Instability Feeling

[coffey67]

So, I broke my vaquero in gently. First 600 miles below 2500 RPM. That meant I only went 60-65 at the most. Now that I am past the 600 mile mark I took it up to 80-85 on the interstate. When I am going over 80 I am getting a funny feeling as either a result of slight wind shifts or possibly grooves in the road. It seems like the bike is riding on a very thin blade and that it wants to suddenly (but slightly) lay over one way or the other a bit. When I say lay over I don’t mean going down but rather like it breaks over in one direction or another very quickly. It his possibly normal for this bike because of such a large faring catching the wind? If so that is disappointing to me because I I thought a frame mounted fairing would cause the bike to be more stable than a fork mounted one. And for those who may ask about tires I am running the recommended pressures from the manual. Your thoughts and insight are appreciated.

[ringadingh]

Mine has felt like that when the tire pressure was too low, sometimes its just the particular piece of road that your on as well.

[landman]

recommended tire pressure is two low in my opinion.bump it up to 40#'s which is what
i run in my vaquero.you don't know what wind effect is untill you been riding awhile in wyoming.
the fairing handles better in the wind then the big nomad windshield.

[ray2]

Originally Posted by coffey67

So, I broke my vaquero in gently. First 600 miles below 2500 RPM. That meant I only went 60-65 at the most. Now that I am past the 600 mile mark I took it up to 80-85 on the interstate. When I am going over 80 I am getting a funny feeling as either a result of slight wind shifts or possibly grooves in the road. It seems like the bike is riding on a very thin blade and that it wants to suddenly (but slightly) lay over one way or the other a bit. When I say lay over I don’t mean going down but rather like it breaks over in one direction or another very quickly. It his possibly normal for this bike because of such a large faring catching the wind? If so that is disappointing to me because I I thought a frame mounted fairing would cause the bike to be more stable than a fork mounted one. And for those who may ask about tires I am running the recommended pressures from the manual. Your thoughts and insight are appreciated.

Do not know what your manual for the Vaquero says for tire PSI but for my nomad front was 28 PSI way to low. I run 2lbs under the cold psi showing on the tire front and back and that took care of the problem like you describe.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by landman

recommended tire pressure is two low in my opinion.bump it up to 40#'s which is what
i run in my vaquero.you don't know what wind effect is untill you been riding awhile in wyoming.
the fairing handles better in the wind then the big nomad windshield.

No kidding about the wind. I went from Craig CO to Baggs WY and I thought I saw that they were using chains as wind socks.

[highwayman2011]

I use 40 front and rear on my Voyager, book pressures are way too low.

[coffey67]

Bumped up the pressure in the front to 40. Back was already 40. No difference.

[cnc]

What tires / tread pattern are they putting on the vaquero? I know many of us with Nomads experienced a world of difference when we switched from the OEM bridgestone to Something else, like Cobras.

[jestephens]

Does the instability have a feeling of coming from either the front or rear of the bike? IMHO too tight of tires causes the tire to track road grooves. Just like narrow tire bikes do. ???

If we've ruled out tire pressures, I guess I would check Steering stem nut torques, and potentially bolt torques of both wheels.

[a340driver]

I had that feeling too, on my Nomad when I first bought it, but as I rode, it went away, so is it a perceived feeling? (assuming all the pressures, and tread are OK). As I rode means 2-3000 kms later, after I got a feel for the bike ... Ya I know your going to laugh that it took me that long ..... hoods!

Did you like the Cobra tires better?

[Allan Sexton]

I have a 2011 voyager.never experienced that.very smooth with frame mounted fairing.unless extremely windy-could probably take hands off handlebars.

[redjay]

Cobra tires do not track as bad as the stock Bridgestones. That was my experience on my Nomad.

[RACNRAY]

When I got my Vaquero in April 2011 I had been a sportbike rider for years. The s/b's have very good aerodynamics, the Vaq DOES NOT! I was surprised to find how this Vaq gets moving around with gusts of wind and the turbulance off the vehicles in front and around me. The skoot has so much surface area that does not allow smooth air flow around it.

Believe it or not one modification I did that lessened that unstable feel was to install the running lights which removed those grilled encolsures in the front of the fairing. I kinda figured thay might be a source of some of the instability as they are closed up and will catch and trap air. I was pleasantly surprised at the improvement and of course alo in the lighting.

If you are running Kawi's suggested tire air pressure than that most likely will not be a source od instability, and as you said bumping it up didn't help.

I have also found the type and height of the shield has an affect on stability. Also fooling around withe the rear shock's air pressure can make a positive change. I have found that at least 10 psi helps nicely in all aspects of riding, and I weigh bout 215. If you are heavier you may want to experiment with more pressure.

My skoot will be 22 months old in 2 days and I have almost 33,000 miles on it. I have learned a tremendous amount about the Vaquero.

RACNRAY

[landman]

Originally Posted by cnc

What tires / tread pattern are they putting on the vaquero? I know many of us with Nomads experienced a world of difference when we switched from the OEM bridgestone to Something else, like Cobras.

oem brigestone excedras on the vaqueros also.

[basimmer]

I felt like this from time to time on my 2010 Vulcan Nomad trying to hold a straight line. It almost felt like at times the front wheel was loose. But I am 100% convinced it is a combination of wind and the OEM Bridgestones. I just had my rear tire changed at 7500 miles to a Metzler ME888 and it feels a ton better although I only have about 15 miles on it so far.