| Author | Message | ||
     Yeahcmon |
After about 2000 miles on my 9s whenever you grab the front brake easily you can feel a slight back and forth motion until you grab the brake hard. My first thought was the steering head bearing- wrong...it's tight. I then thought it might be the brake pads moving back and forth. I'm having trouble pinpointing any problem with the bike at a standstill. Any thought's????????? | ||
| Blazinbueller13 |
I had that same feeling at one point. Took the bike to the dealer to have it checked out, the result from them was the explaination of the floating rotor. But after awhile of riding it, I have not noticed it! | ||
| Jasonblue |
Mine has done that since I got it. I have not had it looked at. I've always wondered about the performance of my front break. I can hammer on my front break and it will Not lift the back tire. I had always heard it was so easy to do a stoppie on a XB. Mine will not do it period. I have wondered if the shaking like you mentioned has anything to do with it? | ||
| M1combat |
really... I think mine would mess me up hardcore if I hit the front too hard. Is your front tire sliding a little? | ||
| Jasonblue |
What exactly do you mean by sliding? The front tire never goes into a skid, if thats what you mean. | ||
| Bradj |
I may have had a similar thing happen to me at about 2000 miles on my XB9SL...scared the hell out of me  ...felt like I was about to lose control of the bike. But I was braking a little hard when it occured and it was more of a "shake." This topic comes up from time to time in the archives...aka "head shaking under hard braking." There have been several theories floated as to why this is occuring...warped rotors, glazed pads, bad bearings, tire problems, incorrect suspension settings, stiff-arming the handlebars, etc. As far as I could determine, the actual cause of this phenomenon has never been determined, but several people have experienced it. It happened to me twice one afternoon and that is when I started having second thoughts about the bike's stability. I stiffened up the suspension settings per Shawn Higbee's recommendations, and didn't have another instance of head shaking in 700 or so miles . However, my confidence in the bike never fully recovered and that contributed to my decision to sell it.  Maybe this is a completely different issue from what you are experiencing? edited by bradj on April 15, 2004 | ||
| Trevxb12 |
i have notice some extra vibration during front braking too, after i noticed it i checked front rotor and seen a lot of spotting on the rotor on half and minimal on the other half. i figured that was why but my service department says its fine. are they full of @#$%?! | ||
| M1combat |
Most have those. As far as head shake under breaking my thoughts are too much muscle into the handlebars. Grip with the legs. | ||
| Trevxb12 |
i guess it could be that my d207 is cupped like a MOFO!! we'll see how it is when i get my new front tire. by the way, any one had luck with the metzeler m1's | ||
| Charlieboy6649 |
Hit the nail on the head Trev. I replaced my cupped front tire and the shake was gone! Notice the trend... Most of the posts say they have about 2000 mi on the bike. Consistent with the hard riding most of us subject our bikes to. Just my take. | ||
| Fireboltgeo |
Guess I'm lucky.  My dealer contacted Buell and they agreed that the front rotor was warped and causing the pulsing feel in the front brake. After replacement, all is well - but I don't ride hard. Also, those Dunlop tires will cup and cause vibes up the front. I have had a lot better performance and tire wear from Metzler Sportecs. | ||
| Xb9er |
On the headshake issue, I completely agree with M1combat. When braking, you need to keep your elbows bent as well as grab with the knees. A "survival reaction" (see Keith Code) or "panic" reaction on hard braking is stiffening of the arms to brace oneself. At this point, the rider is fighting the handlebars and headshake can occur. Avoid this and a mechanically sound XB will stop smoothly and efficiently. My D207 is also seriously cupped! That's happening even though I check tire pressure and adjust as needed daily! Switching to Sportec M-1's this month. Mike. | ||
| Jasonblue |
I don't think what Yeahcmon is talking about is a head shake. If its what I have on my bike it is a back and forth motion moving with the line of the bike, not side to side. | ||
| Trevxb12 |
thanks for clearing the smoke fellas, m1s are on the way | ||
| Xb9er |
Thanks Jasonblue, now I get it. I was thinking tank slapper at first. I haven't noticed that on my XB. At first the "pulsating" of the floating rotor felt a little weird to me, but I quickly got used to it. Does it happen with only the front brake applied, or both front and rear? Are tires properly inflated? Is the front tire out of balance? At what speed are you riding when you first apply the front brake? M1combat. What did you mean when you mentioned the front tire sliding? Mike. | ||
| Yeahcmon |
Your right Jasonblue, When you grab the brake slightly you can feel a vibe like something is loose or out of tolerance in the steering head, grab the brake hard- no vib. Also, thought it might be the front forks pivoting slightly due to the severe rake. Works fine when you put a good load on it. | ||
| Kaese |
Mine didn't have the shake until about 4K miles and rode it another 1500 miles and did the tire change. That solved the problem on my S2, but the XB had noticably less shake with the new tire (Pirelli Corsa). My shake only occurs with hard braking. I don't try to do stoppies. Haven't had mine checked out, but plan to very soon. | ||
| Jasonblue |
I don't "try" to do stoppies either. I have said before that I have no interest in doing stoppies at all. I did, however start to question the performance of my front break after coming up quick on an unseen stop sign as I had to get down on it pretty hard. After that expierience I started testing how good my front break was by applying gradually increased pressure. Thats how I discovered that I can pretty much hammer on it and it will not lift the back tire. Now that fact in itself does not bother me. I just hope I don't have to put it to the real test if some one or something decides to jump out in front of me. | ||
| Darthane |
<~~has absolute faith in the braking power of his Firebolt | ||
| M1combat |
"M1combat. What did you mean when you mentioned the front tire sliding?" Thresh-hold breaking basically. Braking to the point that the tire begins slip a bit. The same thing as rear wheelspin but in the other direction. |
