My 06 suspension is set up per the info I got from athread on this board(Jynx I believe). Anyway it works great with one exception...at WFO I get a nasty headshake at the 2nd-3rd gear shift which is very unnerving a 100+mph. It is less of a problem during the 1-2 shift because that shift ussually brings the wheel clean up where the 2-3 shift seems to just unweight or skate the wheel briefly. Anyway, I have the ability to lower the front .75"and am wondering your opinions on its affect on headshake. I realize this will steepen the geometry which could cause me real problems if headshake does occur, however my experience on other bikes is that more weight on the front tire tends to reduce shake. Normally I would just experiment but I have never ridden bikes with this much HP and am not used to headshake at these speeds so it scares me a little and I dont want to f++k up! Advise please!!
Headshake
- Thread starter ckrouze
- Start date
I guess you could say it was pretty common, I had it happen to me a couple of times before I replaced the oil in mine. And Ive seen a lot of posts where folks had swapped theirs out for a heavier weight oil.
Im not certain, but it seems that I have seen the stock oil listed as a 15 or something close, I know when it comes out, its pretty thin. I replaced mine with a 50 weight oil I think, its been quite a while back now. I have seen where some people have put gear oil in them as well, I guess that would be 75 or so? It would probably make it a bit heavier to steer at slow speeds, but I doubt enough to be a problem, it would certainly reduce the possibility of headshake. I guess it just comes down to pers preference. Its not hard to do, maybe start off with a 40-50 weight and go from there...
Hope this helps!
Im not certain, but it seems that I have seen the stock oil listed as a 15 or something close, I know when it comes out, its pretty thin. I replaced mine with a 50 weight oil I think, its been quite a while back now. I have seen where some people have put gear oil in them as well, I guess that would be 75 or so? It would probably make it a bit heavier to steer at slow speeds, but I doubt enough to be a problem, it would certainly reduce the possibility of headshake. I guess it just comes down to pers preference. Its not hard to do, maybe start off with a 40-50 weight and go from there...
Hope this helps!
IG.
Registered
I think it has nothing to do with suspension. The core of the problem is that at the exact moment when you shift, you unwillingly create a momentary steering input. When the front is light, the front wheel gets turned a little, so when the front regains traction the correcting force throws it back - causing the headshake. If the front was somewhat in the air, this gives you a moment to straighten the front wheel - so in this case, when you land the front is pretty much straight, and no headshake.
Try doing it on an empty road, and pay attention to your hands, and see if you notice this.
Also, try shifting clutchless - faster, smoother, and less steering input. Do a search on how to do it, or if you remember the article in MOTORCYCLIST a couple of years back - had a very good description.
Try doing it on an empty road, and pay attention to your hands, and see if you notice this.
Also, try shifting clutchless - faster, smoother, and less steering input. Do a search on how to do it, or if you remember the article in MOTORCYCLIST a couple of years back - had a very good description.
uhem...a word here if I may?My 06 suspension is set up per the info I got from athread on this board(Jynx I believe). Anyway it works great with one exception...at WFO I get a nasty headshake at the 2nd-3rd gear shift which is very unnerving a 100+mph. It is less of a problem during the 1-2 shift because that shift ussually brings the wheel clean up where the 2-3 shift seems to just unweight or skate the wheel briefly. Anyway, I have the ability to lower the front .75"and am wondering your opinions on its affect on headshake. I realize this will steepen the geometry which could cause me real problems if headshake does occur, however my experience on other bikes is that more weight on the front tire tends to reduce shake. Normally I would just experiment but I have never ridden bikes with this much HP and am not used to headshake at these speeds so it scares me a little and I dont want to f++k up! Advise please!!
Firstly?.. it's spelled "JINKSTER"
2ndly?...I worry about those who automatically believe the first step to remedial action here is to put heavier weight oil in the stock oem steering damper cause...well?...it isn't..and is advice that could get the unwary...well?..in a word?..
"DEAD".
And my monies on member IG. here as he offers up a very good explaination/scenario of...
"un-noticed and/or un-intentional steering input"
taking place.
But....the first area one should look into when attempting to address headshake issues of any kind is...
"STEERING HEAD ADJUSTMENT"
and there's actually a page in the shop manual (6-37) that gives very easy step by step instructions on how to adjust your..
"STEERING TENSION ADJUSTMENT"
whereby you check your steering tension by elevating the front wheel and attaching a pull scale to the outtermost portion of the handgrip and pull the handlebars from a "Dead Straight Position" and take note of how many grams of pull the scale read just prior to the bars going into motion...the recommended force is...200-500 grams of pull force....and I bet a slew of the busa's out there have well under 200grams...and are waaaay to loose...and while it may be hidden far better by applying the "Heavy Oil Steering Damper Mod"...IT IS NOT THE PROPER CURE....and one day when you do reach enough steering harmonic to move that heavy oil in the damper?...it'll turn into a lights out tankslapper....sudden death...while the true root cause was loose steering head bearings.
Hope that helps and...L8R, Bill.
Im very glad that some other folks chimed in here to add their comments to this post, they added valuable and pertinent information. Thats the beauty of this board, we can all add to the common knowledge.
However, and maybe Im taking this the wrong way, but the last thing I am trying to do is get anyone, "in a word?" DEAD. Nice to see your worried about me Jinkster, but rest assured, you have NO reason to.
However, and maybe Im taking this the wrong way, but the last thing I am trying to do is get anyone, "in a word?" DEAD. Nice to see your worried about me Jinkster, but rest assured, you have NO reason to.
TKTM8KR
Registered
+1uhem...a word here if I may?My 06 suspension is set up per the info I got from athread on this board(Jynx I believe). Anyway it works great with one exception...at WFO I get a nasty headshake at the 2nd-3rd gear shift which is very unnerving a 100+mph. It is less of a problem during the 1-2 shift because that shift ussually brings the wheel clean up where the 2-3 shift seems to just unweight or skate the wheel briefly. Anyway, I have the ability to lower the front .75"and am wondering your opinions on its affect on headshake. I realize this will steepen the geometry which could cause me real problems if headshake does occur, however my experience on other bikes is that more weight on the front tire tends to reduce shake. Normally I would just experiment but I have never ridden bikes with this much HP and am not used to headshake at these speeds so it scares me a little and I dont want to f++k up! Advise please!!
Firstly?.. it's spelled "JINKSTER"
2ndly?...I worry about those who automatically believe the first step to remedial action here is to put heavier weight oil in the stock oem steering damper cause...well?...it isn't..and is advice that could get the unwary...well?..in a word?..
"DEAD".
And my monies on member IG. here as he offers up a very good explaination/scenario of...
"un-noticed and/or un-intentional steering input"
taking place.
But....the first area one should look into when attempting to address headshake issues of any kind is...
"STEERING HEAD ADJUSTMENT"
and there's actually a page in the shop manual (6-37) that gives very easy step by step instructions on how to adjust your..
"STEERING TENSION ADJUSTMENT"
whereby you check your steering tension by elevating the front wheel and attaching a pull scale to the outtermost portion of the handgrip and pull the handlebars from a "Dead Straight Position" and take note of how many grams of pull the scale read just prior to the bars going into motion...the recommended force is...200-500 grams of pull force....and I bet a slew of the busa's out there have well under 200grams...and are waaaay to loose...and while it may be hidden far better by applying the "Heavy Oil Steering Damper Mod"...IT IS NOT THE PROPER CURE....and one day when you do reach enough steering harmonic to move that heavy oil in the damper?...it'll turn into a lights out tankslapper....sudden death...while the true root cause was loose steering head bearings.
Hope that helps and...L8R, Bill.
here is your answer to headshake
+2+1uhem...a word here if I may?My 06 suspension is set up per the info I got from athread on this board(Jynx I believe). Anyway it works great with one exception...at WFO I get a nasty headshake at the 2nd-3rd gear shift which is very unnerving a 100+mph. It is less of a problem during the 1-2 shift because that shift ussually brings the wheel clean up where the 2-3 shift seems to just unweight or skate the wheel briefly. Anyway, I have the ability to lower the front .75"and am wondering your opinions on its affect on headshake. I realize this will steepen the geometry which could cause me real problems if headshake does occur, however my experience on other bikes is that more weight on the front tire tends to reduce shake. Normally I would just experiment but I have never ridden bikes with this much HP and am not used to headshake at these speeds so it scares me a little and I dont want to f++k up! Advise please!!
Firstly?.. it's spelled "JINKSTER"
2ndly?...I worry about those who automatically believe the first step to remedial action here is to put heavier weight oil in the stock oem steering damper cause...well?...it isn't..and is advice that could get the unwary...well?..in a word?..
"DEAD".
And my monies on member IG. here as he offers up a very good explaination/scenario of...
"un-noticed and/or un-intentional steering input"
taking place.
But....the first area one should look into when attempting to address headshake issues of any kind is...
"STEERING HEAD ADJUSTMENT"
and there's actually a page in the shop manual (6-37) that gives very easy step by step instructions on how to adjust your..
"STEERING TENSION ADJUSTMENT"
whereby you check your steering tension by elevating the front wheel and attaching a pull scale to the outtermost portion of the handgrip and pull the handlebars from a "Dead Straight Position" and take note of how many grams of pull the scale read just prior to the bars going into motion...the recommended force is...200-500 grams of pull force....and I bet a slew of the busa's out there have well under 200grams...and are waaaay to loose...and while it may be hidden far better by applying the "Heavy Oil Steering Damper Mod"...IT IS NOT THE PROPER CURE....and one day when you do reach enough steering harmonic to move that heavy oil in the damper?...it'll turn into a lights out tankslapper....sudden death...while the true root cause was loose steering head bearings.
Hope that helps and...L8R, Bill.
you're taking it the wrong way...oh and...thanks...done worrying aboutcha...I'll sleep better now..thanks again, Bill.
Bill,how much does the Ohlins run and from where?
about 2 grand for the "Road & Track" ohlins forks and right about $1,100 for the rear shock...but I wouldn't blow my dough on either...for about $1,000 you could get Traxxion or GMD Computrac to revalve and respring the stock forks and a $600-$800 penske rear shock would make just as an amazing dif as the ohlins....at right around 1/2 the price of the ohlins.
Then again?...That's just me...as there are some folks out there who get off on bragging about how much they spent rather than po folk like me who dig performance but want it at the best price.
L8R, Bill.
Bill, I was just inquiring about the stabilizer,thanks,NJ.
oh....sorry...I have no clue man...not a huge fan of ohlins steering dampers...scotts, shindy or bust.Bill, I was just inquiring about the stabilizer,thanks,NJ.
Thanks for all the input folks. I will definitely check the front end play/stiction even though the bike is new. Ill also pay closer attention to unwanted steering input. I must admit the busa has more power than I'm used to so I'm probably doing a bit of white knuckle hand work under hard acceleration
I'm putting on my new muzzy system as we speak...just had it running and it sounds wicked:angry: Havent hooked up the pc yet so the throttle response feels a little funky!
I'm putting on my new muzzy system as we speak...just had it running and it sounds wicked:angry: Havent hooked up the pc yet so the throttle response feels a little funky!NJ, right around 400 bucks. If you look around abit you may find it for a little less.Bill, I was just inquiring about the stabilizer,thanks,NJ.
GPR also makes a rotory damper for about 350. Imo the Ohlins is better, but GPR has a way nicer/prettier mounting system.
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