I just noticed something on my '10 GSA. It may be a really stupid question, but I will put it out there anyways. Is it normal for the bike to shudder if gearing down and lightening the grip on the bars? I dont remember my hondas, or even my old '06 GS do that, but I may not have ever really paid attention to it, not sure why I would now. The bars will shake, how far, I am not sure as I am moving and now willing to test the limits of it all.
On a high-compression twin motor with a large displacement and a lack of any back-torque limiter or slipper mechanism in the clutch I would say this is working as intended.
I had shudder and didn't think anything of it until a discussion on this forum lead me to ask the dealer to check the rotors, the rear was warped. Replaced under warranty. Apparently not uncommon. This was while on the brakes, of course. YMMV
With the rotors, would that only be felt when applying the brakes? The tires are brand new, less then 500 kms on them, so I dont think (hope) its the tires.
Yes. Another thing with mine is that I was getting some bumpiness at lower speeds which I thought was stiction but I think it's the wheels, especially the front. Lateral and radial run out seems out of spec and the front seems to have a flat spot. I've been procrastinating sending the wheels to Woody.
This is nagging at me, nothing is unrideable but its something I cant see to figure out if its normal. I think it should be smoother. I will try and give my friends '06 GS a ride and see how it compares to my '10 GSA in terms of the shudder. If anyone is out and riding above 60 km/h can you try (if safe of course) riding with one hand, does the bar shake or shudder slightly or is it smooth?
I'd like to know as well. My 07 is smooth as glass up til 70 mph or the dreaded 4500 rpm mark. I can take one hand off the bar, signal, check my visor etc. Zero and I mean zero wobble or shudder. Yours should be the same. Force your dealer to check TB sync, wheel trueness and balance, rotor trueness and suspension. I am ready to upgrade to an 012, so I'm interested to hear if you resolve this.
What I am going to have checked first is the wheel balance. I just had the tires changed a few weeks back. Seems like the simplest thing to start with, unbalanced wheels. If its still there after that I will take it to the next level.
I think you're on the right track here. I haven't noticed any shudder on my '09 12GS but I did have some on my old Honda Shadow 750. After I had the front tire replaced and balanced the problem went away (or at least I forgot and didn't notice it any longer!).
You may want to read this, I found I could not balance my front and the rear required lots of weight.
I am not doing it myself, using a good shop in Ontario for tires and brakes. They are going to look at it Saturday, hopefully its just a simple balancing issue. I would imagine they have a wheel balancing gizmo and they just missed something when putting the tires on.
So I brought the bike in to have the balance checked yesterday, everythnig looked fine they said, the balance, they checked bearings, rotors, etc. The shudder is still there. They suggested I might have to much weight in the rear (left right and top ADV cases) total was probably around 60 lbs or so with all the junk I had. They suggested adjusting the ESA, so I did for 2 up riding, nothing really changed. I rode my friends '06 GS today, we swapped for a little bit and it was smooth as butter, no shaking at all, so I know this is not normal. They said they are going to replace the front tire, small chance, but I guess it could be something with the new tourance they put. Is this likely or is there something else I should be looking for as well?
ummm.....I thought you said they were a good shop? C'mon, any of us can throw parts at the job untill we get the right one For what it's worth, my 2010gs does not do this. I'm gonna bet it's suspension related. I find it hard to believe a wobble only on decel is tires.
I have adjusted the ESA, played around with the different settings and no matter what setting it is on, the shudder is there. I did drop the bike, while turning in a parking lot, the dirt was a lot softer then it appeared to be, was probably moving 5 km/h. Nothing looks out of place from that, as I should hope the GSA can handle something like that. Not sure if something could have got messed up there, but nothing I see would suggest anything is out of place. Lower speeds its fine, but once I get to 60 km/h is when the shudder starts, not sure if thats an indication of anything specific.
I have an 06 GS and I can ride with one hand on handlebar at any speed and it is smooth (I can even take both hand off without any shudder). I do have however a bit of pulsation on front brakes especially at slow speed, I assume it is partially warped rotor, but I got used to it and it is not getting any worse.
Thats what I compared my '10 GSA with. My friend bought my old '06 GS, and like you said, its smooth. I am wondering if the very slow tip over somehow did something to cause this.
Well it turns out it was a bad front tire. They checked pretty much everything over on the bike and it all looked ok, so they said they would give me a new front tire in the off chance it was bad. Turns out it was a bad tire and the new front tire leaves me with a nice smooth ride, as it should be. Kudos to Dual Sport Plus in Oakville, ON, great customer services and support!
Glad you solved it! Just curious tho... a 2010 is still under factory warranty for 3 years. Would BMW Canada not help you under warranty? Or were these DualSport supplied tires that failed?
I replaced the TK's that came with the bike for Tourance as I just dont do enough gravel or dirt riding, majority is street. So these were bought from DualSport Plus.
