My new 500f is acting wierd....Is it safe to ride?

[boredman111]

Hey,  
First things first, I am broke and haven't take her in for service ever, and I am at  4,500 miles.  I know, dumbass!

But now I am getting a weird buzzzzzzzz that seems to be coming from the instrument panel at high RPM's (like before upshifting or just revving).  I have felt and looked around but can't find anything unless it is in the guages.  FYI, my high beam indicator went out a while back which may or may not be related.

Second, I could almost swear my front wheel is off center.  I look at my guages while riding and they seem to be off to the right a little.  It feels a little off when I turn or switch lanes too.

Any ideas are very welcome until I can take it in.....Is it safe to ride? :dunno:

Thanks!
Todd

[Trackman114]

I would say that your wheel is probally not TRUE which can be caused by hitting a rock or another hard object.  You can usually put it center with a little kick.  I take my 01 in for service every 4k so I would say you are not that bad off.  The guages I can only guess would be that you have a bolt loose in the tach assembly.  It may make a little rattle because the higher you go on rpms the more the bike rattles a little.  Jimmy

[boredman111]

Do you think that bolt is inside the tach assembly?  Or an external one that I could see and tighten?

[Trackman114]

I would say that the bolt is inside the assembly but that is a guess you could also check the cables and where they go into the assembly.  I will write another reply in probally 10 mins I a m going to go check my biek to look at the cables and bolts for more info. Jimmy

[tdan553527]

My 500f had a buzzing sound also, I tracked it down to the black plastic in front of the gauges, it was vibrating against my windshield. A small piece of weather stripping foam solved the problem.

[chinox22x]

My 500f had a buzzing sound also, I tracked it down to the black plastic in front of the gauges, it was vibrating against my windshield. A small piece of weather stripping foam solved the problem.

aye...had the same problem...specially on 1st and 2nd gear when i'm in the 8-9k rpm's.

[Anonymous]

I'll bet it's a nut from one of the bar-ends rattleing around inside your handlebars.  I've got one in there and every once in a while I can hear it buzzing as it vibrates inside.  I'd take it out but the rubber is so thrashed that if I did, it wouldn't stay in any more.

Please don't kick your wheel to center it.  You'll just make it worse.  Do it the right way.  You DON'T want a loose wheel...

[TOMIMOTO]

Hey,  
First things first, I am broke and haven't take her in for service ever, and I am at  4,500 miles.  I know, dumbass!

But now I am getting a weird buzzzzzzzz that seems to be coming from the instrument panel at high RPM's (like before upshifting or just revving).  I have felt and looked around but can't find anything unless it is in the guages.  FYI, my high beam indicator went out a while back which may or may not be related.

Second, I could almost swear my front wheel is off center.  I look at my guages while riding and they seem to be off to the right a little.  It feels a little off when I turn or switch lanes too.

Any ideas are very welcome until I can take it in.....Is it safe to ride? :dunno:

Thanks!
Todd

WOW!! I have that same exact rattle and my bike always feels like it's leaning to the right a little. Is it like when you take a right turn you barely have to lean the bike but then when you turn left it feels like you have to put a knee down to turn? I have that same feeling. It feel like my bike is leaning to the right and it has always bothered me. After 800 miles I had to get the front tire replaced due to a defect. Could this possibly be a bent rim? They balanced the tire when I got it replaced so i know it's not that. It's so annoying. My dad doesn't notice it when he rides my bike but I'm a very fussy person that notices everything. It's kind of weird that we have the same exact problems. I thought I was just going crazy.

If you figure out what the leaning problem is let me know.

My dad thinks my fairing might be off center giving me the illusion that the bike isn't center but you can definately notice the bike leaning to the right. Like I said when turning right all I really need to do is turn the handlebar and when turning left I really need to lean. I wonder what that is. It must be a somewhat common thing with the F's.

[chinox22x]

might be a heavier right boob...or a heavier right testicle.....

jk   :lol:  :mrgreen:

[scratch]

Please don't kick your wheel to center it.  You'll just make it worse.  Do it the right way.  You DON'T want a loose wheel...

And, by this he means, to loosen the two hex bolts (6mm) on the upper tripleclamp, lossen one of the 14mm bolts on the lower triple (the other holds the bike up and the tube pivots anyway) and loosen the four screws on the fender brace, to line up everything. Also, it may be the rear wheel that is out of alignment.

[scratch]

WOW!! I have that same exact rattle and my bike always feels like it's leaning to the right a little. Is it like when you take a right turn you barely have to lean the bike but then when you turn left it feels like you have to put a knee down to turn? I have that same feeling. It feel like my bike is leaning to the right and it has always bothered me. After 800 miles I had to get the front tire replaced due to a defect. Could this possibly be a bent rim?

Bent rim would give you a thump, thump, thump.

They balanced the tire when I got it replaced so i know it's not that. It's so annoying. My dad doesn't notice it when he rides my bike but I'm a very fussy person that notices everything. It's kind of weird that we have the same exact problems. I thought I was just going crazy.

If you figure out what the leaning problem is let me know.

My dad thinks my fairing might be off center giving me the illusion that the bike isn't center but you can definately notice the bike leaning to the right. Like I said when turning right all I really need to do is turn the handlebar and when turning left I really need to lean. I wonder what that is. It must be a somewhat common thing with the F's.

When you take a left turn you can carry alot more speed into the turn because it is a larger radius turn, so it feels like you have to hang off. When turning right, you have to go slower because it's a tighter turn, and the slower you go the more upright you'll be.

Take note of how you do in a u-turn. And, a parking lot test might tell you something using the parking spot lines to guage how tight you can turn left or right.

[Kerry]

when turning right all I really need to do is turn the handlebar and when turning left I really need to lean.

Do the roads in your area have a definite "crown" to them?  (Thicker in the center, thinner towards the edges.  This is often done to help water run off easier and prevent puddles, etc.)

If so, then veering to the right is slightly downhill, while veering to the left is slightly uphill.  If you can find an abandoned straightaway you could try riding on the left side of the road and see if the effect is reversed.

Have you noticed a difference in the wear pattern between the left and right sides of your tires?

[TOMIMOTO]

The roads aren't too crowned. Not enough to make a difference anyways. And yes the chicken scratch or whatever that is you call on the tire is thicker on one side than the other. I don't remember what side is thicker exactly though. It's like that on the front and rear.

Was my bike just messed up from the factory or is this just me going crazy.

[Eisenfaust]

Another thing to consider for wear patterns... (other than just crowning) is cornering preference. I'm a bit more confident in right handers than in left handers.... over thousands of miles of corners, that could add up to uneven wear.

[TOMIMOTO]

I am more comfortable leaning to the left. I'm a big BMXer and I would always ride with my right foot in the front making left turns much easier for pedal clearance. I can still lean it low to the right though. It just feels like it takes more effort to do it and when I do lean to the right it feels like the bike turns a lot sharper than leaning to the left. In a big swooping turn I can lean it left and it just leans through the whole corner but on a big swooping right if I lean it, it turns to sharp for the corner and I usually have to pull it back to counter the lean a little.

Maybe I'll have to let someone ride my bike to see what I'm talking about. Like I said though my dad doesn't notice anything and he's raced motocross for 20 something years.

[scratch]

Again, it could be because it is a larger radius turn and you have more time to get settled into the turn.

[finch63]

mine looks like that 2 but the dealership said it looks fine so i was like ok.
told me it could be from hiting something or my gauges where of center.
i have the buzz also i think it is the trim peice that makes that noise.

[airbrush]

that buzzing sound...do you have more keys on your keychain? its probably your keys buzzing on the fork bridge...at least thats what mine was

[john]

My z1000 makes a horrible buzzing sound over 6k rpm.  It's the clutch lever.  As of yet nobody seems to have come up with a cure on the z1000 boards.

I understand how irritating it is to hear a buzzing sound while riding.

[scratch]

For a temporary fix take the clutch lever off smear waterproof grease everywhere where the lever slides/pivots in the perch. For a more permanent fix tighten the pivot bolt, at least, that's what works on the GS.

Boredman - You're not the only one who has experienced this, including myself:

http://gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12600&highlight=buzzing