SuzukiSavage.com - First Ride Report....

gcsdls

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Re: First Ride Report....
Reply #15 - 04/26/12 at 06:12:16

Thanks y'all. Yes, I was probably bogging the engine down a little. Still, there seems to be lots of jolting coming up through the front end. All the bumps on the road seem magnified somehow. I know it's not the engine because I put the clutch in and coasted with the engine idling for a bit...and the jolting from the road was still there. I'm thinking I may need to look at the steering head bearings, or the front wheel bearings. I also need to beef up the suspension to handle my big self.

I drive a diesel car, so I'm used to having an engine pull hard from idle...and maybe I'm just too used to that.

And I did get my mirrors adjusted...wider out, and as high as possible, and angled to go around my upper arms. I can see pretty well, now. My brother told me about some extensions he found to bring them up even a little more.

Anyway, thanks again!

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: First Ride Report.... Reply #16 - 04/26/12 at 06:23:48 Engine off, in neutral, grab front brake, rock the bike, or get it rolling & grab the brake, feel for a clunk. Shove down on the bars & feel of the front suspension, maybe the tubes arent sliding well? Mite need to check the oil level,, are the seals leaking?
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gcsdls Junior Member Offline Midlife...about time! Posts: 69 Arkansas Gender:	Re: First Ride Report.... Reply #17 - 04/26/12 at 06:31:16 Did that...didn't feel a clunk. Tubes seem to be sliding well, till about 1/2 way down, then the spring rate seems to transition. No leaking seals.
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: First Ride Report.... Reply #18 - 04/26/12 at 09:22:46 Are you leaning on the handlebars?
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gcsdls Junior Member Offline Midlife...about time! Posts: 69 Arkansas Gender:	Re: First Ride Report.... Reply #19 - 04/26/12 at 09:29:31 Well, I might be....
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Nimbus

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Re: First Ride Report....
Reply #20 - 04/26/12 at 09:41:27

gcsdls wrote on 04/24/12 at 19:06:51:

Blinky-FSO wrote on 04/24/12 at 18:50:44:

It was a lot easier, particulary the throttle control and shifting with the S40 than the nasty little 250cc bike I used during training.

This makes me think even more that there's something wrong with my bike. LOTS of vibration is making it very unpleasant to ride...and it's certainly not better than the Nighthawk I rode during the MSF course. This is troubling.

I just put a bigger windshield on my bike, at Husband's advice. It made a huge difference in how much more stable my bike feels on the road! Shocked

LOL about the open roads being scary at first ... I can tell when I'm outside of my comfort zone for too long when I realize my fingers are numb! Grin

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: First Ride Report.... Reply #21 - 04/26/12 at 09:45:50 Try focusing on sitting up using your gut muscles & take the weight off your hands, get your head back on your shoulders, pulling the ears back over the centerline of the shoulders, Thats better posture anyway, protecting the curvature in the neck,
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gcsdls

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Re: First Ride Report....
Reply #22 - 04/26/12 at 09:46:45

I was talking to a buddy of mine at work about the vibration, and he told me that some stretches of road cause a sympathetic vibration in his handlebars, at a certain speed. I think this might be a large portion of the problem. That and my tendency to lug the engine a bit. I think much more practice and experience are in order.

My bike has a small windscreen, and I've not even tried riding without it yet. I should compare.... Wink

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gcsdls Junior Member Offline Midlife...about time! Posts: 69 Arkansas Gender:	Re: First Ride Report.... Reply #23 - 04/26/12 at 09:48:44 I don't think I was curled up and resting on the handlebars. I think I was just gripping them tightly and holding my upper torso too tense. Thus it was transferring the vibration into my head. I'll get this yet....
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Re: First Ride Report....
Reply #24 - 04/26/12 at 09:51:55

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 04/26/12 at 09:45:50:

Try focusing on sitting up using your gut muscles & take the weight off your hands, get your head back on your shoulders, pulling the ears back over the centerline of the shoulders, Thats better posture anyway, protecting the curvature in the neck,

That's good advice. Thanks.

I've also found that if I loosen my grip to a normal tension (as opposed to nerves and terror), the blood circulates a lot better. Wink

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justin_o_guy2

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Re: First Ride Report....
Reply #25 - 04/26/12 at 10:11:58

gcsdls wrote on 04/26/12 at 09:48:44:

I don't think I was curled up and resting on the handlebars. I think I was just gripping them tightly and holding my upper torso too tense. Thus it was transferring the vibration into my head. I'll get this yet....

The muscles in the hand/fingers are apparently tied to the nerves in the anal sphincter,, if you can get that thing to relax a bit, youll be allrite,
Get gloves that have gel pads in the palm, like for running a weedeater. Lowes has them,Then, practice on back roads, away from traffic & see just how lightly you can hold the throttle without it closing by itself, Took me a while to learn to just use my palm, once I did that, I was able to ride further in comfort, of course, I close my hand, I dont just use my palm, well,, it was the area justbefore the first knuckles, the edge of the palm.,but play with it, pay attention to your muscles, focus on loosening up physically & stay alert mentally,,

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gcsdls Junior Member Offline Midlife...about time! Posts: 69 Arkansas Gender:	Re: First Ride Report.... Reply #26 - 04/26/12 at 10:16:09 Thanks...I will.
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scottnj

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Re: First Ride Report....
Reply #27 - 04/26/12 at 14:00:24

One other thought -- I don't know what your tires look like, but I know when I went from the worn out stock tires to a new set of Dunlop tires, the ride got way better. It felt all wiggly and harsh with the old, hard tires, then rock solid and plush (well, except for really big bumps) with the new. Just one more thing to consider -- may or may not be contributing to the vibes/ride on your bike.

I'm sure once you get some saddle time on your scoot you'll get it dialed in. Get out there and enjoy the ride!

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2007 S40 (Supertrapp, 6" Ed. L forward controls, K&N, & some other stuff)

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gcsdls Junior Member Offline Midlife...about time! Posts: 69 Arkansas Gender:	Re: First Ride Report.... Reply #28 - 04/26/12 at 14:06:43 Thanks Scott. They're new Dunlops, so the only possibility there is they didn't balance the front right(?). Yeah, once I get myself dialed in, the scoot will probably be short work.
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