felt. At speeds above 30 MPH the bike feels normal. Suzuki has looked at the tire and front end and tells me it's fine. They tell me that's a trade off to make the bike more stable at high speeds. God, I don't know how they became a suzuki dealer with such BULLS*IT statements like that! If anyone has info on this i can really use it, I'm out of ideas and really BUMMED OUT!

 

[OB_Mr Bear]

You need to talk to a bike mechanic who really knows his stuff. I wonder if something elsewhere, like a bad swingarm pivot bushing, could cause a low-speed front-end shimmy? If all the obvious stuff checks out, you need to look for less obvious things. It sure doesn't sound right the way it is.

 

[OB_Bob Lynch]

MR BEAR, just got off the phone with with a friend. He belives the rear tire is the cause of my problems. He say's if the rear tire is misaligned to the front it could give me this trouble. The bike has done this from the very first day i bought it. I don't think it's the tire. Now i have to find a good mechanic i can trust to fix this, thanks for you input.

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

Check that your steering head is properly torqued. Busas (like Frank Adams' first one) have been delivered with grossly undertightened steering heads.

Remove your steering damper and check that it is in fact damping. Don't listen to anyone who tells you that steering dampers have no influence on head shake.

Check front tire inflation. It might be way down. Tread squirm can translate to head shake.

Check very closely on a wheel balancer that your front rim is true. If it's been whacked replace it.

 

[OB_KawAbuser]

Mr Cheese you have some fortunate customers, and it is great that you share this forum with us.

 

[OB_Johnnycheese]

KawAbuser; It's like I tell my customers.


This is my Job,and my daddy told me"Do your job well or you are a failure."

20years later I'm still doing it.

This is my livelyhood.

 

[OB_Bob Lynch]

Dirty Pete, never thought to check the steering damper. Can't wait to leave work so i can check it. Tire pressure and rim checked good. Left manual at friends house, would like to check steering head, but don't know the torque. Will not be able to pick up book until weekend. Do you know the torque? P.S. Tire balance good

 

[viol8r]

I know you said yours did it from the beginning but mine developed a shimmy at around 8900 miles at 50mph when I took my hands off the bars. I checked everything. The service manager said it was probably the front tire(still stock). New set of pilots fixed it. Maybe a bad front tire.?

 

[Frank Adams]

I would have said it was your front tire, but when you said you were feeling a change when you were turning...I'd have to agree with Dirty Pete. Either support the bike so the front end is off the ground with no wieght on it and check your steering head or get it to the shop!

What ever you do...don't ripp through the gears untill you know what causing this problem!

It could be deadly!!

Be careful!

Frank

 

[OB_Johnnycheese]

I have had several Busas in that had a slight head shake.
Adjusted steering bearings, torque axles,balanced wheels.We do not use a spin balancer we static balance only.
Fixed most of them .
I did have one that it was the front tire.
When all else checked out I called my tech rep. he knows I have a busaand asked me to swap wheel assy. with the customer I did no head shake Then he said install new tire fixed the shake.
It's nice to have a spare busa around.

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

Yeah KawAbuser I second that about Johnny. His credibility is very high on matters mechanical, and is exceeded only by his willingness to help out bumpkins like me.

 

[OB_jeffw]

Back when I had my 96 GSXR1100 I had front end wobble when I removed my hands from the bars, I went to Suzuki for a fix, can you guess what they said? "Don't remove your hands from the bars".

My problem was the head bearing not being tight enough.....got to love Suzuki sometimes

 

[OB_Bob Lynch]

Thank's all for the input. It seems Johnnycheese has seen a few of these and it looks like I'll be changeing tires. I read a article about how certain tires handled better than others on the busa. At this pace I don't have the time or money to waste. Need a good set that are proven and works well with the bikes suspension.

 

[OB_BrainO]

More food for thought. Had an 85 900 Ninja with the same headshake as you are describing. The previous owner had changed the rim and 2 tires trying to fix the problem with no luck in doing so. Seems the lower steering bearing stem race was indented with notches from too many hard wheelie landings. Changing that 1 part ( about 8 bucks) and greasing and torquing the stem bearings made a new bike out of her. If you lift the front end and feel any notchy feeling in the steering I would highly suspect that to be your problem. Hope you fix it soon :-) Brian

 

[OB_busTa Kaw]

I'd have to say front tire.Had a friend who bought a new R1 and had the same problem off
the showroom floor.
He took it back several times but they couldnt fix it.
They finally replaced the front tire and fixed the problem.Sometimes tires come from the factory with construction problems.

 

[OB_Hapo]

Todd, I can dig it...those are good points to ponder when questing for a new steed...I do think it is cool to be able to check out different brands at one favored dealer, but perhaps I am lucky...the only improvement I could hope for in Cycle Performance would be for them to become a full line Honda dealer in the near future...I'm not worried about some one in sales making a suggestion that might serve his own interests, as I can decide for myself what I want, but those guys tried to hose you and I certainly would never spend another dime in their shop either...on the other hand, as I have stated before, Cycle Performance is as much of a reason that I am riding a Suzuki and not a Honda as the TL and Busa...

 

[OB_KawAbuser]

Hapo you are fortunate to have a close by dealership you can TRUST in the way you do.
These dealerships are in business to do one thing make money. The service departments of dealerships can range from great to "we haven't heard of the bulletins yet" terrible.

Enfield Motorsports in Enfield, CT could not of cared less about the "cutout problem" and service bulletins 108 and 109. And this is from my own experiance with the their Service Manager. The clown would not even initiate a phone call to US Suzuki when I spoke to him with the specific pages in my hand. On the other hand that very same day Shawn at New England Cycle in Hartford CT. recieved my internet generated information, scheduled my bike for an immediate service in two days time and called US Suzuki to obtain information and parts.

Enfield Motorsports LOOSERS!

New England Cycle

 

[OB_Johnnycheese]

OK BOB;If you don't need tires yet don't replace them. I would first fix the problem.
If you install new nonOEM tires and the shake goes Suzuki will as you to put the old tires on.Trust me on this FIX what YOU have First,and after it works correctly then you can change.

Sorry to here about the dealer,at least the Suzuki tech rep should be the same for both dealers.

 

[OB_BullDog]

My 2 cents...

Had the same wobble on an old Ninja750, badly cupped front tire! ..

As for shot steering head bearing, I notice it on my GSXR1100 when I would stop suddenly the front had some "play" to it, felt like the forks pivoted inside the triple clamps, once fixed felt great!

Good luck! ... I hate dealers that don't care!

 

[OB_valklex]

Sorry, no input on the headshake, but I wanted to add to the comments. I only have access to 2 dealers, one doesn't care and the other one doesn't know the bike (I've come to expect this from EVERY dealer, car or bike). I bet a lot of people here treat their bikes better than their wives, because motorcycling is a passion, not a means of transportation, and we want our bikes to be handled with gloves. As far as I'm concerned, with Johnnycheese on this board (and always helping me no matter how stupid the question)I can do better than the 2 dealers combined. Invest time to know your bike and find out the problem, and then have the dealer fix it if you can't: it's our lives we are talking about. Hey Johnny, stick around for a long time.
JC