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Very bad front-end vibration

nealperkins

Member
I cannot get rid of a bad front-end vibration. It starts at about 65mph and gets progressively worse with speed. At 75, the mirrors are shaking like leaves and are completely unusable.

Here is what I’ve tried on my 2016 F3 Limited:

-Balanced original tires
-Installed belt stabilizer
-Installed Lamont’s wheel balancers (3)
-Laser aligned
-Baja sway bar
-Installed Federal Formoza AZ01 165/55R15 75V
-Rebalanced above tires today.
-What a terrible riding machine.
-Yes, it is the handlebars that shake, not my butt/frame.
 
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Why indeed??? It's still under warranty right, have you had dealer investigate it? the fact that it vibrates after the wheel balancers would freak me out. I have unbalanced wheels and stock Kenda tires with 17K plus and get a smooth ride on a 13 RT with Lamont's balancers, so smooth the water in my water bottle on the handle bars barely shakes.
Could it have a bent front axle or be really out of alignment? (Has it been Laser Aligned?).
 
Ball joints

We had a fellow at SpyderFever with a similar problem. Horrible vibration at certain speeds. When I examined it, there was .75" of play in the upper ball joint!
with the parking brake on, try to move, shake, roll each front tire, one at a time. If it moves, continue to wiggle until you isolate the bad component. Another thing to check is A arm bushings on upper and lower A arms on both sides. Again, grab and wiggle. There should be NO play, or movement. Try that and see. Joe
 
I see....

Too bad it was not "Squared Away" that did your alignment ..:gaah:Joe checks that stuff. But I see most of the investigation and work has been centered on the wheels. The tensioner, although nice, is a different vibration and no shaking. I could recommend the BajaRon sway bar which will help but may not be the problem. Checking the other components, as Joe mentioned above, should be the next step. Tire pressure can be a problem if to high. Was it like this from day one..?? Are you relaxing your grip..? If you have done all this on your own and your warranty is good it may be time for them to deal with it...:dontknow:
 
Do you still have the wheel balancer on the front end?

If so take them off then ride the bike and see how it feels. If the problem is better but still there.

Then take it to a shop that has a road force balance machine.

But still check things that were mentioned above :thumbup:
 
How many weights are on each front tire?

AJ
I cannot get rid of a bad front-end vibration. It starts at about 65mph and gets progressively worse with speed. At 75, the mirrors are shaking like leaves and are completely unusable.

Here is what I’ve tried on my 2016 F3 Limited:

-Balanced original tires
-Installed belt stabilizer
-Installed Lamont’s wheel balancers (3)
-Installed Federal Formoza AZ01 165/55R15 75V
-Rebalanced above tires today.
-What a terrible riding machine.
-Yes, it is the handle bars that shake, not my butt/frame.
 
I'm calling the dealer this morning.
...and I forgot the Baja sway bar too, that's installed as well.
There are 3 ounces on each tire.
 
Vibrations or Wobble

I'm calling the dealer this morning.
...and I forgot the Baja sway bar too, that's installed as well.
There are 3 ounces on each tire.
All things considered so far, with Kenda tires and that amount of weights , I'm betting you have defective tires .... I know it's hard to believe you have two of them but you might. They may have some type of cord separation ....... jmho ..... Mike :thumbup:
 
The Kenda's are gone.
The Formozas seemed to be highly rated on this board, which is why I bought them.
That's a lot of very defective tires...in a row! If that proves to be the case.
 
I would not trust the balancing that was done. I went to several places and found weights placed all over then finally the firestone dealer got it right. The vibration stopped with the road force balance that was done.

well anyway good luck..

I had the same problem with the stock to federal tires too.
 
No, I think he changed from OEM to Formoza tires and still had the vibration. At least that's what I got out of what he listed above.
 
Correct, Kendas were stock and the Formozas were added and are now on the bike.

I have an appointment with the dealer at 9:00 tomorrow. He's about 90 miles away but if he can fix me up it will be well worth it!!
 
Looks like you've done what you think will solve the problems, The first list I want to see if you took it to your dealer and told them your issue. Let them fix the problem instead of you trying.
 
After all is said and done, my best guess is its Belt Chatter Vibration. I have Tried all the tricks, and read all the threads and after getting front wheels spun balanced at a Tire shop, plus Lazar alignment on my new 2016 RT Limited, and having my Dealer adjust the Belt tension to try and remove the vibration, all it did was move it from 60 MPH to 70 MPH. So my next move was to buy Doc's Vibration Dampener for my RT. After installation, I reported here on another thread that I really could not tell any difference after installing the Dampener. I than bought a Tension Gauge and checked belt tension, which was to Factory Specs. The Vibration stayed. Then, I discovered the spring on Doc's dampener was broken. Doc said he would waurentee a new Spring that should have been on my RT but was made for the F3. So I got the new Spring, installed it again, and after installation, the vibration "appeared" or "felt" like it had decreased. But it quickly reappeared again, and I still have it from 60 MPH thru 75, then it smooths out. My present conclusion regarding the Belt Dampner is,...regardless of the Manufacture, its a good Placebo. I now have 7500 miles on my RT, and have not changed my OEM Kenda tires. The rear is obviously quite worn, whch I plan to change around 10,000 miles if possible to a new Khumo I have sittng in my garage. I had a 2012 RT with 55,400 miles on it when I traded it, and I had used 3 Khumos on it, getting about 15,000 miles on them, so I like that tire. My front Kendas seem to be wearing evenly, and have lots of life left in them, but all 3 tires are obviously not balanced the same as when new, so surely is contrbuting to my increased vibration which no Dampener is going to completely eliminate. My Dealer told me that the Belt also stretches with wear, so needs to be readjusted periodically, so that's another contributing factor to the vibration. I keep checking my new Tensioner spring, and after 1500 miles, it has not broken again, and the Roller is not loose or wobbly, so its doing its Job of being a good Placebo, and as long as I ignore the vibration, ......it is not there below 60 and above 75. In my opinion, the only cure for the belt vibration will be a Drive Shaft, or some Engineering to greatly reduce the length of the belt drive. Well, the sun is shinning, and it isn't raining, so I am going for my daily 100 mile cruise and fully anticipate the usual vibration which is, has been, and most likely, will continue to be the Nature of the Beast, in spite of the complaints, hype of good and bad reports, and Prayers for BRP to step up the plate and recall every Spyder with Belt Vibrarions, and install a a waurenteed Up Graded Drive Shaft conversion to replace the Belt Drive. I won't hold my breath waiting, tho!









How many miles on the bike. I tend to agree with Joe. Loose ball joints or bushings could cause the problem.
 
Something is definitely wrong with your front end. (I Know... DUH!). But there are too many possibilities to try and diagnose this over the Internet. You have attacked this with the logical 'Fixes'. Assuming that all the work that you've already paid for was done correctly (which can sometimes be a big 'IF'). It may well be a ball joint, bad wheels, or something that has not been considered.

I highly doubt it has anything to do with your belt. That is a completely different, high frequency vibration that you should not feel in the handlebars. A bad front end issue will usually be a much lower frequency vibration that you will definitely feel in the handlebars and you may be able to see shaking fenders/mirrors also.

Hang in there. Get this fixed and you will be able to enjoy the wonders of a properly functioning Can-Am Spyder!
 
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