New Tire Issues

I have a 2004 VFR 800 and recently had new Continental tires put on the front and back. After having that done my front end wobbles it never wobbled at all prior to this. The shop says they have never had a tire returned and it's not their fault and i told them my bike was fine until you changed my tires. I have read of all the symptom of front end wobble i am leaning towards the tires. what do you think??

Any help would be appreciated!

 

the tire was balanced poorly, or the tire might just be bad tire... ive had 2 bad tires before. put the bike on the center stand and get the front tire in the air. spin the tire and make sure there isnt any "wobble" from the tire or the wheel. then check the balance just to make sure that it was done right

 

What is the air pressure readings? What are the sizes? A smaller profile on front/ larger profile on rear will lower the front end and reduce the trail, which is related to stability and wobblyness.

 

Thx Guys

tire pressure 35 psi front n back
tires are 180/55/17 rear---120/70/17 front which was stock size on bike

 

I believe that the 2002-2009 front/rear air pressure is 36/42 PSI, but you should double check the manual. As stated above, get the front wheel in the air and spin it and check for any lopsidedness. While you're at it double check the steering head for any play. Do you know if they did a static or high speed spin balance? Also, what type of wheel weights did they use? It's possible that the weights fell off.

That's all I have. Good luck.

 

I had the same issue when I got a new front installed as well. I put on a 120/60 size and when the wobble occurred the tire pressure was too low. So I increased the pressure to 38 psi (2 psi over what book tells you) and about 42 or 43 psi on the rear. I also increased the spring pre-load as well. I like my suspension on the stiff side even though I'm a small guy. The front end did become more stable. Another issue might be that the tire has a more triangular profile. Those are my two cents. Hope this helps your problem.

 

I think you are right on the air pressure but i will check it and put more air in, I have not had any play in the steering head. I think they are using an old balancer from what i was told sorry that's all i know. Their is no weight on the rear tire and 2 small lead weights on the front.

 

More nformation please. Does it wobble at all speeds or certan speeds? Is it a true wobble or is it more of a vibration?
How was it ballanced? What kind of weights were used? Did you use snake oil...ehem.. I mean dyna beads?

 

The handlebars wobble starting at like 20 mph and get worse the faster i go i need to keep my hands on them at all times. They didn't tell me how it was balanced but he said it was an older machine. Looks like 2 sided small lead weights on the front and no weights on the rear. The service manager spent more time telling me his shop life story than being informative.

Thx `~`

 

You need to put on center stand or jack and see if the wheel/tire is true. You need a straight edge and rotate the front wheel. The tire could be shit . I doubt he could have hurt your rim. They break not bend.
Balance issues usually arent noticable at low speeds.

 

OK"" thank you guys""" for all your help i will update this soon as i get it fixed.

 

I'm not disagreeing with those that say check the tire, adjust pressure, etc. But here's teh bottom line: You paid for a product and a service. It sounds like the shop is already giving you the run around based on the "not me" attitude.

You can check all you want, but its not going to fix it. Bring it back to the shop. Tell them to balance the fucking tires. If they can't balance it, then why are they dealing in tires? If they say it is balanced, then demand they provide you with 2 new tires.

Its your bike. You got 2 tires. The old, worn out tires worked better than when you had a new tires on. That tells me its the tires.

Make it their problem. Not yours.

But that's just me.

 

What Pliskin said.

 

I'm with Bitterpil, on this one. At 20 MPH, it wouldn't be a balance problem. More likely, that they didn't install the front wheel properly. It would be hard for even a total idiot to screw up the rear. As Pliskin said, the shop should make it right, but it may be safer fixing it yourself.

:crazy:

 

Oh, I agree. I was hoping to help him gain some insight and some evidence. It will help him to see and understand what is going on. Shit, they could have left off a spacer from the front wheel for all we know.

Basically it is trouble shooting 101. What changed? You got new tires installed. You've just narrowed the issue to the tires or the installatin or both.

The shop owes you assitance and a corection. If you paid with credit car (and you should) call the card company and tell them. Many card companies offer assitance with situations like this. If they can help, they are more persuasive than you because they hold his money.

I think the OP needs to drop this back in the shop's lap.

 

I've got the same tires and love them with no issues although the front is beginning to cup causing some slight wobbling around 45mph. I run 32-34psi front and 34-36 rear.

Check the spacers for sure. I've seen a 1000RR with the spacers on wrong (and 20 psi) that was very unstable at parking lot speeds. Somehow the owner had managed to ride it all day on the track in that condition. Idiot...

Yet another reason I do this kinda stuff myself. Not hard to learn but easy to overlook when it's not your bike.

 

make the tire munkees take it for a spin....

Follow them in a car. See how they like it. You pay to have a tire fitted...it should work afterwards. End of ;-)


Failing that take it to another shop and get the wheels checked/balanced...don't tell them why just say it don't feel right. Second opinion.
cheers
Rich

 

Yup.

I didnt even think of having the spacers swapped. Hehehehe

 

Is it possible they put it on backwards?

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

That customer services SUCKS. if it started after you got the bike back with their "NEW" tires, they need to fix it.

How to Tell How Old a Tire Is | eHow.com

I used DYNABEADS (snakeoil) in my tires on my cruiser, but only after I took my bike back 3 times and the bike still shook between certain speeds. funny thing, AFTER the next tire change (different shop) I didn't have that speed shimmy anymore, with the same brand tires.