Had a little problem with the Terra that is now fixed, I think. At speeds above 60 I felt a slight bounce from the front end. At 70 and up it was downright unpleasant. 'Had the tires spin balanced, but that didn't fix it. Long story short, I set up my vice with a wire pointer on the center line of the tire and discovered a 2 mm "bump" spread over around 8" of circumference. I just tightened the spokes in that area and now the tire is round. Before doing this I mad sure that the tire bead was well and evenly seated. My tire tech also identified this spot in the rim as being out of round, and marked it with yellow chalk. That was the exact area with the bump. I think Husky just didn't get the lacing right on my bike. Hopefully all is nice and smooth now. Regardless, I'm thinking of getting new Excel Takasago rims laced up since they would be a very nice upgrade. I posted this at ADVrider as well, but don't think I did it here. If so, apologies for the repeat.
Test ride complete. Up to 80 mph; perfect! This is going to be one great light-weight road bike, at least for those of us who like the spare side of life! Plenty of power for the Texas interstates, and virtually vibration free.
You could always look at making them tubeless. There are several kits out there that people frequently use for supermoto
I don't see how. I only had 175 miles on it when I took it in for balancing. I think the factory just didn't get it right.
Indeed! I'm going to check the spokes on all my bikes. I wonder how much of a safety concern that is? I have never heard of a wheel coming apart due to loose spokes, but that's just me.
Checking the spokes along with all the other basic maintenance items is always a good thing... never heard of a wheel actually falling apart, but anything is possible I suppose.
Have seen a few rims loosing shape when not spoked properly after crossing sharp ridge (eg. pavement). F800Gs factory rims are sh#t anyway... Maybe not threatening but annoying and costs money.
If you are going to get Excel Takasago rims let me know the dimensions as I want to order a full wheel set but have no idea of the sizes.
The Excel is available for the front in the stock size, which is 1.85 if I recall. For the rear, you have to go up, or down because the stock is 3, and only 3.5 or 2.5 (2.75?) is made by Excel. Because the 140 size tire is designed for a 3.5 rim, that's what I went with. That will be better on pavement or gravel. Off-road rims are narrower to pull the tire into more of an oval shape, and maybe to better protect the rim in rocks, etc. I have a new Heidenau K60 in the garage and the natural bead with (unmounted) is 3.5". Same as my rim. My new Dunlop 908R measures the same. The factory profile will remain when mounted, and a little more rubber will be on the road versus putting it on a 2.5" rim.
Exactly what I have done but looking over the front at 70-80 ks looks fine, so I think my problem is with the tyre, maybe a build up of over lapped material in the carcass which would make it stiffer in that part but be balanced Ok on the machine. Really starting to annoy on what is a great bike. New front this W/E by a real guru so hope that fixes it.
Ahh a soap box moment about spokes....... The worst bike in the world for loose spokes and missing nipples is the Yamaha Super Tenere. They are tubeless so nipples are outside. They come lose and will sling the nipple. Spokes bend, gouge swingarm , rim and final drive. This all happened to me and quite a few other people. Yamaha claims it is a maintenance issue, though just about all said it has happened even after routine inspection/maintenance. This is pretty serious. A wheel with lose spokes is still a wheel, a wheel lost nipples and spokes is dangerous. To date Yamaha won't man up and assume responsibility. They are "good willing" parts, you pay labor. This is all from personal experience. Took the wheels off after I got the bike back from dealer and sent them to Woody's for stainless super lacing. Should be ok now. Awesome bike other than that.
After ordering and paying for a new front my mechanic showed me the front on the balancer, well, out of round and wobbling side to side, not just a little, a lot. Now I remember riding the demo and it had the same pulsing in the front. he could not do the job SAtrdy morning so I tackled it, took 3 Hrs but now is almost true and now definately circular. I think the factory or the supplier has a skill issue here as a bike journo and two mates who bought these things reported the same thing. Let the fun be more now.
Ugh...wow KW you are lucky nothing bad happened Do you think the wheel was bad right out of the box, or developed these issues over time? I will def pay more attention for odd vibes. Thank you for the heads up!
I've had to tighten the spokes and true the rims on every new bike I've had. The spokes seat in after one or two rides and if you don't stay on top of them right from the start the rim will get out of true.
