Does your bike VIBRATE?

I have an 85 XJ700 maxim. At 5000 rpm my mirrors become useless. Is this normal?
The original bars were replaced before I bought the bike would bar end weights help?

My hands are numb after the 25 min commute to work. I have large foam grips are there better choices?

 

I have some vibration at 50 - 53 mph, and only at that speed. I don't understand why it would do that then and not at other times. My bike runs best at 70 mph. The vibration is more like a humming and if I gun it, and shoot past the 50 to 53 I don't even notice it. :?:

 

My fingers are pretty numb after any riding at all, but then they're numb after driving an old car any distance at all. I just don't seem to have the best circulation in my hands for some reason. So I'm hoping someone pops into this thread with some really great vibration-damping advice...

 

Ya walk. :lol: :lol: No can't do that either because of the shock on the feet. I just don't know, okay? 8)

 

hmmm my mirrors viberate sometimes. i havent really paid attention to when. Doesnt seem to be too often... ofcourse... i dont usually go 50, its either 25 or 80 (i live in boston... what do you expect?)

 

Front tire balance? I had a balance weight fall off once, and it caused a lot of vibration. But if it's just engine vibration, I think you might be out of luck. Gloves do help a bit, though.

 

A vibration damper such as RTV filling the handlebars or getting a hold of those rubber dampers used in bicycle handlebars might be in order.

 

http://www.barsnake.com/

Rubber handlebar insert. Good reviews.

 

Wow: I have never heared of anyone complaining of a lot of vibration on Any XJ? This being that they are normaly pretty darn smooth running machine. Maybe there is something wrong here? I would like to know more about the bike? Although I know my right hand would become useless after a 15 minutes ride or more untill I had carpultunal surgery.
But that doesn't explane the mirrors.

 

Ya, I can't see anything in my mirrors on the freeway. But I figure if I'm going faster than everyone else, why would I need to look behind me?

 

Good point Blue, the vibration could have origins in another area. This could be an indicator of a more serious problem, I'd take note!

 

Almost every motorcycle should have rpms where they become buzzy - this is an unfortunate side affect of having a lot of mass rotating! Every single piece of rotating machinery that is not perfectly balanced has "natural" frequencies where vibrations get amplified. So - what can you do about it?

With vibration, a lot of little things add up. (This only applies if nothing is mechanically wrong). I would ask myself about the little things. If it is not speed dependant - then the cause is in the rotating parts of the engine, not the wheels. What changes those forces? Oil, Valve Clearances and spring forces, Timing Chain slack. There are probably others - crankshaft balancing is a biggy.

The easiest to change would be the oil. Go to a synthetic - a lighter weight maybe- and see if it helps or hurts. I doubt it would make too much of a difference. But if it bothers you, then why not try it? The other things I mentioned you can try, but obviously some of them are going to be a lot of work.

You can have someone professionally balance your crankshaft and pistons, and it will probably dramatically improve, but at a higher cost. But, it would also lengthen the life of the engine and improve power slightly!

 

ok i'm new here so forgive me if i step on any toes. as you probably know everything that spins as a "critical rpm" where it shakes like hell, even if its perfectly balanced. bikes have alot of stuff spinning so lots of opportunity for shaking, most of it is tuned so high up into the rpm range that it will never spin fast enough to reach this critical speed. but this can change. i'd say that if your bike shakes at a certain speed/rpm then get a bar snake as suggested already or simply fill the handlebar with lead shot. the second one works really well and its cheap. another thing you can check is wether or not its the speed(which would be your wheels/tires) or if its RPM(this means its engine/driveline). if you can try to hold the same speed in two different gears. if RPM drops/increases and it still shakes then its from the speed. if the RPM drops/increases and the shake is gone then its RPM. wheels tires are easy to balance, engine driveline not so much so.

 

Another area I would be checking out would be the motor mount bushings,when they wear out you get a heck of alot of vibration due to metal to metal contact or slop in them.Just a thought.

 

Blueflame: Between 4700 and 5900 rpm my mirrors vibrate so much that the headlights of cars behind me appear as circles of light. At 6000 rpm the mirrors clear again. Unfortunately this range is where my bike runs in 5th at highway speeds (90 - 120 approx.)

I have read all the posts and have considered many.

My bike has aftermarket (Tommaselli 234 european) bars that were installed when I bought the bike. Further checking has revealed that the original Yamaha handlebar weights are installed in the new bars.

I am considering silicon inthe bars but first want to see what happens without the weights.

 

Well I drove to work this morning without the original weights in the bars. There may have been a bit less vibration at the usual rpm but It certainly has not gone completely away.

Should I try to find a set of stock bars and try those?

 

Question - is your handlebar the only thing that is shaking at that rpm?

If so - then changing the characteristics of the handlebar is the correct answer.

If not - then address the root cause, because there are other things on the bike that don't like vibration. The motor mounts - like kenny said - is an excellent and cheap place to start. Like I said earlier, you could also switch to synthetic oil.

 

Yes I would say that the bar is the only major vibration. Sometimes I can feel them in the footpegs but usually it is the bars and levers that are buzzy.


On the way home today ( without the weights) I found (while stuck in traffic) that the bars vibrate more at low revs without the weights.

i have decided to try the silicone in the bar solution. Should I use the weights and silicone or just the silicone?

 

I would try just the weights first to get an idea as to if they take care of the problem (eazier removal for tuning, Silicone would be a bear to remove if it needs to be later, do this only after you find it works).