Bad vibes and new cush drive
 

For the last few rides (say 400 miles) I've been suffering from quite bad vibes � enough to feel coming up through my feet. Took the Bark busters off and refitted original bar weights, and finally replaced the cush drive rubbers after 9000 miles (I'd done the kev mod at 3500 and to be honest the rubbers that came out would probably be fine again with more packing) � I'm running out of other things to try.

Is it possible for the chain to affect the vibes? it's on the original chain (which has been scottoilered from new) and it looks OK, sprockets look good too. Maybe it's too tight? or a slightly stiff link?

I'm open to suggestions

Cheers

Tyres need rebalancing?

Check every nut & bolt is tight.

Thanks guys, I'll go round the bike with a torque wrench this weekend. I've not long had a new front tyre fitted, though I didn't notice an increase in vibes when it went on, maybe it wasn't balanced quite as well as it could have been.

Check front sprocket condition, and the tank mounting bolts. The Ten is prone to bad vibes whenever it has a full tank anyway.

My XTZ got so vibey recently I started to hate the bike.

I adjusted the chain, replaced the Cush drive rubbers (again) and at the 1st MOT the other day the shagged rear wheel bearings were replaced. Now the bike is nice again and I love it again. :)

I would've Kev'd the Cush rubbers but they were pounded into a sticky goo like the last ones so no point.

Pete.

What sort of tyres (tread pattern) are you running? You can find a new tyre on one wheel and an old tyre on the other sets up uneven vibrations.

Another thing could be the chain - if it's started to stretch and/or the sprocket teeth are worn, then you can get a pulsing through the drive train due to the slack between the chain and teeth, that feels like a vibration.

Jx

Tyres are standard Tourances at the moment Jmo � front's done just less than 1K, rear's done just over 3K. might well be the chain � bike's only done 9.5K though, and it's been bathed in scott-oil from the get go. How long are the chains tending to last on these?

I got 18,000 miles out of a chain and sprockets in the US, although I have to say they were totally shot by then - adjusting chain every couple of days!

You can check the chain wear by lifting it off the rear sprocket (it shouldn't lift more than a couple of mm). To be honest, if you've been using a scott-oiler, it should still be fine after only 9.5K, unless you've been riding in a lot of dusty or wet conditions perhaps?

I don't imagine the [tread pattern of] Tourances would cause significant vibration, although as Tony660x suggests, you might want to check the wheel balance.

I'd go through things one by one - check tyre pressures, wheel bearings, chain wear/slack, cush drive rubbers - those would be the 'physical' things...

However, if it feels more like it coming from the engine itself, then possibly something is up with the fuel mixture and/or TPS (throttle position sensor), but I'm not techy in that respect - Kev can probably offer more precise advice there...

Jx

Thanks for your help thus far Jmo � I know the cush is OK as I've just replaced that with a new one. I'll check the wheel balance tomorrow � didn't find any loose bolts during a once-over today so I guess the process of elimination is well under way. I'll check the chain tomorrow too.

Need to get it fixed as I'm doing a 2,500 mile trip at the end of June and there will be quite a lot of road work � I'll need to service the bike before I leave, so I may belt-n-braces the whole deal and replace the chain and sprockets ahead of the trip too. Might need another new rear tyre by June too.