MT09 (FJ) Tracer Steering Wobbling

[steveb]

I eagerly await your experience riding a luggage equipped FJ09 at 140mph with accompanying video footage of the fork action. With or without a stabilizer.

I've had my FJ-09 with OEM hard luggage up to 135 mph several times (ECU Flashed) with absolutely no wobble...period. There is a back road that is WIDE open about 40 miles from home where I can do this safely. This bike is rock solid.  

Just took my FJ (ECU Flashed) out for a test ride today with both the FJR saddlebags and a Givi 52 liter topbox mounted (bags and topbox were empty).  Up thru 105mph (indicated) the bike was totally stable.  As I passed 110mph I started to get some pronounced oscillation and dialed the bike back.  My feeling is that the topbox was the cause, and I'll try it again sometime later without the topbox on the bike.   
Before the ECU flash I'd gotten the FJ to the 115mph limit without any issues (no saddlebags or topbox). 
 
Sooo for any kind of "normal" riding, I don't see a stability issue even with both saddlebags and topbox mounted (YMMV).  If you're going for a high speed run......
 
 
***Update: Took the FJ up to 125mph (indicated) with empty FJR saddlebags and no topbox.  Bike was perfectly stable.  I had tightened up the suspension (2 lines showing on front preload, and setting 5 on rear - I weigh @205 lbs) and will give it another go later with the topbox on out of curiosity.  The bike definitely feels much better with the stiffened suspension (as others have commented).
 
 
 
 
 
 

[kifakw]

sorting out the suspension and lower psi for the tyres didn't work for me. the bike still wobbles at times!
 
this is so frustrating that the bike doesnt give you the confidence to ride it harder than it is suppose to handle.
 
i noticed that the front end starts to get light and pre-empt you with the "gives you the feeling that is going to wobble" at about 170 - 185 KM/H range. or perhaps it is the phobia in me, unknowingly and subconsciously made myself to hold the handlebar much much tighter than i am suppose to ...

[grayhawkglen]

Absolutely!! Most of my riding buddies are on sportier bikes, and a lot of my riding consists of early morning short "spirited" breakfast runs. I take the bags off, plug in the radar detector and GO. I love the FJ-09 for it's blend of comfort, function and sportiness. I know it can't be great at everything, but it does very well in the sport area, with the exception of high speed. I am likely going to purchase a GPR dampener (model 5011-5000 according to a tech rep at GPR). I need to find the best price on one. They are awfully proud of those things.
I am also interested in a better tire (running the originals now). I used multi compound Michelin Pilots for years on my past bikes and liked them. This is not a tire thread but who's got a set they love on the FJ??
  

[kifakw]

has anyone try adding handlebar barend balancers?

[thespaceman]

The dealer delivered my bike with virtually NO preload on the forks. There were 6 full rings showing above the top. The front got extremely wobbly with or without the luggage at anything over 80 mph. By 100 it would head-shake very badly.
 
Fork compression / preload: I put in a bit more than 50% compression so there are now 3 rings showing.  
 
Fork rebound: I also went to the middle; the adjuster says "TEN", so I tightened it completely (I counted 12 clicks but it's hard to tell) and then backed out 4.  
 
Rear compression / preload: on 5 of six steps. It's great  when the luggage is on; a bit too hard for without, but it's too hard to adjust to fool with it day to day.
 
Yesterday I was out in the Everglades on deserted roads and the handling was infinitely better. Truly a case of "night and day;" no matter how fast I went the bike felt planted and stable. The conditions were ideal; flat pavement and no wind, but even in the ramps etc. on the way home it was much, much better.
 
One tip: use a 6-sided socket on the fork preload adjustment, not a 16-point. Lay a small piece of blue tape over the top of the adjuster first, then slide the socket over. This will avoid damaging the adjusters, which are very soft. Also put a layer of blue tape on your flat-head screwdriver before adjusting the rebound for the same reason.

[ogri]

Mine came set at 5.5 rings showing from the dealer and the lowest that the front end dives is 1.5 inches from full bottom with a 175 Lbs. rider. My rebound damping was set at 7 clicks from the full 'soft' setting and I have increased that to 10 to eliminate pogoing. I tend to sit as far forward as possible, much like a dirt bike, and can easily hit over 100 mph without any head shake. Haven't tried running with bags yet, but I'm sure that they induce instability. Not too many MotoGP bikes have a top box.  Was riding a ZRX1200R, which would shake, rattle and roll at 120 mph regardless of set-up.

[grayhawkglen]

I like the guys at my Yamaha dealer (Apache in Scottsdale, AZ) and they have been great at installs and warranty work.
That said, when I bought my bike I asked about the suspension and if we could spend some time adjusting it. They said that "Yamaha ships these bikes set up pretty well". They really did not have much interest in setting the bike up. After reading some posts here, I stiffened the front to the max and that helped A LOT. I still need to adjust my rear.

[woodburner]

I had the same problem. At speeds above 95 MPH (150 KPH) the front would start to weave and this sensation increased with more speed to the point where I would have to roll off. Anything above 110 MPH (175 KMH) and the weaving seriously caught my attention! Taking one hand off the bars helped calm things down although this is a little counter intuitive! My bike was on stock settings. It was not tyre related as I've swapped the OE Dunlops for Michelin Pilot Road 3s but had the same experience on both sets of tyres. I wondered if it was aero related as it seemed worse wearing loose clothing / bulky jacket compared to riding in leathers. Whilst I think there is an aero element (as you would expect with a tall, flat bar bike with a crap screen!) I wasn't convinced this was the real issue so I had a look at the suspension. My bike came from the dealer on stock settings but I am over 100 kg in weight and quite tall at 6" 3' (1.91 M). The suspension is very soft on stock settings. I increased the rear pre-load from 4 to 6 notches from soft (1 off max) and increased the damping from 1.5 turns from fully in to 1 turn from fully in. At the front I increased the pre-load from 16mm of adjuster showing to 12mm. I left the damping on 7 clicks from fully in. This transformed the bike. Steers better, holds a line and more importantly the weave is pretty much gone. It still weaves a little bit at speeds in excess of 120 MPH (190 KMH) but I'm pretty sure this is aero related as the wind catches my shoulders and wags my arms creating un-wanted steering inputs - that screen really is rubbish! So basically the Tracer needs setting up for each individual rider especially if they are big / heavy. I have never had a road bike that is so sensitive to suspension settings and I think Yamaha dealers need to get hold of this issue because I'm sure some folk will really be frightened by this bike on stock settings. Once sorted I can honestly say this is one of the best bikes I've ever owned. Hope this helps.

[pattonme]

> the adjuster says "TEN"
 
that's short for 'tension' aka rebound.
 
> needs setting up for each individual rider especially if they are big / heavy
 
because heavy is way outside the design brief of the suspension. It was no doubt evaluated by and configured for a 150lb Japanese male.
 
> Yamaha dealers need to get hold of this issue
 
I'm afraid it will be a rare dealer indeed who knows even how to set sag properly. The ignorance of service departments never ceases to amaze and the sales guys are hopeless.

[buz11]

I experienced the wobble this weekend and found this thread to be useful. I'm 175 lb and have hard bags and a medium calsci screen, and can start it easily at speeds above 85 mph by pushing one side of the handlebar. The resulting wobble is about 2 hz and settles after 4 seconds at that speed, but takes longer to settle the faster you go. Increasing my rear shock preload to 5 brought that settle time down to about 2 seconds. I didn't find that anything else helped it, though ended up with stiffer settings all around to improve my ride. My front shock is preload is now at 3 visible rings (was 5.5 rings from the dealer) with 3 clicks of rebound, rear shock preload is 5 with 1 full turn rebound, and tires are 35/41 psi (were 33/34 from the dealer).

[pattonme]

your tires are overinflated @buz11. 33 front/rear modulo load is plenty. Also, it helps if you're talking clicks/turns of settings that you indicate from fully in (aka hard). It's not clear if that's what you meant.

[buz11]

pattonme, the rebound clicks are from fully in. Is it dangerous to ride on 35/41 tires if it feels good? Also wanted to see if it improves my gas mileage.

[gkdozer]

Previously I had this issue as well. Around 140-150kph I felt it.
 
So like some had advice, I soften the front fork and stiffen the rear by 2 click and it works! 2 side pannier and a givi trekker 58 with about 8kg load and a pillion of 40kg.. not a slight front wobble or weaving even up till 194kph.. I'm happy.. I hope it works for everyone as a steering damper are expensive shit! By the way,my tyre pressure is front 34psi and rear 40psi. Cheers..

[pattonme]

@buz11, you can run whatever pressures you like up to whatever is max on the side-wall. If 35/41 is what you want, have at it. It might improve mileage but there are multiple factors to contend with. What you will doubtless observe in the near future is accelerated wear in the middle of the rear tire of a relatively narrow width. Unless you happen to spend a lot of time on the side of the tire because you're blessed with curvy roads.
 

[wessie]

your tires are overinflated @buz11. 33 front/rear modulo load is plenty. Also, it helps if you're talking clicks/turns of settings that you indicate from fully in (aka hard). It's not clear if that's what you meant.

 
my UK version of the manual says tyre pressures are 36 front, 42 rear, in pounds per square inch
 
this seems to be universal on sports or sports touring bikes whether of Japanese or European manufacture and is the pressure my local dealer set the tyres too, as did the independent tyre fitter I used recently