Stability

[non hairy biker]

Hello all, just toured Scotland, covered 2,600 miles in 9 days. Bike was great on the motorways. Once on the windy roads, the bike was very unstable. The front and rear sometimes felt like I was on marbles. I had 18lb in each pannier and carried about 10lb in the 35 litre top box. I am on newish (1,000 miles) pilot rd3, front 40psi and the rear 42psi. Suspension is set up as normal, which I had not had any problems with a pillon on. Lost a load of confidence, so much so, just ended up tickling around!! Can anyone shed a little bit of light please. Thank you.

[SirToU]

Front Tyre pressure is 2PSI low (according to de book of destructions).  With the added weight on the back it might not be running as correctly as it might.

I used to run 41/41 on the Angels, but always 42/42 on the Z8's.  I didn't find the bike particularly liked being away from factory (42/42) settings - and if it drops below about 35-36, the TPMS will activate.

Not very helpful I guess.

Neil

[viper]

I agree with above comment ,  the difference between 42 COLD pressure and a 40 when the bike is up and running can make a big difference to the front end feel. Your weight in the boxes does not sound excessive . we run with similar and have no problems , however I have found that we have to have the rear suspension set to about 18 click from the 24 available , we are a combined body weight of 28 stone

[Lonewolf]

As per the above responses. To clarify were you running at 40 & 42 psi or were the tyres inflated to 40 & 42 psi? There's a significant difference. As Neil said, even a slight difference in the recommended pressures can and does affect the stability of the bike.

When I inflated mine to 42 they would normally run at about 44psi (approx) when warm.

[Kwikasfuki]

Have a read of this thread: http://www.gtr1400.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=38.0

Suspension would also play a part, especially if you had all that luggage and a pillion

[non hairy biker]

Thank you all. No pillion just me. Tyres inflated to 40psi and 42 psi when cold. On the read out on the clocks, it read when travelling 41 front and 44 rear. Didn't adjust the suspension, perhaps that is something I should try?

[Lonewolf]

Before you go down the line of messing with the suspension, especially if everything seemed fine before your trip. What condition are your tyres in?

Try to simulate the ride, load your panniers & top box up as on your trip and ride a familiar route, establish if it is the same as your trip or better.

[viper]

when my suspension was out I never experienced bad handling , just very bouncey .

If you are confident that your tyres are good, balanced and inflated and worn evenly then something else sinister must be wrong !

was the bike new or used?

[PaulB]

... something else sinister must be wrong !

Wheel bearings and head race bearings all ok?

Cheers

Paul B.

[1ka]

So it's a windy day problem. What model year bike?

I've noticed that the new model (with the hole in screen) is prone to buffeting if the screen hole is open on windy days. It's not the bike moving due to wind, as such, just the rider is blown around significantly more than when the hole is closed. The bike is rock solid and it's mostly psychological, though there is some possible effect as a consequence of your upper body moving causing changes in the bikes handling (try putting your weight on the left then right footpeg to see what impact body weight changes have)

On windy days I close the hole, or ignore it. Other than this, I've not had a problem with wind and I commute daily across some high viaducts. Have suffered speed wobble on high-speed corners, but your problem sounds different to this.

[snowy]

non hairy biker, dunno where you are in Shropshire but if you want to have a go on mine and see if there's a difference more than willing to let you, Newport in Shrops.
I just ditched a pair of new MAXXIS tyres that came on mine when I bought it, horrible wobbles and poor stability in corners! 

[non hairy biker]

Hello all, thank you for your inputs. Tyres are newish, head stock is ok, bearings good, not long been mot'd. It is a 57 plated bike, so no traction control. Have tried each foot, on the pegs, bike seems to move as you would expect. It was just going into bends, that it felt really unsteady, which it is normally fine. Good idea on the loaded trip of a known road, will give that a go. Hello Snowo, I live near Oswestry, thank you for your kind offer, I may take you up on that!! On a positive note, I did see 6 other gtr's while I was up in Scotland.

[Winston Smith]

If it felt OK on motorways then I would suggest riding technique.

I don't know what your experience is or what additional training you may have taken, but I would suggest engaging a lower gear, maybe even 2 or 3 lower when on the twisties.

It will eliminate the vagueness by creating more grip at the rear and forcing the front end to grip more.

The GTR does benefit from being ridden from the front end - i.e. lower gear and pushing the steering to create more grip (counter-steer)

[nightrider]

You have to put in more effort to get the best out of the bike , the more race mode you are in the better it will be , if you approach corners at speed and expect the bike to just go round it can feel not as good , drop Down a gear or two weight the pegs and boss  it round , it's a heavy thing and needs a lot of input , but it does handle really well for its size , 

[O.C.]

  with the above posts, its a misconception that because the GTR has a 1400cc engine that it will 'pull' from very low revs in higher gears, don't percieve my comments as a criticism of the GTR BTW, but its a fact that selecting a lower gear will improve the riding /performance of the GTR