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High Speed Wobble


dmanteigas

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Hi All,

I received my GT on July and currently have 10900km (6500 miles). Couldn't be more happy with the bike. About 2000km ago I've switched tyres from stock D222 to RoadAttack 3 GT (front and rear). Since then, I am experiencing high speed wobble above 190/200kmh when I ride alone which disappears when I lean over the gas tank. I am wondering that this may be due to having a GT front tyre (dealer recommended GT since I use to ride most of the time with passenger) and that I may need some different suspension setting from stock setting. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks!

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It’s strange that you only experienced this since the tyre change, so it may be worth checking that you haven’t lost a wheel weight.

Generally though, the Tracer is thought to be slightly unstable at speed due to having less weight over the front wheel. This has been attributed to the hand guards being like mini-sails, too much luggage weighing the rear down, leaning backwards, too much throttle, phases of the moon, the price of carrots and any other reason people can come up with.

The GT has a longer swingarm, to help counteract this, but may not have done it fully. Things to try are, in no particular order:

- make sure your weight is forward at higher speeds or accelerating

- don’t death-grip the bars, let them wriggle a bit or you’ll develop a full on tank slapper

- avoid lots of high-up weight at the rear, and/or adjust preload if carrying pillions or luggage

- raise the forks 5-10mm through the triple tree, to lower the front end

- try removing the handguards

- ride slower 🤪

Red 2015 Tracer, UK spec (well, it was until I started messing with it...)

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Tyres are awsome, leaning at a different level after switched from D222.

 

It's not a big issue as only when riding on highways I ride over 200kmh. With passenger, never felt any wobble at any speed. Thanks BBB for the clarification. I'll try to spend this front tyre as fast as possible so I can replace by a normal RoadAttack3.

 

Any thoughts on how to adjust suspension for this? Preload, Compression, rebound?

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Like @BBB I have the older FJ (2015) and had a high speed (weave). A very gentle drift back and forth that was very noticeable in high speed traffic (turbulent air from the surrounding cars and trucks). 

A quick removal of the hand guards helped (I live in South Florida USA so they weren't doing anything for me anyway).

IMO the reasons for the wobble come from several sources. 1 is the light weight of the bike, another is the width of the handlebars (they are slightly wider on the older models) giving the "bat-wing" hand guards more leverage on minor steering input. The suspension settings. And the crappy stock tires/tyres.

The easiest thing to do is to pop off the hand guards and see if that helps, it only takes 15-20 minutes. See if that helps, if it don't you can put them right back on.

I was a pretty big guy at 6' 1" 230+ lbs in my underwear. So I had my suspension set pretty firm. I currently weigh 195 lbs and in my eyes it made a huge difference in the way the bike handled. I had to soften the suspension a "bit".

Tire/tyres. I went from the stock Dunlop D220"s to Dunlop RoadSmart 3's (a much higher quality tire/tyre) and that made a big difference.

While this is the first complaint about wobble on the GT that I've seen FWIW, and the old FJ's and the GT are truly different bikes. Trying some of these things might help.  As always YMMV and good luck.

 

"It doesn't matter who walks in, you know the joke is still the same"  Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. USA

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8 hours ago, BBB said:

- avoid lots of high-up weight at the rear, and/or adjust preload if carrying pillions or luggage

- raise the forks 5-10mm through the triple tree, to lower the front end

- try removing the handguards

These would be my suggestions as well. 

When I originally test rode the FZ-09 several years ago my first impression was the front end felt too light or the geometry wasnt adjusted correctly.  When I accelerated hard through a corner the rear end would squat and the front end felt very light or vague.  I wanted to firm up the shock and raise the forks in the clamps.  The FJ feels the same way to me.  The longer swingarm on the Tracer "should" help this a little but if the shock is mushy and front end is too tall its still not going to feel right.

***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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When you changed the tyres were the wheels balanced? And have you checked that the rear wheel is straight in the swingarm? As said already I would also check the tyre direction. 

The OP seems to give the impression that prior to the tyre change they didn't have any issues at this speed so if that is the case the issue shouldn't be related to the hand guards or weight distribution

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I have a 2017 Fj-09 and got this weave at over 111 mph. This is typical for this bike and may be the reason it comes from the factory speed limited. When I had my ECU re-flashed to remove the limit...I installed GPR stabilizer for $450. MUCH improved but I have never gone beyond 120.

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17 hours ago, dmanteigas said:

Tyres are awsome, leaning at a different level after switched from D222.

 

It's not a big issue as only when riding on highways I ride over 200kmh. With passenger, never felt any wobble at any speed. Thanks BBB for the clarification. I'll try to spend this front tyre as fast as possible so I can replace by a normal RoadAttack3.

 

Any thoughts on how to adjust suspension for this? Preload, Compression, rebound?

Perplexing indeed.  Get the normal Road Attack 3 now and keep the current RA3GT as a spare.

2019 Tracer 900 GT

Niwot CO
USA

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Definitely not stupid. I had I similiar problem on a Fazer 1000 , above 70 mph I had a gentle swagger to front wheel. Spotted new front tyre had been put on wrong way round. Went back, got it changed and problem gone.

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