Vibration

purchelli · Post by **purchelli** » Sat Nov 14, 2015 4:21 am

Hi all, I'm looking for some educated opinions on what this vibration might be.I took possession of my 2000 SE almost a year ago and have since done about 3000 miles. The first time I rode the bike I noticed that on leaning the bike into the first corner I could feel a bit of a vibration through the bars and perhaps even a little through the frame. Once out of the corner with the bike stood up straight it feels completely smooth again. Left hander or right hander doesn't matter. Anyway, it's never bothered me too much so I've just put up with it. The vibration is almost like a light grinding. Just wondering if anyone on this forum may have an educated opinion of what might be going on.

dingdong · Post by **dingdong** » Sat Nov 14, 2015 8:30 am

I can think of two possibilities. First is a severely cupped rear tire. When I used Dunlop E3 tires this always happened after a few thousand miles. The last set was cupping so bad I removed them early because of the vibration in a curve. Second possibility is a wheel bearing going bad.

tfdeputydawg · Post by **tfdeputydawg** » Sat Nov 14, 2015 9:33 am

+1 for cupped tire! Could be the front tire or back tire or both

newday777 · Post by **newday777** » Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:33 am

tfdeputydawg wrote:+1 for cupped tire! Could be the front tire or back tire or both

purchelli
This is exactly the cause. Run your hand backwards on the tread and feel the cupping happening. New tires and it will go away until they start cupping too. E3s seem to be the worst but all tires will cup eventually on the wings. It has to do with the weight of the bike and loads then the added stress factors in the corners.

newday777 · Post by **newday777** » Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:36 am

Be sure to keep 42 psi front and 44 psi in the rear tires.

YouTube · Post by **WingAdmin** » Sat Nov 14, 2015 5:21 pm

It could be wheel bearings, but virtually all of the time it's caused by cupped tires.

Shine a flashlight at an oblique angle (put the light right on the tire and shine it along the tread) and it will likely reveal the cupping that you might not be able to see otherwise.

purchelli · Post by **purchelli** » Sun Nov 15, 2015 4:29 am

Thanks so much everyone, it seems like the verdict is cupped tires though it's not a term I am familiar with.
I'll take a look as per the advice on this forum. regards all.

tfdeputydawg · Post by **tfdeputydawg** » Sun Nov 15, 2015 7:32 am

Never understood where this deal of running 42psi in the front came from???? That results in a very harsh ride!!!!! I run 36psi and did when I was still 2 wheeled. Also, I 've only had one tire cup on the front and no others have!

rgmr250 · Post by **rgmr250** » Mon Nov 16, 2015 2:14 am

My rear tire is a little cupped and I get lots of noise just off upright - almost any amount of lean, either way, and I get a fair bit of noise. I can't say I have vibration, but maybe just a little.

Here's a good explanation of cupping (scalloping) and other tire ills:
http://www.rattlebars.com/tirewear/

Poorly performing suspension, improper tire pressure and other things can cause the cupping.

purchelli · Post by **purchelli** » Mon Nov 16, 2015 4:17 am

Could someone explain to an ignorant kiwi what 'cupped' means? It's not a term I have ever heard before.

dennislp · Post by **dennislp** » Mon Nov 16, 2015 4:26 am

the tire will have high and low spots like waves

purchelli · Post by **purchelli** » Mon Nov 16, 2015 5:29 am

yep just read all about cupping thanks to rgmr250. thanks all

YouTube · Post by **WingAdmin** » Mon Nov 16, 2015 3:37 pm

You can see a slight cup on the left side of this tire:

This is a severely cupped tire:

Keef · Post by **Keef** » Tue Nov 17, 2015 6:35 pm

My rear tire looks just like that last pix. And I get the same wobble in the curves. But as far as the front tire pressure, mine is 29. And it has wore great. New tires this winter and going to try the beads for balance..............

PastoT · Post by **PastoT** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 4:42 pm

Cupping is often referred to the tread wear the front tire acquires over tire, where feathering is used to describe similar rear tire tread wear. It happens as a tire gets worn naturally. Often times it can occur quickly to a newer tire if run below its ideal pressure, even for a short time. Sometimes one can reverse the undesired tread wear by increasing tire pressure. I run my E-3s with balancing beads and at 41/44 PSI (front/rear) and have held off the natural cupping/feathering for several thousand miles from what is often reported at lower PSIs and the beads helped even more. I get 19-20k easily on my E-3s and end up changing just before a long trip for safety, my tires don't sing to me until they surpass 10-13k miles (I hear many times E-3 users start griping around 6k miles). I've reversed my front tire tread cupping twice after a brief 3-4 hundred mile rides where the pressure had dropped to 37/38 psi; all I did was return it to 41 psi and ride and they kind of healed themselves. Once I had prematurely feathered my rear and simply increased the pressure to 44 and there was a vast improvement. Yes 41/44 psi will impact the cushiness of the ride but its a slightly harsher ride or faster costly tire replacement. Cupping might also result in slow speed deceleration wobble around 35mph, I've never had a bad wobble but hands off you'll might notice it. There are other factors that impact wobble but new tires often fix all this singing, vibration and wobble; higher PSIs and balancing beads can hold it at bay longer.

Bluewaterhooker0 · Post by **Bluewaterhooker0** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 11:36 pm

Cupping is often referred to the tread wear the front tire acquires over tire, where feathering is used to describe similar rear tire tread wear. It happens as a tire gets worn naturally. Often times it can occur quickly to a newer tire if run below its ideal pressure, even for a short time. Sometimes one can reverse the undesired tread wear by increasing tire pressure. I run my E-3s with balancing beads and at 41/44 PSI (front/rear) and have held off the natural cupping/feathering for several thousand miles from what is often reported at lower PSIs and the beads helped even more. I get 19-20k easily on my E-3s and end up changing just before a long trip for safety, my tires don't sing to me until they surpass 10-13k miles (I hear many times E-3 users start griping around 6k miles). I've reversed my front tire tread cupping twice after a brief 3-4 hundred mile rides where the pressure had dropped to 37/38 psi; all I did was return it to 41 psi and ride and they kind of healed themselves. Once I had prematurely feathered my rear and simply increased the pressure to 44 and there was a vast improvement. Yes 41/44 psi will impact the cushiness of the ride but its a slightly harsher ride or faster costly tire replacement. Cupping might also result in slow speed deceleration wobble around 35mph, I've never had a bad wobble but hands off you'll might notice it. There are other factors that impact wobble but new tires often fix all this singing, vibration and wobble; higher PSIs and balancing beads can hold it at bay longer.

+1 on the above
I've had almost identical experience, except I run 42 rear, and 40 front, on K177 Dunlops. Correct pressure after the scalloping occurred, corrected the issue after a thousand miles or so. My rear had gotten so bad, that in addition to the singing in the turns, I would hear and feel it in the footpegs upon quick deceleration and braking. I lost the rear tire to a screw at about 13K miles, but am still on the front tire at about 16K miles.

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