sargergp Posted January 4, 2009 #1 Posted January 4, 2009 Hey folks, help me out if you can! My wife loves to ride with me, the problem is if she rides very long the engine vibration she feels through the rear seat and especially the backrest pad on the trunk leaves her with a back ache. I just recently put new tires on and with the Avon Venoms the bike feels a lot smoother to me. I don't notice any engine vibration through the drivers seat but I can reach back with my left hand on the highway and feel considerably more vibration in the passenger backrest. I'm wondering if there's a support modification that would help, or if the standard backrest might be better than the one I have on my '05 Midnight. Any ideas?
cecdoo Posted January 4, 2009 #3 Posted January 4, 2009 I remember Eck saying the passenger is the first to notice if the carbs are out of synch. Mite want to get the carbs balanced. Sure others will help out. Craig
Squidley Posted January 4, 2009 #4 Posted January 4, 2009 Your '05 doesn't have pillow tops, that would be a good start as they are really comfortable. I would also talk with Rick Butler on this forum about reconditioning your stock seats. He installs memory foam and a tail bone relief and many have had this done with excellent results. http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/1023/cat/7/date/1161840513
Marcarl Posted January 4, 2009 #5 Posted January 4, 2009 Shouldn't have that from a V4, haven't heard of that problem before, like has been mentioned, smooth the engine, new plugs, clean carbs and a carb sync, are the things I would look at.
waterbug Posted January 4, 2009 #6 Posted January 4, 2009 How much air are you running in the shocks? I have been messing with mine and with more air preasure the harder the ride but with no air in them it will ride rough also. I have been running with about 4 in the front and have been playing with between 20 to 30 in rear, I think you cant go over 40 or 45 in rear but check and make sure. Just play with it and see what works for you guys and good luck.
Squeeze Posted January 4, 2009 #7 Posted January 4, 2009 There should be next to nothing in Vibration. Something is not right with your Bike. Pressure in the Shock, Carbs out of synch, loose Bolts all good Suggestions and starting Points.
sargergp Posted January 5, 2009 Author #8 Posted January 5, 2009 seat & backrest covers (padded) sounds like a great idea. Where can I get padded covers?
sargergp Posted January 5, 2009 Author #9 Posted January 5, 2009 How much air are you running in the shocks? I have been messing with mine and with more air preasure the harder the ride but with no air in them it will ride rough also. I have been running with about 4 in the front and have been playing with between 20 to 30 in rear, I think you cant go over 40 or 45 in rear but check and make sure. Just play with it and see what works for you guys and good luck. I'm running 4 in the front and 30 in the rear, using a Harley suspension pump and digital test guage, that seems to be the smoothest setting.
az1103 Posted January 5, 2009 #10 Posted January 5, 2009 Just asked my wife, she spends many hours on that seat and backrest.....She sais there is definitely something wrong with your bike. I have to agree, and I would try to get rid of the problem before trying to mask it with covers or pads. I would put that bike on a secure stand or jack , start it and put in gear and spin that back wheel under power. If there is something wrong with the tyre, like a bad sidewall or shifted belt you want to find out soon! If you don't feel any vibration back there from the wheel, check out all the supports for your trunk. But most important: Find the problem, don't mask the symptom!!
sargergp Posted January 5, 2009 Author #11 Posted January 5, 2009 Just asked my wife, she spends many hours on that seat and backrest.....She sais there is definitely something wrong with your bike. I have to agree, and I would try to get rid of the problem before trying to mask it with covers or pads. I would put that bike on a secure stand or jack , start it and put in gear and spin that back wheel under power. If there is something wrong with the tyre, like a bad sidewall or shifted belt you want to find out soon! If you don't feel any vibration back there from the wheel, check out all the supports for your trunk. But most important: Find the problem, don't mask the symptom!! I'll check the supports. I just put new tires on, so it's not the tires. Thanks
Squidley Posted January 5, 2009 #12 Posted January 5, 2009 All good suggestions, but I would think that if your bike is THAT bad vibrating you would notice it. The seats on the '05 Midnights are pretty hard and could cause pressure points. The Carb sync is a great place to start if you have a carb tune set up. A quick question...does or has your wife had back problems in the past?
scotty Posted January 5, 2009 #13 Posted January 5, 2009 My wife complains about pressure points on longer days. She says the sheep skin helps. I told her that the problem is easily rectified by simply replacing the stock unit with a complete 2009 RSV. She wouldn't go for that.
sargergp Posted January 5, 2009 Author #14 Posted January 5, 2009 All good suggestions, but I would think that if your bike is THAT bad vibrating you would notice it. The seats on the '05 Midnights are pretty hard and could cause pressure points. The Carb sync is a great place to start if you have a carb tune set up. A quick question...does or has your wife had back problems in the past? I have wondered about the seats. Maybe I should try to find someone who would like to swap their pillow seats for the Midnight seats I've got. She doesn't have back problems, at least not medically. It's not really vibrating real bad, but it's bad enough that it makes her uncomfortable and she can't stand more than about a 100 miles at a time without a break.
BradT Posted January 5, 2009 #15 Posted January 5, 2009 When I went to the 99 RSV from the 86, Rhonda also mentioned there was more vibration than the First gen. We played around a little with the gears and I found that if I changed to a lower gear with higher rpm the vibration was less. Vibration was greater the harder I accelerated, in a higher gear. So What I am saying is that maybe you are running the wrong gear and bogging the engine a little, and as you accelerate this is causing the vibration that is affecting her back. It is hard to tell the RPM on these bikes and you can rev them right up without hurting them, I would also suggest the Carb sync, and possibly the gel additionas to the seat. BRad
sargergp Posted January 5, 2009 Author #16 Posted January 5, 2009 When I went to the 99 RSV from the 86, Rhonda also mentioned there was more vibration than the First gen. We played around a little with the gears and I found that if I changed to a lower gear with higher rpm the vibration was less. Vibration was greater the harder I accelerated, in a higher gear. So What I am saying is that maybe you are running the wrong gear and bogging the engine a little, and as you accelerate this is causing the vibration that is affecting her back. It is hard to tell the RPM on these bikes and you can rev them right up without hurting them, I would also suggest the Carb sync, and possibly the gel additionas to the seat. BRad She had mentioned that she notices a lot more vibration during acceleration, but even at 65 and 70, and the discomfort is still there cruising steady at those speeds.
V7Goose Posted January 5, 2009 #17 Posted January 5, 2009 Shouldn't have that from a V4, haven't heard of that problem before, like has been mentioned, smooth the engine, new plugs, clean carbs and a carb sync, are the things I would look at. I agree, this is NOT a normal problem for the RSV. My wife has done several 1,100 mile days with me on our 05 (stock pillow-top seats), and many many 600 - 800 mile days, and she has never had any vibration issues. In fact, she finds the bike so comfortable she doesn't even get off to stretch when I gas up! Carb sync and regular firing on all four cylinders is the first thing I would check. After that, look at the fender mounting bolts under the seat and all the bolts on the sides of the fender and the sub-frame mounting bolts. I have seen one report of a broken frame loop under the rider's seat, so look at that too. The loop above the battery supports the rear fender, passenger seat, and all of the weight of the bags and trunk. The pictures I saw showed it broken on both sides right above the welds. If you feel like riding over here to Fort Worth I'd be happy to help you check it all out, including syncing the carbs. Just bring some beer with ya! Goose
Jethroish Posted January 5, 2009 #18 Posted January 5, 2009 Maybe it is not the bike, nor the seats, nor the tires. Maybe you need to find smoother roads to ride on. All good suggestion that have been mentioned here. Hope you get it fixed.
jburrell Posted January 5, 2009 #19 Posted January 5, 2009 As everyone suggest check out the carbs and make sure you have about 45psi in the rear shock. You can get the pillion pad and back rest pillow top on ebay for less than $200 and your wife will appreciate it. You can then sell you seat set. I replaced all mine at the suffestion of PONCH and he was right it is a lot smoother. As an alternative try sheepskin or padding for her pillion and back rest.but I wholly recommend the pillow tops. Just my 2c worth.
sargergp Posted January 5, 2009 Author #20 Posted January 5, 2009 I agree, this is NOT a normal problem for the RSV. My wife has done several 1,100 mile days with me on our 05 (stock pillow-top seats), and many many 600 - 800 mile days, and she has never had any vibration issues. In fact, she finds the bike so comfortable she doesn't even get off to stretch when I gas up! Carb sync and regular firing on all four cylinders is the first thing I would check. After that, look at the fender mounting bolts under the seat and all the bolts on the sides of the fender and the sub-frame mounting bolts. I have seen one report of a broken frame loop under the rider's seat, so look at that too. The loop above the battery supports the rear fender, passenger seat, and all of the weight of the bags and trunk. The pictures I saw showed it broken on both sides right above the welds. If you feel like riding over here to Fort Worth I'd be happy to help you check it all out, including syncing the carbs. Just bring some beer with ya! Goose Thanks for the info and the invite Goose. I'm looking right now for a good source for a carb sync tool. I hadn't heard about the frame problems before, I'll definitely be taking a close look at all that when I get home tonight. And when it gets better weather and hopefully have all the problems ironed out I'd like to take you up on that visit. And I WILL supply the beer!
sargergp Posted January 5, 2009 Author #21 Posted January 5, 2009 As everyone suggest check out the carbs and make sure you have about 45psi in the rear shock. You can get the pillion pad and back rest pillow top on ebay for less than $200 and your wife will appreciate it. You can then sell you seat set. I replaced all mine at the suffestion of PONCH and he was right it is a lot smoother. As an alternative try sheepskin or padding for her pillion and back rest.but I wholly recommend the pillow tops. Just my 2c worth. Thanks J, you don't happen to have specific ebay info for those pieces do you? I haven't had a lot of luck finding venture specific stuff like that on ebay.
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