Have you ever experienced a significant head shake

[BentValve]

Personally ive only felt a mild headshake on my Busa....since ive been down from a tankslapper in the past (lowsided @ 80mph) I can really appreciate a bike that is so stable in this regard. Even with its massive power and me being quite careless with my right wrist quite often its never given me anything but minor head shake or 2.

I read a thread on the K5 over @ Gixxer.com and its a solid strike against this bike because I cannot deal with bad headshakes or worse. I realize you have to take it easy powering out of corners and stuff because the front end will come up....but the high speed head shakes...I shiver just thinking about what it would be like if my Busa started a nasty head shake @ 175mph!

LINK TO THREAD

 

[Jimmy_Lee]

i got a head shake about 180 on mine but i thought it was from the helmet being a little too big ididnt knwo this was a common problem and as far as the tank slap the new ZX10 is a dangerous MOFO!! Best friend had one about 2 weeks and traded it on a 05 Gixxer 1K
JJ

 

[PACIFICBUSA]

only happens sometimes....


mostly when I let go the handlebars and stand on the seat....other than that, none. Even when coming down hard from the occasional wheelie.

 

[shenoyp]

Never had one that I have noticed...

 

[bronc3]

Never really had a problem, maybe just a hint once when my front tire was worn badly. Just replace my stabilizer because of a worn rod end, but it was because it rattled. Handling didn't seem to be affected.

 

[paulos]

nope. only time i've had my head shake was when a pegion hit my helmet at a considerble pace.blood went over the tank and its guts,got back home and my helmet was just as bad.
so be carefull out there coz you never know when that pegion will come for you..lol

 

[MN72Busa]

I usually experience a very violent head shake, about 7 1/2 hours into my work shift routinely.

 

[paulos]

lol

 

[Tufbusa]

As long as you keep the geometry of the bike working properly, the bike will never give you a problem with head shake. Most guys I find, never torque the head stock bearings. Once a year or so, i check the torque on the stering bearings. Like anything else, they wear and as they wear, the stering becomes loose. Keep em tight and it will eliminate most of your steering problems. If you wheelie a lot, with lots of hard landings I'd check the bearings more often.

If your bike is functioning properly, the only other way you'll get head shake or a slapper is if you make a mistake and put the bike in a fowl position. Most guys who end up with a tank slapper find out the hard way that there really is a reason why exeprienced riders say stay off the rear brake. Getting on the rear brake at the wrong time is probably the number one cause of the real deal tank slapper? I learned that the hard way as well.

If you get a tank slapper, the chances of saving it are small. If not, you are going for a ride on the high side. Personally, I've never heard of anyone doing a low side as a result of a tank slapper? Maybe it is possible but I don't see how? When your bike is shaking like a dog shaking off fleas, it's hard to come off gently. Low siding from a tank slapper would be like getting thrown from a horse on the belly side?

 

[Mr Brown]

There's a kid that comes up to the drags who rides a K5, lowered, stock arm, -1 tooth in front. He got a nasty headshake at the end of the run, turned into a full-on tankslapper. He came across the other lane and almost took out the other rider, managed to recover about 2 feet before the guardrail. I gotta give him credit, he knew enough not to fight it, but it could have been real ugly.

 

[rosco15]

We had a guy lower his 1000 and put a slick and bar on it at the dragstrip. He went down next to me in a nasty tankslapper at well over 100. Got right up and started running after his bike.

 

[DAB]

I get head shakes under the following conditions:

1) People in cages trying to race me.

2) People in cages trying to cut me off 'cause they're not looking/on the cell phone.

3) Whenever I see squids riding sports bikes.

 

[BentValve]

. Personally, I've never heard of anyone doing a low side as a result of a tank slapper? Maybe it is possible but I don't see how? When your bike is shaking like a dog shaking off fleas, it's hard to come off gently. Low siding from a tank slapper would be like getting thrown from a horse on the belly side?

Youve mentioned that before...I know how I went down man. Trust me, I fvcking lowsided.

Maybe it was my bike, maybe I was leaning..I do know I was fighting it with everything I had , yeah not good but i did not know.

Anyhow there was a problem with my front end, I did not know what it was. I experienced pretty significant head shakes on the bike doing 35mph...never on the freeway until the day I went down.

I was in I35 in Texas right in front on Texas Stadium...the last thing I saw after I knew I was about to hit the floor was my speedo..it said 80 or 85 , I forget.

 

[05busa05busa05]

i have had mild head shakes on other bikes but not my busa (5k miles since 05/07/05). that is one of the things i love about her!

 

[stkr00]

Most I've experienced was a mild wobble on the Busa, and was usually caused by RIDER INPUT....Me

Hard accelleration with a quick shift which caused an upset due to my input on the handlebars with the clutch. Having the front end lite didn't help either. Also had this happen topping the hill on the main straight at Road America while doing about 130 mph. Big pucker factor!

From that point on, I learned to try and be as smooth as possible when shifting under hard accelleration.

 

[IG.]

How did I miss this one?

Anyway, that's how I went down on May 26, on the banking of the Pocono Ineternational Raceway, doing about 110. It was wet all day, and no problem. However, about 10 sec before I bit it, it started raining harder, and I kept going like all day - got pretty confident riding in the wet.

There is a bump in the middle of the banking - not a short bump, but like there is a huge pipe crossing under the road (actually it's the tunnel under the banking - to enter the racetrack), and it elevates smoothly up, and then down.

The control rider behind me saw the whole thing. All I remember, one moment I am on the bike, then all I remember handlebars going like crazy, I roll a few times, and get up a few feet from the wall.

What I suspect happened, I lost traction for just a moment going over the bump, and the front wheel turned a little. After the front regained traction, the crooket wheel started a tankslapper.

Too bad I didn't replace the oil in the damper with like 90w, eventhough I knew about this mod.

That was the only tankslapper I had. All my track days last year - no problem. All street riding - no problem. Alltogether about 7500 miles since I bought the thing in Dec of 2003.

I would say this. The bike by itself is very stable. However, when the front gets light, or loses traction, that's when it might get ugly. The problem is it might not happen for years.

I feel the key is to have a relaxed grip on the handlebars, and have a good damper, or replace stock oil in the damper with the heavy one.

Like someone said, not much you can do when you got a real tankslapper, not a headshake.

Oh, BTW, I lowsided. Bodily damage - banged up a finger a little. My leathers - took the heat. The helmet - almost didn't touch (like scratch on the side of the visor). The bike slid on the left side up to the wall, hit the wall with the top of the bike, and slid down the banking. Damage - left panel, stator cover, tank dented, hump, grab bar, windscreen, front cowl, gauges.

Engine seems OK, frame/subframe OK, almost ready to ride. 2.5 months with no riding is a bummer!
__                                      
Igor
<span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:darkred'>HumpMod.com</span> <span style='color:darkred'>- The easy way</span></span>

 

[USMCBUSA]

I get head shakes under the following conditions:

1) People in cages trying to race me.

2) People in cages trying to cut me off 'cause they're not looking/on the cell phone.

3) Whenever I see squids riding sports bikes.

 

[BentValve]

Hey IG, did you not get any headshake at all, you just went straight into a full blown slapper? Besides relaxing the other thing you need to do is get on the throttle to get the weight off the front.

 

[ozz]

I had a bit of a shake coming out of a turn in second gear...as I exited the turn the bars kinda went slowly back and forth three times and then settled down and all was o.k....the next day I rode the same loop and the same exact thing happened again at the same turn...this time I stoped to look at the turn up close and there was this little roll in the road...I think I was just catching it with the side of my wheel and that's what caused it...it's the only time I have had it happen.

 

[Busa_05]

I've run up into indicated 170's and it was stable as I could have ever asked for. The only tank slapper I slipped into was at like 40 mph whipping around a corner and my rear wheel broke loose, caught pavement, and lurched the bus into a violent slapper. Eventhough I was lucky and didn't go down, my body was still sore for like two days from the heavy bus and violence of the slapper.