Wobble on brand new bike

Speedy1200

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I have about 500 miles on a brand new 2018 Super T. When in a aggressive turn, with both hands on the bars, I had a serious head shake, or front wheel wobble. It went away when straightening up and slight brake. Tire pressure is 35 lbs on a slide type gauge. Did this on a hard left and on a hard right turn. I absolutely love this bike. Because i’m 6’ 2”, I did put Rox risers on it. I would not think it would have that kind of effect on it. Any thoughts?
 

Nikolajsen

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:eek: never felt that on mine, and I also sometimes take hairpin a bit aggresive, almost no "chicken stribes" on my back tire;).
But it is almost 100% on backcountry roads, thats means no high speed turns.
My best guess is that suspension is to soft..could also be back suspension.
 

Dogdaze

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Check suspension as Nikolajsen mentioned, rear pressure should be 40lbs psi and front about 32-35lbs psi, depending on your weight. Then check steering head bearing for looseness, maybe not torqued when leaving the dealer?
 

Speedy1200

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:eek: never felt that on mine, and I also sometimes take hairpin a bit aggresive, almost no "chicken stribes" on my back tire;).
But it is almost 100% on backcountry roads, thats means no high speed turns.
My best guess is that suspension is to soft..could also be back suspension.
I’ll try that, thank you so much.
 

Speedy1200

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Check suspension as Nikolajsen mentioned, rear pressure should be 40lbs psi and front about 32-35lbs psi, depending on your weight. Then check steering head bearing for looseness, maybe not torqued when leaving the dealer?
I’ll check the torque setting. Thank you!!!
 

Cycledude

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My guess is also loose steering stem nut, pretty easy to fix but since it’s brandnew if possible I would take it back to the dealer to fix under warranty , it really never should have left the dealer like that but stuff happens.
 

EricV

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I have about 500 miles on a brand new 2018 Super T. When in a aggressive turn, with both hands on the bars, I had a serious head shake, or front wheel wobble. It went away when straightening up and slight brake. Tire pressure is 35 lbs on a slide type gauge. Did this on a hard left and on a hard right turn. I absolutely love this bike. Because i’m 6’ 2”, I did put Rox risers on it. I would not think it would have that kind of effect on it. Any thoughts?
Most people are running around 36F/42R for tire pressure. So your front pressure is not really an issue. For 500 mile tires, and a new bike, it's more likely that the steering head bearings got very little grease from the factory, like most Super Tens, and the steering head nut and bearing nuts are loose. Pull the rubber cap off and see if the top nut is loose. This does NOT tension the steering head bearings, but if it's loose, no doubt the others are too. Very common, though usually after a few more miles. I think I re-torqued mine at around 1500 miles the first time.

Please understand, there is a process to torquing the steering head bearings. You do it to a higher value, loosen slightly, then torque to a lower value. I'd have to look it up at the moment, not having it memorized. It's probably here on the forum somewhere if you search.
 

Nikolajsen

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But, it is almost not possible the bearings nut are loose, due to the 2 nuts and even a "locking plate"
(I know every thing is possible ;-) )
 

Nikolajsen

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Aha, loose that way :)
I thought everybody meant that the nut was turning them self "off".
Yes bearing can settle, but after 500 miles, only if assembly was done wrong.
But of course, not every japanese is as dutyful and accurate as most of them. Just like every where else in the world...even Denmark:eek:;)
 

Dogdaze

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My guess is also loose steering stem nut, pretty easy to fix but since it’s brandnew if possible I would take it back to the dealer to fix under warranty , it really never should have left the dealer like that but stuff happens.
Definitely take back to dealer if tyre pressures are not the issue, everything else is dealer issue as it's such a new machine. You have not had enough time to f**k it up :)
 

WJBertrand

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First thing I'd check is the front wheel installation (axle & pinch bolt torque, etc.). The dealer has to install the wheel when setting the bike up out of the crate. More likely the mistake was made there than at the factory.
 

EricV

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Aha, loose that way :)
I thought everybody meant that the nut was turning them self "off".
Yes bearing can settle, but after 500 miles, only if assembly was done wrong.
But of course, not every japanese is as dutyful and accurate as most of them. Just like every where else in the world...even Denmark:eek:;)
Perhaps you are not aware of this being very common on US delivered Super Tenere bikes. I have no idea if it's also common for the rest of the world, but it's surprisingly common to find steering stems loose enough that the top nut can be unscrewed by hand and the bearing nuts are loose enough that the bike makes clicking noises going over bumps. I have personally experienced this on my 2012 bike. Not on the 2015, but I also did not purchase that bike new, it had 3k miles on it and had already had a service before I bought it.
 

Nikolajsen

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Very strange, no, I was not aware of that being "normal" in USA.
I'm pretty sure all S10 are assambelt in Japan (execpt of course the parts not asambelt for transport)
But never heard about this in Denmark. It will of course happen, but not commen..
 
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WJBertrand

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My 2015 model's stem nut seems OK. I certainly cannot turn it by hand and there is no play in the bearings. I've never done anything to it other than an occasional inspection.
 

Dogdaze

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Very strange, no, I was not aware of that being "normal" in USA.
I'm pretty sure all S10 are assambelt in Japan (execpt of course the parts not asambelt for transport)
But never heard about this in Denmark. It will of course happen, but not commen..
Nikolajsen, trust me, all bike are partially assembled in Japan (or country of build) then crated and shipped. Once landed the dealer is responsible for assembling the front end, generally wheels, then do a road PDI (pre delivery inspection) prior to sale.
 

EricV

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There are about 6 million people in Denmark and about 318 million people in the US. We may have a few more Super Tenere bikes around than in Denmark. ;)

Yamaha tends to go very light with grease when assembling bikes. Sadly, a lot of riders don't really ride that much. People that do understand that greasing steering head bearings and re-torquing them is part of the normal maintenance on the bike. No, not every week! But it needs to be checked every 26k along with the other maintenance items. Sooner on new bikes. As I said before, Mine were so loose at 1500 miles that I could remove the nut by hand. I've seen this on other Super Teneres and FJRs a few times as well. Many more that were not that loose, but did need the bearing nuts re-torqued.
 

Nikolajsen

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Nikolajsen, trust me, all bike are partially assembled in Japan (or country of build) then crated and shipped. Once landed the dealer is responsible for assembling the front end, generally wheels, then do a road PDI (pre delivery inspection) prior to sale.
I was refering to the quality of the asembling...Not how much the dealer have to assemble.. And we all know that there are difference regarding country of assembling, and Japan is for sure one of the highest quality. In my opinion... .
 
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Nikolajsen

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There are about 6 million people in Denmark and about 318 million people in the US. We may have a few more Super Tenere bikes around than in Denmark. ;)

Yamaha tends to go very light with grease when assembling bikes. Sadly, a lot of riders don't really ride that much. People that do understand that greasing steering head bearings and re-torquing them is part of the normal maintenance on the bike. No, not every week! But it needs to be checked every 26k along with the other maintenance items. Sooner on new bikes. As I said before, Mine were so loose at 1500 miles that I could remove the nut by hand. I've seen this on other Super Teneres and FJRs a few times as well. Many more that were not that loose, but did need the bearing nuts re-torqued.
Sure..
Well, I have never changed any steering head bearings, and not greased them....not even on bikes that have over 70000 miles on the clock. (and I know these bikes from new, and others have also not done anything)
I have not even adjusted the bearings.
I must be lucky...have to make a lottery copun ;)
Other than that, I stand corrected :)
 

EricV

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Quality of assembly has a lot to do with how well the individuals are trained. Country doesn't matter. Japanese are more rigid in their training and it's considered rude to question your superior. This sometimes leads to workers that do the things they are told/shown, w/o really understanding why. That can cause problems. I can tell great stories about Mazda in regards to that. I've dealt with a lot of Japanese manufacturing consultants.

FWIW, I worked in manufacturing for 30 years. Despite being a machinist, I've done a lot of assembly work too and seen many different environments. Errors in technique happen for a variety of reasons. Managers complaining that employees are "wasting" materials like grease, w/o really understanding how much is necessary is not unheard of.

I've been bitched at for using a product 'excessively' that cost $5 a can, while the company turns around and blows $30k on painting a path on the concrete floor, only to move equipment 3 months later to re-form working cells. Making the painted walking paths useless, as equipment covered them or blocked them with the new equipment cell designs. Save a penny, throw thousands of dollars away for something useless. Corporate mentality.

I'm sharing what I've personally seen. I'd consider your 70k bearings that were never re-greased to have been neglected. But we'll never know how they would have felt to you if you had re-greased them. Only that they didn't seize or feel bad to you.

The point of this thread is to try and help the individual having the issue. One of the symptoms of loose steering head bearings is head shake. Thus my original comments. It's just something to check and hopefully rule out, or correct if they are loose. Re-torquing them per the FSM isn't going to hurt a thing.
 
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