What happens if.......

[Ian]

Been silent for a while here. Too busy enjoying riding my V11. I lurve this bike. Sooooo much character!

 

Anyway, a question for you V11 riders.....what happens on your bike if you’re riding in a straight line, say 40-50mph, in top, steady speed, and you take your hands off the bars and let the bike decelerate?

 

I won’t lead the witness by telling you what happens on my bike, but I’m interested to see if others get a similar effect

[Scud]

I have no idea and I'm not gonna try it.  

[Ian]

Tch, no sense of adventure!

[docc]

I so want to do this.

 

And don't . . .

 

but do!

 

I'm in!

[Scud]

Wait... hold my beer.

[Chuck]

Uhh, it's really common for any bike to shake it's head a little when doing that.. especially if the front tire is worn or the steering head bearings are too loose.

[docc]

Uhh, it's really common for any bike to shake it's head a little when doing that.. especially if the front tire is worn or the steering head bearings are too loose.

Or the springs are too soft (especially the rear) and the sags are not set . . .

[Ian]

No head shake on mine when I do it

[stewgnu]

If i remember, she leans to the right.

[LowRyter]

jus' depends............

 

even the time of day.

[Kostarika]

Bike just goes down the road smooth.

[shiloh]

Smooth as silk

[Lucky Phil]

I wouldnt do this normally for any reason because all bikes have a speed where the natural resonant frequencey coecides with a particular speed and if you release the bars they shake. Some are far worse than others and my first experience of it was when I was part of a road test team for a local magazine back in the mid 1980s. We were testing 4 bikes ( Gpz900, Honda VF1000R, Yamaha 1000 and the Suzuki) over a weekend trip one of which was a GSX1100E, the model with the 16" front wheel. I noticed the bike would shake the bars quite badly at around 60 klm/hr if you had one hand off the bars and just light pressure on the other.

As Chuck pointed out the propensity to do it and the magnitude varies on each particular bike dependent on mechanical/wear factors and some bikes you will never actually experience it because you dont release the bars or reduce the input at a speed which that particular bike experiences the shake. 

The only reason I really noticed it on the Suzuki was because from memory we were riding in suburban conditions in the rain and I was clearing my visor regularly so had one hand off the bar and with the throttle shut and no braking and light grip on the right bar it would shake. I then released the right hand entirly to see what the effect would be and it shook a lot. Didnt try it too much after that.

Replace the front tire, check the wheel bearings,steering head bearings, wheel for trueness and the steering damper for binding and no dead spot and see how it goes.

 

Ciao

[Ian]

Mine does what’s Stewgnu’s does.......she leans quite noticeably to the right, but continues pretty much in a straight line. Very peculiar. My BMW does’t do it (droopy v-twin) so i’m intrigued why the Guzzi does it

[footgoose]

I don't know if this is the case but it could be caused by an offset motor. My K1200 RS rear was offset 10mm ( I think) making left cornering a bit sketchier than right. Were our motors offset for the 5.5 rim?

 

Also, if your front tire is worn you'll have less tread on the left side.