Any ideas on what might be causing this (((Vibration))) on my 15 F3S?

[Lctriple]

I'm getting a vibration anywhere between 3500 rpm and 4500 rpm. Sometimes it goes away depending on the gear I'm in but not always. It's in the handgrips and footboards. I was going to get a belt damper cuz I figured that was the culprit. I got to reaching behind the left cover to make sure there wasn't one on it already and damned if there isn't one on it. It's not loose feeling, so I'm guessing the bearings are fine still. Any ideas what might be causing it? It's not a high pitched vibration, more like the old Harleys had back in their day.

 

[Snoking1127]

What tires are on it?

 

[Lctriple]

What tires are on it?

Kenda. I don't see a model name.

 

[Lctriple]

They only have about 2000 miles on em. The vibration has been there since I got it. The tires were new when I got it.
.

 

[Poasttown]

I'm getting a vibration anywhere between 3500 rpm and 4500 rpm. Sometimes it goes away depending on the gear I'm in but not always. It's in the handgrips and footboards. I was going to get a belt damper cuz I figured that was the culprit. I got to reaching behind the left cover to make sure there wasn't one on it already and damned if there isn't one on it. It's not loose feeling, so I'm guessing the bearings are fine still. Any ideas what might be causing it? It's not a high pitched vibration, more like the old Harleys had back in their day.

I would regularly check the VD on my 19F3L by reaching up under the cover and it would feel ok. Only when I actually decided to replace it as part of my personal maintenance schedule did I see the extent of the wear on the VD bearings.

Poasttown 2019 F3L

 

[Snoking1127]

Might want to have them balanced. Kenda tires are more or less noted to have balance and other issues. Do you have a friend that would let you swap their front wheels and tires onto your rig?

You could also jack up each front wheel/tire one at a time and turn the tire by hand while holding a reference point near the tread to see if there is run out in the tires.

In 2024 when I bought my second Spyder RT(first Asphalt Grey one) it had a vibration at speed, and the original owner said they had replaced the front tires once already. I moved the PPA rims and Vredestein tires from my Champaign one to it and ran smooth. So the Champaign one got it's second set of new PPA wheels and Vredistein tires.

 

[honsfun]

Was the drive pulley recall done? If the pulley is shot, that could cause vibration.

 

[mecsw500]

I wasn’t quite sure of you description of the problem.

Does it occur at certain speeds no matter which of like three gears you are in?

Or is it related to engine revs regardless of speed? If it’s related to engine revs does it do it more in some gears than others but it’s still engine revs related?

Obviously the former it’s going to be related to tire balance, tire or wheel run out, disk brake runout on one of the disk brakes, or even belt condition, tension or belt harmonic damper. Even the belt alignment can cause similar issues.

Now, I’ve had two Spyder’s from new. A 2021 RT LTD and now a 2026 Sea to Sky.

My experience is that the 1330 cc triple is much like my prior Triumph Trophy 1215 TTSE triple. They are a little bit raw. Especially as they go up to just below peak torque at around 5,000 RPM. These are not sewing machine smooth engines. For their capacity they are a longer stroke than Yamaha triples, being roughly square in bore to stroke for more torque.

Hence, until they run in a bit they can feel a little harsh or vibey. Do they pass vibrations through the grips, mine do. I have to loosen my grip and just use a loose grip so as not getting to the point where my hands tingle at freeway speeds. Although they are a 120 degree crank I don’t think they are extremely well secondarily balanced engine. They do have a kind of pulse firing sequence at the revs they most frequently operate in. If they were a true motorcycle engine, They would probably be tuned to make 160 bhp and rev to 10,000 rpm and cruise at a much higher rev limit and hence appear smoother. They remind me of my Triumph 1215 cc engine and less like the smooth power of the Triumph 765 cc engine.

Like I said mine smoothed out with miles but they still had a raw edge to them. Now yours may be bad enough it’s worth investigating further, only you would know the answer to that, but in my experience they are not the most refined three cylinder engine I’ve had.

 

[Mikey]

That vibration dampener needs to be lifted off the belt and spin it with your fingers to check the bearings, if there were any roughness in the bearings I would take it off all together or replace it with a better aftermarket one! One that is not a plastic piece of crap, they usually have better a better bearing set-up. The VD needs to be one of those things you have to check like you do your oil! Unless you like walking home!

 

[Lctriple]

I wasn’t quite sure of you description of the problem.

Does it occur at certain speeds no matter which of like three gears you are in?

Or is it related to engine revs regardless of speed? If it’s related to engine revs does it do it more in some gears than others but it’s still engine revs related?

Obviously the former it’s going to be related to tire balance, tire or wheel run out, disk brake runout on one of the disk brakes, or even belt condition, tension or belt harmonic damper. Even the belt alignment can cause similar issues.

Now, I’ve had two Spyder’s from new. A 2021 RT LTD and now a 2026 Sea to Sky.

My experience is that the 1330 cc triple is much like my prior Triumph Trophy 1215 TTSE triple. They are a little bit raw. Especially as they go up to just below peak torque at around 5,000 RPM. These are not sewing machine smooth engines. For their capacity they are a longer stroke than Yamaha triples, being roughly square in bore to stroke for more torque.

Hence, until they run in a bit they can feel a little harsh or vibey. Do they pass vibrations through the grips, mine do. I have to loosen my grip and just use a loose grip so as not getting to the point where my hands tingle at freeway speeds. Although they are a 120 degree crank I don’t think they are extremely well secondarily balanced engine. They do have a kind of pulse firing sequence at the revs they most frequently operate in. If they were a true motorcycle engine, They would probably be tuned to make 160 bhp and rev to 10,000 rpm and cruise at a much higher rev limit and hence appear smoother. They remind me of my Triumph 1215 cc engine and less like the smooth power of the Triumph 765 cc engine.

Like I said mine smoothed out with miles but they still had a raw edge to them. Now yours may be bad enough it’s worth investigating further, only you would know the answer to that, but in my experience they are not the most refined three cylinder engine I’ve had.

I just assumed the the vibration was a quirk of the engine, that's why I never worried about it much before. But I also knew there was an issue with vibration from the belt, that's why I checked for the damper. I know that if I run it at 5000 rpm, it's very smooth, so that's what I've been doing most times. I've also noticed that if I run it at less than 3500 rpm, it's almost as smooth, so I alternate between the two, depending on the situation.

 

[honsfun]

have you checked the pully? A worn pully causes vibration when the pully is not loaded and is loose on the shaft.

 

[mecsw500]

You machine might well be one of the earliest years of the 1330 cc triples.

I suspect over the years minor changes, perhaps in machining tolerance changes, have made the engine smoother.

I notice my 26 engine is a little smoother than my prior 21 engine. This might be down to individual unit to unit differences of course.

Sometimes manufacturers such as Rotax refine their manufacturing techniques, change manufacturing equipment, improve tolerance matching amongst parts, over time. Over manufacturing date differences of over a decade I would not be surprised if newer units were slightly smoother.

 

[Snoking1127]

have you checked the pully? A worn pully causes vibration when the pully is not loaded and is loose on the shaft.

Yeah, check for red dust on the front drive pully.

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