| Author | Message | ||
     Jraice |
Scary sensation... Had about 90 miles on the bike (and tires), was on the way back from a little quick 20min ride, so the tires had some time to warm up. Was cruising, nothing aggressive, I do know the road very well though... All of the sudden coming around a corner the bars shake a bit and it feels like the front wheel was sliding then goes back to normal. Was only doing maybe 25mph, so dont think it was a wobble  . I guess the tires just need some more miles as I am sure they are more sticky then that! I dont consider myself an amazing rider in the twisties, still working on my confidence, so I wasnt pushing even 10 percent as hard as many guys do. Just a nice pace. | ||
| Boney95 |
You still don't have you suspension set up. | ||
| Jraice |
Why would that cause this? I am pretty sure it was cold weather, brand new tires and a tight dirty road  ... But please go on... Dealer said they checked it, they also said I am right around stock weight so maybe they didnt...? Do I need any special tools to check it? Ill do that ASAP... And I assume the 160-180 weight bracket is the best one for me to use for starters (dont think I have the experience to do anything but stock)? I am 165-170 I believe in cloths, no shoes. With riding gear I would assume its closer to 180, maybe a bit over but not sure it warrants the 180-200 level. | ||
| Nillaice |
were you accelerating when this happened? with most of the weight transferred to the rear, the front tire will have a very small contact patch, and be really shaky/wobbly/unstable/whatever especially under 40 MPH when the gyroscopic forces are weak.  i know you recently got yer buell (congrats, and welcome), and if your not used to the torque, it can come up on you when your not expecting/ready. it sure made me pucker up my first time. LOL also over inflating (or properly inflating) the front will noticeably lighten the steering | ||
| Nillaice |
+1 suspension set-up can make-or-break the handling, but that's not what this sounds like to me | ||
| Jraice |
Thanks guys... I was in 3rd, not really gassing it at all and going pretty slow... I am guessing it was a combo of cold/dirty roads, brand new tires and a new bike... But I will check tire before I ride next (and need to get used to checking oil every ride!) and sometime soon suspension to see where its at. 34/36 F/R for the Pirelli's is in the manual, is that what everybodies running? Anyways, scary moment but overall not bad... I got a little squirm first time riding the R6 in the lot practicing quick stopping so I guess this is the same thing . Just getting used to the thing. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
I have found new tires to be kinda slippery for about 200 miles or so. If they still have nubs on em, I cut them off flush. | ||
| Jraice |
The thing I dont get about the new tires is, if say for 3000 miles you ride them without leaning hard and then do some hard riding, the edges are still "new", no? So wouldnt it be just as slippery as brand new? Or does some of the change come from heat cycling and other wear which happens from mileage, regardless of lean angle? | ||
| Brumbear |
Tires can be a problem I don't know much about your areas climate but spring time can add to the tires not getting that warm especially the side walls. But read your manual and set your suspension properly it takes only several moments to do correcty and it's payoff is huge again and again. | ||
| Thatman |
+1 on suspension. Also remember that the steering is very tight on these bikes. While in a turn you must be very smooth, shifting your weight in the middle of a turn can cause a little wobble. Keep your eyes well ahead, looking to where you want to go. You probably already knew that, congrats on the new bike... | ||
| Union_man |
+1 suspension. When I got mine it was not set up right. Set to specs in owners manual and I am impressed with handling. | ||
| Sifo |
I would open up the owners manual and check the suspension set up. When I put new tires on I will take some slow fairly sharp turns and push down into the lean to scrub the tire edges. Just the opposite of how you would normally hang off the bike in a turn. Not sure what the cause of the "wobble" was, but be sure of the set up and tire break in first. You also mentioned dirty roads... Certainly potential for less than sure footed handling. | ||
| Jraice |
Thanks, just road some more really twisty roads and went over 100 miles on the odo (and tires). Dont know this second road as well so I probably was going slower but tires felt fine... I will check suspension asap. And yeah I am trying to get used to hanging off this bike, any tips? Never have played with moving my butt but its next on my list of things to try, just trying to do upper body... I was getting pretty good at shifting the upper body, second nature, on the R6 on any type of turn but now with the upright position it feels unatural again. Especially at the end of a turn. I can go into the turn with my upper body leaning in (face towards mirror) but then feel like I need to push the bike under me more at the end to round the corner... Maybe scooting the butt over will help, so I am still in line just shifted, rather then trying to move just the upper body... This weekend I hope/plan to go up highway 9, its that infamous road every area has where all the cops hang out, pavement is great and on any sunday you will see 500 bikes at the vista point. Roads still very twisty but with more space, MUCH better pavement and some faster corners so Ill get an idea of how this bike handles over there. Also I think I am going (getting way off topic but what the heck!) to order some goodies soon, a drummer, traction grips and sliders is my plan to start. Then soon, bar end mirrors, integrated taillight setup (hack of fender as well) and probably a breather reroute mod. And the small stuff like new front signals and removing the front fork reflectors to clean up the look even more. But first it needs its first wash (got dirty riding home in the rain) and suspension checked! Oh and that darn oil! Never had to check it on the R6, need to get in the habit of checking it now after every ride. | ||
| Brumbear |
I can not drag a knee i'll hit it once in a while but my body is sort of bowling ballish so who knows but I hook my left knee under the airbox almost let the left arm go flat across the box and bars drop my right elbow pointing to the ground slide my arse all the way over so ass chin and body over the throttle say and right knee out and down a little push to the left and HARD RIGHT RUDDER SHE GOES DOWN AND ROUND AS THEY SAY | ||
| Jraice |
Sounds good... dont want to play around on the really tight roads, not enough sight line and momentum to experiment to much but this weekend when I ride some more moderate roads Ill try out some new things... I think I am trying to move to much off my upper body, my butt stays in place but I think my upper body is trying to mimic radical track riding positions. I am going to try and move the lower body more, Ill probably be crossed up and have the upper body going the wrong direction but I think it will feel a little more natural and Ill go from there... | ||
| Boltrider |
Dude....I read the title and thought you dumped your brand new bike  | ||
| Jraice |
Haha oh god that would be horrible! Oh and good news, might have enough time/sunshine to ride up Highway 9 and Skyline (35) tonight rather then this weekend! Thinking Ill go up with pops (on the Harley Road King, so no fast riding!) for some dinner at Alices. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Forget dragging your knee, that's the wrong focus. The riding position on a Buell is pretty intimate with the airbox. Try and keep knee pressure against the airbox. Remember the whole central mass idea? You're to try and do that with your body. Try and transfer your weight over the centre of gravity by pressing your knee into the airbox. Force your weight there and onto the pegs. What happens now is that your lower leg is relaxed and helping to keep your weight over the centre of gravity. Might as well use it as a curb feeler. It's like the foot out forward in mx, the point is not getting your knee out, it's just that out is where it ends up. Got a couple of racers on this forum, go with their advice. | ||
| Jraice |
I dont stick the knee out... Just road some faster twisties, was holding back for pops on the 800Ib cruiser but still held some speed through the tighter bits, I have a lot to learn but this bike feels really great around some of the bends that used to bother me on my previous two bikes, with clubman bars or clip ons... Loving the handle bars for the leverage and riding position! Super comfortable as well! Just need to get a drummer so my dad can stop refering to the bike as a lawn mower when he rev's his great sounding RhineHart racing pipes . | ||
| Gunut75 |
I thought you dumped it too! Glad you did'nt. Have fun! | ||
| Happy1 |
did you happen to have a death grip on the bars at the time? | ||
| Jraice |
Dont believe so... I have gotten pretty good at loosening up on the bars on bikes with much lower bars then the buell... I cant recall specifically though. The stock grips are horrid though which couldve made me grip harder then normal, traction grips (as well as sliders and other goodies) will be here Friday. | ||
| Happy1 |
just asking because i notice when i'm holding on a little to tight the bike tends to wiggle in the front end. | ||
| Jraice |
Could be... it happened suddenling and then went away couldve been a wobble felt more like the wheel losing grip... | ||
| Mindi |
"Was only doing maybe 25mph, so dont think it was a wobble" "I was in 3rd, not really gassing it at all and going pretty slow..." I'm curious... how/why were you in 3rd gear at 25 mph? I'm new to Buell also, I've had 2 Harleys and a Honda before the Buell, but the first thing I noticed is that the RPMs must stay much higher on the Buell. It doesn't begin to get happy until 3500 to 4500 RPMs. At 25 mph I would still be in 1st gear. | ||
| Nillaice |
yeah, i lugged the shít outta mine when i first got it. i could see 25 in third, (especially if it's got XB_9 gearing) just putting through a turn... but not so much the death grip, as this isn't his first street bike. | ||
| Jraice |
couldve been 30mph... couldve been 2nd gear but I know I ride as low as 2,500rpm when I am just cruising... Engines braking in so I am varying between 2,500 and 4,000 in the twisties. With the torque this thing makes 1st at 25mph seems excessive unless you are racing and need every ounce of acceleration out of each corner... 4,000rpm may be the happy spot for most twisties but under 25mph the torque is great enough that for most street riding even semi spirited twisties I think 2nd gear is fine. Definetly feels more refined and smoother at 4000+rpm but I was just putting through the corner, had low traction on the road so didnt want to much sensitivity on the throttle being it was my first time riding the new bike in the twisties, and I didnt need the acceleration of 2nd or 1st. | ||
| Sneth |
i have yet to find the right setting for suspension on this bike. i wobble like crazy on some turns...others it is fine. the only thing that seemed to work was tightening the front end. | ||
| Froggy |
Jraice, after you get a few thousand miles on the SS, hop on a R6 again and you will wonder how Yamaha would sell a "sport" bike that handles so horribly!  | ||
| Jraice |
Haha Ill have to do that . But yeah I really like having the upright position, feels really good. The bike feels much more flickable at low speeds, feels similar at higher speeds but I felt more confident on a select set of turns that always gave me trouble on the MB5 and on the R6, and it was the first time taking the buell through them! I have always moved my upper body slightly but never my lower, my next plan is to start experimenting with moving my lower body over, I think having the upright bars will make this much easier as less weight will be applied to the bars when shifting (not that you should shift while turning but still...). But my biggest thing with the buell besides the handling, uniqueness, sound, powerband etc... is the comfort! God I feel like I could ride all day, only thing I have noticed so far (havent gone much more then 50 miles but have done some long days on R6 and can tell this will blow it away) is my hands do get some pain but I think its the small grips. Ill have my traction grips on by this weekend which should be a huge improvement. |
