| Author | Message | ||
     Badrap |
Is there a fix for the bad vibrations that I get when the bike is heavily loaded or 2 up. Does anyone have a real (tested) fix? Can someone please tell me how to make the bad vibrations stop? I don’t know if it’s truly a drive belt related issue but it looks like we have hashed the idler pulley issue to death. | ||
| Nipsey |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142838/647675.html?1313380426  (Message edited by Nipsey on August 26, 2011) | ||
| Badrap |
I've read that whole post and the current one about the belt tensioner. The post seem to go off on tangents and the issue is never really answered. I'm just looking for empirical evidence that the FS spring tensioner solves the vibration issue. If it does'nt, then how can it be solved? | ||
| Johnboy777 |
"I'm just looking for empirical evidence that the FS spring tensioner solves the vibration issue." Try it and see if it helps - then report back to us. Your FS spring tensioner test can be just the empirical evidence we're looking for. Photos are always a nice touch too. .. | ||
| Badrap |
I would love to try it if you buy if for me.  | ||
| Darth_villar |
Suspension settings when 2 up? Tires? Are you isolators still good? Check simple stuff before deciding on complex and hard to trace problems  Then get back to us. | ||
| Badrap |
The tires are fresh PR2s and I set all of the suspension to factory recommendations for the load on the bike. My isolators are in good shape. To my knowledge, the whole bike is in good shape, the way it should be. I know I'm not the only one with this vibration. I don’t want to spend almost $200 dollars only to find out it doesn’t fix the issue. I'm tired of doing that. | ||
| Darth_villar |
Tire pressure good? One of the tires didn't happen to lose a wheel weight or anything? I'm not familiar with the vibration issue, however as an engineer, I have a hard time seeing the correlation of the belt tensioner and undue vibrations. If you have time, try messing with the suspension settings a bit. I usually run a bit stiffer than called for by the manual. Good luck, Phil | ||
| Badrap |
Tires are all balanced and the suspension rear spring is maxed out along with 2 turns on the front (just like the manual says). The vibes only happen while the suspension is being compressed more that usual, like going through dips in the road or hard around a corner. I almost never feel it when it’s just me on the machine. The bike has done it since new. | ||
| Etennuly |
I just found my vibration that I had forgotten could happen. This has been bugging me for about 2000 miles of riding. Today I did a DOH! head slap!    I forgot that when I installed the comfort kit that this could happen. Instant fix for me! The screw clamps have become a little loose to let it get up to the screw boss in the right bottom of the frame/tank. | ||
| Nipsey |
I was just causing troubles...I kid ...I jest...and yes the idler pulley thing is beaten to death. Even though I have one and really like it. Unfortunately I cannot offer you any constructive advice on the vibrations. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
My Uly does the same. The one time my wife had to ride pillion after she dropped her bike off at the dealer, on the ride home every dip in the road would cause a noticeable vibration when the rear suspension compressed. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I am fairly confident a spring-loaded belt tensioner will do nothing to help any vibration issues. Experience here has shown that the drive belt is tightest when the rear suspension is fully extended, not when it's compressed. If the vibration you're experiencing gets worse with a heavily loaded bike, it's NOT the belt. IMHO this issue is just the rear shock transmitting more vibration from the swingarm (which is bolted directly to the engine) to the frame when the bike is heavily loaded AND subjected to suspension loads and the rear shock gets fully compressed or nearly so. My bike does it too (and I have HEAVILY loaded it) but I haven't found it to be all that annoying. One thing I've found that does seem to help a little is to go higher than the factory recommendations on the rear damping settings (assuming you're already at max preload). This keeps the rear shock from bottoming out (or almost bottoming out) which is when the vibration is worst. Go up in increments (maybe 1/8 turn or so) and see if that helps. Try it; it's a no-cost fix if it works. | ||
| Etennuly |
Oh that through a dip vibration? I had that one figured out a few years ago. Try this. Find a known dip where you can make it do it repeatedly. Get up to speed + ten mph, shut the engine off early enough that it is completely still before the dip. Coast through. Engine running you have vibration. Engine off you have smooth. This test will conclude that the belt is pulling the engine mounts to their maximum travel. This makes the engine pulses go directly into the frame of the bike which is what you are feeling. It also proves that the belt is not climbing or messing up on it's pulleys. Yep. I believe a spring tensioner would fix the issue. Did I do the replacement? No. Why? I am not concerned with it now that I know what it is. I just try to avoid hitting dips when two up(well over gvwr I might add). | ||
| Etennuly |
Also when riding two up you are maxing out the limits of the rubber in the motor mounts. These isolators will pull to one side under heavy load transferring vibrations to the frame. Oh, and Badrap, this may be why I have to change front engine isolators at about every 8,000 miles to keep it riding smooth. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Vern- I agree with you that the load is compressing the isolators which is transmitting the vibration, but I don't think the belt has anything to do with it. There's no way for the belt to impose a load on the isolators because the swingarm pivot is bolted to the engine and the idler pulley is bolted to the engine. The belt can try to "pull" the wheel sprocket towards the engine, transmitting the load through the swingarm, but the isolators aren't in between those two points. It seems pretty certain that the belt is tightest when the suspension is fully extended. Doc for instance, finally broke his belt at ~40,000 miles when he had a low speed dump in a parking lot. As soon as the rear wheel came off the ground and the suspension extended all the way, the belt popped. If this is true, then the belt is actually LOOSEST when the suspension is fully compressed. From what I remember reading about the design of this system, it's supposed to be "anti-squat", which means that the belt gets tighter as the suspension compresses to help keep the rear end from squatting under acceleration. The spring loaded idler pulley is an expensive piece which may not help at all. See my post above about the rear suspension settings. I think vibration is worst when that rear shock is nearly fully compressed. Once the spring pre-load is maxed out, increasing the compression damping can help keep it from completely bottoming in dips like that, and it does make a difference in the vibration. | ||
| Mbest |
Badrap, The vibration you're speaking of is from worn or deformed rubber on your engines mounts. The spring loaded tensioner will not address that issue. Swap out your front mount/isolator for a new one. The spring loaded tensioner will however reduce stress on your rear axel bearing and belt that could increase their life life expectancy. Your bike most likely did not have that vibration when you drove it off the showroom floor, and since there isn't any "user" adjustable settings on the axel for belt tightness like there is on a chain driven bike, it's safe to say that except for wear and tear on your rubber motor mounts, the rear suspension is no different than the day it rolled out of the dealership except for worn/blown mounts. Swap out the worn parts to bring your bike back to factory smoothness. (as smooth as a Thunderstorm can be, haha) Add the spring loaded tensioner to reduce some of the unnecessary stress from the latest drive belts that don't "break in" or stretch as much as the older ones. yep | ||
| Rotorhead |
Check your primary chain adjustment. All kinds of wired vibes come off a chain. A higher than "normal" load will make it feel like it is a 2 up issue when it a chain load issue. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Have you checked the rear motor mount bolts? When the rear suspension compresses, most of the load is delivered through the shock, into the frame. However, some of the load becomes tension thorough the swingarm. Since the swingarm is mounted to the rear of the engine, this tension pulls the engine/swingarm rearward. | ||
| Desert_uly |
I experienced similar vibrations on my first and only two up ride. Bike was maybe only a month old at the time so I would doubt the problem to be worn rubber on engine mounts. I'm thinking Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers for both rider and passenger might eliminate most of this problem. | ||
| Mnrider |
Mine does it when two up and loaded. I stopped and turned up the rear preload and the comp. and rebound damping in the rear shock then it handled and rode better with little vibes during a big dip in the road. | ||
| Motorbike |
My 08 XT has done that since brand new. I have tried turing the preload to max, which helps a little but have not tried adjusting the damping yet for the extra weight. Thanks for the tip. | ||
| Uly_dude |
Here's an idea. Find someone within riding distance with one of the FS belt tensioners, ride over with your passenger, bring a case of beer for them, and swap out your pully with theirs. Take er for a test spin and see if the vibrations go away. Question answered. It literally only takes 10 mins to remove those pullys | ||
| Mbest |
Mine did the vibrations ('08 Uly). I put on a spring loaded tensioner for the overly tight late model belt to extend belt and bearing life. It had ZERO effect on the vibration. On extended warranty, my dealer replaced the front motormount/isolator and all traces of the vibration are gone. | ||
| Marauder |
I have switched out the rear wheel for the 2010 wheel and added the Race ECM from Erik Buell Racing. Maintenance for this year was new belt, tires (Dunlop RoadSmart with Dyna Beads). Replaced the front isolator and in the process of replacing the rear isolator. Even switched out all the Synthetic-based oils in crank case and primary case. The only thing that reduced it on the road last week was setting the suspension to the softest settings and riding the bouncing Uly. Done everything else, even while on the road set the primary adjustment to both the min and max setting (hot). No change, at 2800 to 3200 RPM's beats the piss out of you (rest your hand on the gas tank and it feels like an electric toothbrush). Wife had a tumor remove from behind the left eye suffered the most as the helmet moved the plate around where they went in to get it. Had to stop every 100 miles to get a break from it. As for the weight on board, we figured it out to be 490lbs with us and gear. And the first 10K mile it was a sweet ride, smooth and fast. One hot 5 hour ride and it all changed. |
