light, floating steering feel?

[rideyong]

hi guys, i'm yong riding 07 1200gs for 6 months.

 

anyway, have you guys ever experienced floating steering & front wheel feel? Over 100mph, my 07 gs' steering gets very light and even feels like it's floating!!

 

i nomally carry 2 pannier cases with full of stuff and set front & rear spring preload to standard (as a manual indicates) and i'm 165lb.

 

it's an insecure & un-bmw-like feeling...

 

anyone with similar experience???

[Tommy_Boy]

Over 100 mph???

 

Why, none of us ever ride that fast, so we're probably not much help!

 

[Firefight911]

What you are feeling is what I describe as a "numb" feeling.

 

This may sound weird, but it is normal!

 

A motorcycle with a stock suspension can not handle the myriad of inputs it gets under the kind of loads you are describing.

 

In reality, even an aftermarket one would be pressed under the conditions you are asking it to perform under. Heavily weighted on the rear - lightens front end, high speed - lightens steering "feel", body posture and control input add to this.

 

Your "feeling" this is surely manifesting itself in how you are controlling the motorcycle, even if you don't think it is.

 

Your best bet is to:

 

1. Slow down. If your gut is telling you it doesn't feel right, it isn't right and you can only help this by slowing down.

 

2. Work at setting your suspension up properly. With your weight, as you describe, you should be able to get a reasonable preload setting. You can then adjust the damping from there.

 

3. Invest in a quality aftermarket suspension and then revisit step 2 above.

 

4. Slow down.

 

5. Attend a riding school. Not a track day, a riding school.

 

6. Slow down - if it doesn't feel right, IT ISN'T!!!!!

 

7. read on control dynamics and rider input - David Hough, Keith Code, Lee Parks, etc.

 

8. Slow Down.

 

9. Adjust tire pressures properly.

 

Hope this helps.

[russell_bynum]

In addition to what Phil said (which I agree with), one other thing to consider...the Telelever front end on your GS masks a bunch of the normal feedback that you would get from a conventional suspension. The upside is reduced dive (which is a good thing), but the downside is reduced feel. All of that stuff Phil said, plus the naturally vauge feel of the telelever could easily describe the feeling you are having.

[Francois_Dumas]

Phil, are you telling him to slow down !!?? Heck, he's only DOING a 100 on a naked bike

 

 

 

[T__]

hi guys, i'm yong riding 07 1200gs for 6 months.

 

anyway, have you guys ever experienced floating steering & front wheel feel? Over 100mph, my 07 gs' steering gets very light and even feels like it's floating!!

 

i nomally carry 2 pannier cases with full of stuff and set front & rear spring preload to standard (as a manual indicates) and i'm 165lb.

 

it's an insecure & un-bmw-like feeling...

 

anyone with similar experience???

 

Rideyong, while your problem could be one of many things you might be getting some front aero lift at high speeds.. I have owned a few bikes in my many years of riding that would lift the front end at 100+ mph.. Probably the worst was the early GoldWings..

 

Are you running some type of aftermarket front wind screen? If so try removing that.. Anything else out front that could be contributing to aero lift? If so try working with that..

 

If your bike sits low in the rear & high in the front see if you can alter that some with suspension adjustment..

 

Maybe even try running with the front duck bill removed to see if that is effecting the front end at speed..

 

Maybe try leaning down behind the windscreen,, if you are now sitting upright that will lower the wind pressure on your upper body..

 

Twisty

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Twisty has it right, as do the others.

A GS is probably the least aerodynamic of all the BMW bikes and the panniers are certainly not helping.

My '04 GS Adventure would develop a slow weave at around 115 when fully loaded and at 80 with a large top box mounted. Even without the top box, if I had a duffel mounted on the pillion seat I would get the same effect. Oddly enough, not with a passenger aboard.

The only solution is to slow down. The weave or slight instability isn't really dangerous unless some other input upsets things further, think pothole or even tar snake or a gust of cross wind. Then a real wobble can manifest, DAMHIK.