Shake, Rattle, is something loose? over bumps.

[Snubnose]

Hey, Ive noticed a definite what seems like "body" shake or shiver or rattle from the front body area, when i go over bumps. I looked at the fairing, tightened up the bolts that tie into the frame, (little teenie bit loose), but cant figure it out, still happenning.
 
It was happening in the rear too until I unloaded all the crap in my tool case area and realized my tool kit had opened.

I drove my wifes B6 and the issue isnt present there, so I know its not just one of those things that are symptomatic of ALL Bandits and "I only just now noticed it" type of thing. I would love someone else to test drive it to see if its just me, but i dont think so. As i recall, this has been happening for sometime, and I think getting worse over time, but i never realized it until I recently drove my wifes B6.
 
any ideas?... I cant find anything to tighten!
 
I thought perhaps it was the speedo/tack instrument cluster, but on closer inspec i dont think so.

[gearset01]

Grab ahold of the whole thing and gently but firmly lift up and down while looking at the center braket mount at the steering head. There is rubber grommets there with  bolts, force shims in the top one. I used folded ty-raps and it will firm it up. I had to adjust my lights up abit for inspection.
PIN.

[stormi]

I would love someone else to test drive it to see if its just me, but i dont think so.

I'll test ride yours to find that problem if you test ride mine to find my "bounce".  

Seriously though, even a second pair of motorcycle knowledgable eyes may help.

[Snubnose]

I'll test ride yours!

Well, As much as I appreciate your WONDERFUL offer; I'm sure many forum friends would "JUMP" all over this one LOL. I'm paying a visit to Bazza (St.Alb) tomorrow to get his "OLD" and "experienced" eyes and ears to have a Look see...(sorry Baz)

Whats this "BOUNCE" about then?

[stormi]

Well, As much as I appreciate your WONDERFUL offer; I'm sure many forum friends would "JUMP" all over this one LOL. I'm paying a visit to Bazza (St.Alb) tomorrow to get his "OLD" and "experienced" eyes and ears to have a Look see...(sorry Baz)

Whats this "BOUNCE" about then?

LOL!  Why would anyone jump all over this?   He let me know that I should let him know when we come in, perhaps the 4 of us should meet for coffee.   Might be in tomorrow, found a backpack the other half is willing to ride with, and an Alpine Stars hat that I liked in a local store for way less than the Dealer's going rate.

The bounce is odd.  It comes from the front end, and started after I had the front tire changed.  The tire has been checked for balance and round, nothing wrong with it.  The steering stem is good, and forks in good shape.  It just does a little "bounce bounce bounce" down the road like a ball.  It doesn't seem to affect handling or stability, it just bounces.  *shrug*  It annoys you til you block it out.  I have done the "big bend" on the Icefields Parkway with it, at about 75 - 80, and had no problem, so I'm not overly concerned, it's just annoying.

[oremike]

I've had my B-12 for 3 1/2 years and 43,000 miles. In that time I've had to tighten a couple fairng bolts(plastic to metal frame), the fairing frame to steering head bolts twice, and most recently the headlight mounting screws inside the plastic bucket. To find whats making the noise I just walk around the Bandit when parked in my shop gently taping on the parts with my hand in the genaral area I hear the buzzing when riding coming from. When I find the noise I start at the outside  and work towards the center of the bike tighting fasners untill I find the one(s) that are loose and the moise goes away.  Genaraly the faseners take about 1/8 turn to be snug enough again.

[Snubnose]

LOL!  Why would anyone jump all over this?  

Ummm, your'e " I'll test ride yours if you test ride mine ", just, kinda sounds well.....never mind

Popped into Bazza's today, he took "Sylvia" for a spin, and to quote the words of the typical mechanic from the dealership; "I found NO such noise!". We laughed about it, either I'm way too sensitive or hes just too deaf!...no offence bazman!

We looked all over, everything seems tight/snug and so-on. I dont know, I figured maybe it was the black nose cone (as it never did come with a rubber grommet) to stop the front inside plug from rattling, but I thought I fixed that with a rubberized band-aid!. cant really tell if any improvement with temporary fix there (inserted temporary wedge between tip of black nose cone and lower front fairing above headlights). The noise I experience seems more substantial than that!. I think I'll drive some more, see if it gets worse and if so, take it back to baz (maybe by then his ears have been shringed ) and set the bike over in the same environment (bumpy/cracked road) and let him test it under the exact same condition.

Geez, Im starting to feel like its a conspiracy!

[Snubnose]

Im gonna take the plunge and take my fairing completely off to try to find out just what the heck this noise is coming from. Looks like its my only real answer. I talked to baz, he seems to think its the only way too,; that is to take it all off, and go through all the nuts and bolts individually and including the ones hidden from view with the fairing on., and tighten respectively.

This noise is driving me nuts. whats worse is Baz cant hear anything wrong.!..Deaf B*gg*r!

so...how much time Do i need to do this anyone? is it just a methodical process, bit by bit or does the whole thing come off at once?.. any tips would be appreciated.

I certainly dont want to start loosing bits/nuts/bolts etc, so I think i'll try to pre-organize my disassembly process somehow.

[stormi]

Ummm, your'e " I'll test ride yours if you test ride mine ", just, kinda sounds well.....never mind

Oh pahlease!  Like anyone here would say anything about,... oh,.. wait,.. nevermind.

Popped into Bazza's today, he took "Sylvia" for a spin, and to quote the words of the typical mechanic from the dealership; "I found NO such noise!". We laughed about it, either I'm way too sensitive or hes just too deaf!...no offence bazman!

I had a car that did that once.  I finally took it in to the dealer (since it was still on warranty) and said you either fix it, or take it in on trade.  I don't want to ever hear that noise again.   You know it's bad when you've tried everything over the space of several months, and many many mechanics later, to figure out where the noise is coming from, and resort to screaming "For the love of <insert_diety_name_here> Shut the F*ck Up!!" at it.    Turns out that my front wheel drive car had a steady bearing and a two piece  "drive shaft" between the tranny and CV.  The dust boot was goofed up and she sang,... a really high pitched "addle the brain" sort of song.  Took the last mechanic two days of working with the car to make it happen where he could find out where it was coming from.  Said it was one of the weirdest things he'd ever heard.  

I figured maybe it was the black nose cone (as it never did come with a rubber grommet) to stop the front inside plug from rattling, but I thought I fixed that with a rubberized band-aid!. cant really tell if any improvement with temporary fix there

 

Is there a part number for a rubber grommet?   Perhaps it's lack of presence has rtattled something else loose?  The little rubber pieces make a big difference.  I was missing them on the windscreen that I picked up for the 919.  I ordered the pieces, but in the mean time, I found myself riding around town with one hand on the windscreen to shut it up.

[stormi]

so...how much time Do i need to do this anyone? is it just a methodical process, bit by bit or does the whole thing come off at once?.. any tips would be appreciated.

I certainly dont want to start loosing bits/nuts/bolts etc, so I think i'll try to pre-organize my disassembly process somehow.

Is there anything in the manual about the fairing removal process?  That should be of some help.  The service manual should definitely help,... got that yet?  The manual for my b4 showed pretty clearly how to remove the engine, from the seat to the swingarm bolt.

Alternatively, the way I kept organised with our engine removal, was to have lots of zip lock bags and a felt marker, some "index" tags ( the sticky ones that you can put through a printer) and a digital camera on hand. It saved my butt when I had to put the engine back in about 6 months after I removed it.

[Snubnose]

Is there anything in the manual about the fairing removal process?  That should be of some help.  The service manual should definitely help,... got that yet?  The manual for my b4 showed pretty clearly how to remove the engine, from the seat to the swingarm bolt.

Ah, yes... the Cylmer manual....Got to dust that puppy off now I guess!

Alternatively, the way I kept organised with our engine removal, was to have lots of zip lock bags and a felt marker, some "index" tags ( the sticky ones that you can put through a printer) and a digital camera on hand. It saved my butt when I had to put the engine back in about 6 months after I removed it.

Im certainly not hoping this will be anywhere close to a "6 month" project, in fact I am wondering now; what kind of "down time" i am looking at with these Alberta short riding seasons in mind!

Hey, on that seperate "car singing a tune" thing, my car does that, a high pitched whine that seems to act in accordance with the rotation of the wheels/transaxle area, that only showerd up after I changed the tires and had an alignment (however, this is me and MAYBE it was there before, knowing my luck). If i open the windows I dont hear it, cant do that in the winter unfortunately. It doesnt seem to afffect anything in the car, other than a damn irritating almost "gyro" noise (similar to how my bike sounded after I got the front sprocket replaced with an Aftermarket one with no bushings) Eventually I had to pay the $$ to get it re-replaced with an OEM one, as the noise was driving me insane.

Back to the car.... I'm almost afraid to bring the damn thing in for chance they'll either look at me like "WTF R U talking about?" or "heres the $$$ estimate, Sorry its got 4 digits!"

[stormi]

Im certainly not hoping this will be anywhere close to a "6 month" project, in fact I am wondering now; what kind of "down time" i am looking at with these Alberta short riding seasons in mind!

I hadn't thought the engine "refresh" would be either.   Oh well.  I would think your fairings shouldn't be more than an afternoon.  And it's not like it can't be ridden without,...oh,... actually, maybe it can't without a full conversion to "streetfighter" eh?

Hey, on that seperate "car singing a tune" thing, my car does that, a high pitched whine that seems to act in accordance with the rotation of the wheels/transaxle area, that only showerd up after I changed the tires and had an alignment (however, this is me and MAYBE it was there before, knowing my luck). If i open the windows I dont hear it, cant do that in the winter unfortunately. It doesnt seem to afffect anything in the car, other than a damn irritating almost "gyro" noise (similar to how my bike sounded after I got the front sprocket replaced with an Aftermarket one with no bushings) Eventually I had to pay the $$ to get it re-replaced with an OEM one, as the noise was driving me insane.

Back to the car.... I'm almost afraid to bring the damn thing in for chance they'll either look at me like "WTF R U talking about?" or "heres the $$$ estimate, Sorry its got 4 digits!"

Geez, we've changed Dita's sprockets a couple of times now. (Thanks to Pitter for the parts!)  Front sprocket isn't too much of a big deal.    Especially Dealer rates nowadays, it sure pays to find the source of the noise yourself.   If you can find someone with a hoist, they may be able to put it up and put the car in gear.  Perhaps you can find the noise that way?   I know that short of duct taping someone to my hood while moving 100kph, I couldn't figure out how I was going to find the problem.   I think I even mentioned that to the dealership when I took it in,  that they could duct tape one of their mechanics to the hood for all I cared, just make it go away.  

[Snubnose]

   
I think I even mentioned that to the dealership when I took it in,  that they could duct tape one of their mechanics to the hood for all I cared, just make it go away.  

Well, i DID it. I took the whole fairing off, and first rode the bike around "nekkid" to make sure the noise was coming from the fairing and no-where else. I can tell you this, riding around even a short while without any fairing, mirrors, or instrument cluster makes for a very different bike!, You feel really "GRRRRR" like a engine on wheels and nothing else, brings a whole new dynamic to the riding experience. I guess thats why the "streetfighter" option is so popular!.

anyway, no noise there, so I took the fairiing apart, bit by bit, there are some tricky nuts/bolts in that labryinth we call bodywork!, but nonetheless, straightforward, as long as your methodical in your approach. I shook the fairing by itself in a manner that the bike experienced the problem whilst on the bike and at first, heard NO NOISE!... awww shit!.. "dont do this to me" I thought!, then when I shook the fairing harder and only up and down, i heard it! ... the culprit..I THINK!  In the left hand side headlight, the "plate" that the bulb or blocker sits on that is held by 4 screws was rattling about, when compared to the otherside, which was solid. Of course, tightening those little screws up would probably of meant un-sealing the light assembly, putting the thing in a oven for a few minutes etc. So I chose to drill a couple of small hole in the back of the unit, so I could get a screwdriver through to the screws straight enough that I could actually tighten the screws.
I did, shook the fairing a few times, ...quiet!.

assembled it all back together, whilst taking advantage of the dissassembled state, I  applied  bits of foam tape on random areas of mating surfaces of the screen and its body parts, this of course made for a much tighter, and difficult assembly due to the increased tolerances, but, eventually I got it all together, and so far... so good.

I took it over a few bumps,...reluctantly... in case I was faced with the possibility that all my 5-6 hours of "fiddling" was in vain, (so to speak), but so far, again. so good. no "clunk!".

[stormi]

Well, i DID it. I took the whole fairing off, and first rode the bike around "nekkid" to make sure the noise was coming from the fairing and no-where else. I can tell you this, riding around even a short while without any fairing, mirrors, or instrument cluster makes for a very different bike!, You feel really "GRRRRR" like a engine on wheels and nothing else, brings a whole new dynamic to the riding experience. I guess thats why the "streetfighter" option is so popular!.

That's one way that the 919 is often described.  Something to the effect of all tank and engine, and raw power.   I've met tons of people that don't like "sportbikes" that seem to like both of mine.  Apparently the nekkid standard just doesn't look like a "sportbike".

So I chose to drill a couple of small hole in the back of the unit, so I could get a screwdriver through to the screws straight enough that I could actually tighten the screws.
I did, shook the fairing a few times, ...quiet!.

And then sealed up those holes so that water and other crap can't get in, right?

I took it over a few bumps,...reluctantly... in case I was faced with the possibility that all my 5-6 hours of "fiddling" was in vain, (so to speak), but so far, again. so good. no "clunk!".

 

Yay!! congrats!!

[Snubnose]

And then sealed up those holes so that water and other crap can't get in, right?

YUP!