Any known handling issues on the GK's?

[Guest]

My bike starts a mild but disconcerting weave at around 75mph/120km when accelerating progressively It doesn't shimmy if i open the taps a little more gently.
I think(?) all the bearings are good so I'm just throwing the question out to see if any other gk owners have experience similar weaving effect?
That huge fairing can't help the handling much at speed(?)

[Steve]

I don't have an 1100GK, but I do have its little brother that Suzuki never made.

You can click the link in my sig to see what I'm talking about.

A few years ago, my wife leaned over my shoulder and took this picture:



Absolute NO instability noted, nor was there any banging on the back of my helmet.

Not sure if the difference in fairing shape helped, but have a look and make your own guesses.



And, in spite of being on a smaller bike and riding two-up, we usually kept this group in sight.





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[Highway_Glider]

Hi GelandeStrasse.

No.

I do not get any weaving at all. Solid as a rock. I spend all my time at 120 kph. That's my cruising speed. GPS gives me an actual 117 kph but that's good as the tickets start flying your way at 121 kph.

Is the fork good and tight? If you weight the ass down can you grab the wheel and make it move?

EDIT: I can't think of a lot of possibilities. Air pressure in the tires? Crooked frame (Not sure if it would do that)?

[Griffin]

Front end handling issues could be caused by:

bad wheel bearings
worn out fork springs
worn out rear shocks
bad steering head bearings
out of balance front wheel
tweaked front forks
rear wheel misaligned
tweaked frame
front tire unevenly worn


A few years ago I rode for two days down in Kentucky with a fellow on an 1100GK and we were rarely under 70 mph, sometimes over 100mph. He had no problems keeping up with me and never had an issue with instability.

[tkent02]

I'd add swingarm bearings to the list, although I don't think they wear out much on the shafties. Had a GK way over 100mph once or twice, never has any wobbling or weaving or anything.

Could be as simple as the front tire doesn't play well with the rear tire. Micheline vs. Kenda type thing? Dunlop vs. Pirelli?

Have also heard having more oil in one fork leg than the other or more air pressure in one side can do strange things to handling.

I have had a cracked fairing mount on a Yamaha 650 that did some strange things as well. Especially when it broke completely, rotated about thirty degrees and made the bike dive hard left into the guardrail. That was fun.

Does the weave go away if you lay down on the tank?

[koolaid_kid]

What about air pressure in the rear shocks. IIRK, the GK came from the factory with air shocks in the rear.

[850GT_Rider]

My bike starts a mild but disconcerting weave at around 75mph/120km when accelerating progressively It doesn't shimmy if i open the taps a little more gently.
I think(?) all the bearings are good so I'm just throwing the question out to see if any other gk owners have experience similar weaving effect?
That huge fairing can't help the handling much at speed(?)

Although not a GK, I have a fairing (Windjammer) on my bike. As others here have said, no issues at speed, even with nasty crosswinds. Solid as a rock.

You say it only happens when you accelerate quickly, but if you accelerate more slowly, it doesn't happen? Does that mean the "shimmy" goes away once you're cruising at a steady speed?

[bonanzadave]

Mine does it (weave), but its a E. Have tried every thing listed and it just wont go away.

bad wheel bearings
worn out fork springs
worn out rear shocks
bad steering head bearings
out of balance front wheel
tweaked front forks
rear wheel misaligned
tweaked frame
front tire unevenly worn

Steves pic (instruments) is about where Im going into 4th and thats when it starts. 6k-7k in 5th is not doable as Im afraid of a non-recoverable tank slapper.

[Griffin]

Mine does it (weave), but its a E. Have tried every thing listed and it just wont go away.
Steves pic (instruments) is about where Im going into 4th and thats when it starts. 6k-7k in 5th is not doable as Im afraid of a non-recoverable tank slapper.

That's depressing. It kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a 100 hp bike.

Do you have modern front fork springs, and have you tried different brands of tires? A lot of the old bikes I've picked up over the years have had bad high speed behavior until I replaced the front fork springs and put on new tires (I always get the engine and electrical issues fixed before performing the "easy" things on the Usual List). Consequently, I've ridden quite a few old UJMs at speed (if only briefly to check out the motor) with old tires, bad suspension, worn out steering head bearings, etc...

I did find a 1981 GS750E that started shaking a bit around 80 mph after doing all that stuff to it. It turned out to have slightly tweaked front forks. After swapping them out with a set from Cycle Recycle, it behaved quite nicely at speed thereafter.

Tires and front forks are the number one components involved with front end instability issues, in my experience.

[GelandeStrasse]

Thanks for all the info guys. I need to go through and double check all the bearings. When i bought the bike it had been dropped hard enough to tweak the triple tree lower and one fork leg. I replaced both forks and the tree, but not the bearings which looked ok and are definitely properly torqued.
Having said that, I won't rule out the aggressive tires it's currently wearing as they may have something to do with it too. I don't like to be limited by tires, I wanna go where ever the road takes me, even when the road stops

[Steve]

Having said that, I won't rule out the aggressive tires it's currently wearing as they may have something to do with it too. I don't like to be limited by tires, I wanna go where ever the road takes me, even when the road stops

I can understand wanting to go just about anywhere, but on a 650 pound touring bike?

Your sense of adventure is just a bit more aggressive than mine (much like your tires).



.

[GelandeStrasse]

I can understand wanting to go just about anywhere, but on a 650 pound touring bike?

..... 650 + camp gear, tools, snacks and a passenger

[posplayr]

That's depressing. It kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a 100 hp bike.

Do you have modern front fork springs, and have you tried different brands of tires? A lot of the old bikes I've picked up over the years have had bad high speed behavior until I replaced the front fork springs and put on new tires (I always get the engine and electrical issues fixed before performing the "easy" things on the Usual List). Consequently, I've ridden quite a few old UJMs at speed (if only briefly to check out the motor) with old tires, bad suspension, worn out steering head bearings, etc...

I did find a 1981 GS750E that started shaking a bit around 80 mph after doing all that stuff to it. It turned out to have slightly tweaked front forks. After swapping them out with a set from Cycle Recycle, it behaved quite nicely at speed thereafter.

Tires and front forks are the number one components involved with front end instability issues, in my experience.

When I first got my 81 gs750e as a runner, it started and rode fine but at 55 mph it started to give me an uneasy feeling with the front tire tracking with a grooved freeway. At 60-65 it had this slow This slow disconcerting wobble. After a process of new ground springs, new oil, new tires etc those vagaries and instabilities just keep going away but appearing at higher speeds.
Eventually with just basic maintenance (except front progressive springs and some used Hagon shocks ) it turned into a very stable beast with even spirited riding. Absolutely no complaints.

[tkent02]

Any bike can go on gravel or worse, some do it better than others. I have no use for a pavement queen.









The TCK 80s are not known as ill handling tires on the big adventure bikes, some of those things are as big as a GK with a few hundred pounds more gear on them, and some of those guys go very fast.

[GelandeStrasse]

Indeed, this GS handles dirt roads fine