F800GS vibration at a specific speed

So, end of the story, rim (the whole wheel exept Tyres and disk brake) changed and no more bad vibrations.
It looks like the wheel was not perfectly round but slightly oval

@TO: when do you feel the shimmy? only if you slow down from higher speeds and let the bike roll or do you also have it riding constant or accelerating?
7 out of 10 times front wheel shimmy is caused by something going wrong with your rear wheel. I know that this sounds weird but it is as it is and I'd suggest you give it a try and chek your rear wheel. its sometimes starting or getting worse when the rear tire gets worn. it also could help to increase preload. however, if it does not help it'd be worth a try.

pls forgive me possible spelling/grammar errors, my English isn't the best
good luck
steve

edit: ooops, missed that you solved that one. sorry

A different front wheel did not cure my problem. I have sort of learned to live with it though since it is more of an annoyance than anything else (no handling issues or odd tire wear).

Does anyone else get a hand-numbing vibration at 4500-5000 RPM?

I just purchased an 09 F800GS, and the girlfriend rides a 2012 F800ST, and we both notice it, so figure it's probably inherent of the 800 twin. It's not anything that feels unstable, just enough that it starts to put my hand to sleep after 15-20min. Thinking soft gel grips and a throttle lock are probably the easiest methods to deal with it.

I currently have the same shimmy at 45 (wobbles almost to out of control with hands off) which I suspect creates the hand-numbing vibration at 4500 in 6th, or about 75mph. I am sure the wheel is out of round due to a nice little bump into a ditch at too high a speed. Interesting to hear the same problem, all fixed with a new wheel. I will also be purchasing a new wheel, but from Woody.

My bike has always been buzzy around there, but lately something else has come into play. On throttle (say more than 25% open) between 4800 and 5500rpm, there is a bigger vibration through the pegs and bars. Once you ease back to cruising (maybe 5-20% open throttle?), the bike calms down to the normal, lighter, buzzing. Checked what fasteners I can see, removed my skid plate, and no change was noticeable.

Bike is smooth at most other speeds and again, only starts vibrating badly when you grab a handful of throttle. Sixth gear this means 80-90mph. This is worse than normal and makes it difficult crunching highway miles with all the 1200GS guys.

Next step I guess is to try it in neutral, check the chain, and rear wheel/axle maybe? Any other ideas?

Just reviving an old thread, but I encountered the same issue with the Scorpions on a brand new 2016 F800GSA, primarily when decelerating from 50mph -> 35mph in 3rd gear, so at like 5.5K is rpm's.

I swear it's the tires, but the dealer is not interested in playing the "lets try swapping the tires for free game" and I'd have to only them up myself to find out if that is the root cause. Geometry and suspension all seems to be correct as it can be, and all that inflation and preload does it move the harmonics to a different speed range.

I also don't buy the whole, "all of them do this" line, and would love to find a solution that doesn't involve screwing around with it for weeks on end.

Has anyone else found this to be an issue recently?

The engine vibrates because of the nature in which the reciprocating mass goes unchecked. There is a moment arm hooked to the crank that "counterbalances" but this solution only can only solve most of the problem, not all. I notice resonance causes the remaining vibrations to creep around the frame from the foot pegs to the handlebars depending on RpM's . Fattened up the fuel mixture and she seems to run a bit smoother...

Yeah, I dunno, sounds somewhat plausible, but maybe the "oscillation" is not being described correctly. When de-accelerating from 50 + the bars will start to wobble back in forth, if I take my hands off, as sometimes you do when coming up to a stop light, or "coasting" down a mountain, the amplitude of the "wave" will increase at about 43 and then die back down once it gets to about 35. If I take my hands off the bars at 45, nothing, 40, nothing. It's only when coming from above 50. Someone mentioned the idea of testing this behavior while in neutral with a low RPM, so I guess that's next.

If this has been answered later in the discussion, ignore. I had the exact same issue, a shimmy between 38-45mph, exactly. Mine was from an over torqued headset, bearings pinched, created a flat spot. Since I bought the bike used, I thought it was normal till a buddy and I swapped bike, his F8 was glass smooth. Took it to the dealer, tech rode it and then checked the headset, had a flat spot I never noticed. Installed a new set of bearings, I can set the throttle lock at any speed and take my hands away without any concern. Suggest you check the headset bearings! I am looking at a steering damper as my next upgrade, just for those days in the sand that I know will piss me off :/

Try running 89 octane and a cap or two of ethanol helper in it...I had an annoying vibration at 48-52 rpms till I came off of using 91-93 and adding the fuel additive. She's smooth as silk now!

Fixed with replacing the tires.... sometimes it feels good to have a hunch and have it be right.

I bought mine on february of 2015, the same hapened to me. The bike came with Pirelli scorpion, when I made the first tire change to the TKC70 the problem disappeared.

Good luck with yours.

I have about 66K miles on my 2010. It has been buzzy at times. Mostly its bad gas and the vibes disappear with the next tank or after I put some Techron in. Another time this did not work. I was riding at about 20 and I stood up on the pegs and looked down at the front tire. The tire had gone out of round. You could see it went back and forth each turn. I am just saying the bike is not inherently prone to vibration, but the above two vibrations have occurred. Dave

I also have problems with my 2015 f800 gsa adventure, I develope a head shake at 60kph at only that speed and then it disappears as I increase speed, I'm on my second set of tyres and the original were scorpion trails, the second set are scorpion trails 2 . It become more noticeable after putting the second set of tyres on, I took the bike back to be re balanced on the front tyre, not happy with the result, I had it rebalanced at another dealer and he pointed out that i had a ever so slight buckle in the rim, but also pointed out that their had been problems with pirelli tyres.
The bike has not seen heavy dirt work and certainly no heavy hits on the front to put the rim out of shape, I will get the woop taken out of the rim, but it could be the scorpion trails 2 front tyre.
After reading all your posts their seems to me this is a inherit problem.
I have also had some issues with oil consumption, I had just completed my first days ride of 16 hrs on the bike and travelled 1340 kms of a 6000km road trip, the bike consumed 350 ml of oil, the oil was still visible on the dipstick, I rang the dealership that I purchased the bike from in Queensland and they told me that bmw allows 1.5 litres of oil per 1000km in consumption to be within limits, well you can guess what I thought of that comment.
The bike did not consume any more oil on the trip as we only had smaller distances to cover. A service was done on my way home by the dealership who sold me the bike, I did mention about my oil consumption and was told by the service manager that bmw doesn't have any specs on oil consumption because it is classified as a off road motorcycle, two different answers to the same problem, the bike is only 5 months old with 22000kms.
I will post when the ever so slight woop is taken out of the rim.

Are we not supposed to go that fast with our GS's? I take her to 110 all the time...

I don't think this is a problem at all. All engines (bike, car, boat etc.) consume a little oil but when riding around town the oil that is used is compensated by the amount of fuel dilution of the oil (there is always fuel that gets past the rings and enters the crankcase. However, when you get up to constant higher revs (such as a 1,340km high speed run along the highway) the fuel in the oil evaporates out and you notice the oil level is now lower.

The reality is though that the oil level has consistently been slowly dropping since the last oil change.

Hope this helps.

In regards to the vibration of the front wheel at 60km per hr,I have sent the rim to be looked at and the rim had a ever so slight buckle which was taken out, but the vibration is still present, I was told where the rim is welded to together there is a raised welded seem which cannot be altered due to the rim cracking,so I am almost positive that this is the cause of my vibrating front wheel,so the two options are to replace the rim with a stronger aftermarket rim or just live with it

I had the same wobble the dealer replaced the front wheel and it was not as bad as soon as I replaced the tyres from the OEM Scorpions to Anakee 3s the problem was solved