tire vibration

Hello. I need some advice please. I had both tires replaced by the Honda dealer about 1,000 miles ago. They put on Bridgestone Hoop tires, new valve stems, and balanced the wheels. Since then, I have a serious problem with the whole bike vibrating on only certain freeways at high speed (55-70mph). On some roads the bike rides perfectly, and on other roads the ride is so rough that it feels like I am going to be thrown off the bike. The rough ride is directly related to the road service because when I come to different type of road the ride smooths out temporally.

Is there anything that the dealer did with the tires or the balancing that could cause these problems? Why would the bike only vibrate on some roads and not others? Of course the dealer denies any responsibility. The bike is a 2002 with 10,000 miles. Thanks for your suggestions

Sometimes it's out of round tires. You can check the rear tire easily by putting a block or something very close to the face of the thread and turn the wheel while watching the gap between the block and the tire. If the gap changes more than a very small amount as the wheel turns it's out of round and can cause rough riding at speed. Also look closely at the line molded into most tires near the bead. That line should be the same distance from the rim all the way around which proves the bead is properly seated in the rim. The front wheel can be checked the same with with the front of the engine blocked up enough to raise it off the ground. If you remove the brake pads on the front wheel you can check the balance of the tire by giving it a spin and marking the bottom of the tire when the wheel stops. Do that several times and see if the marks cluster or are randomly spaced around the rim. If they are clustered toward one side of the wheel it's out of balance. One other thing you can try is to drain the oil from the fork and replace it with 10 weight fork oil along with setting your rear shocks to a lower number. Check the tire pressure too to make sure it's not too high which makes for a harsher ride.

I would check the tire pressure first . But it sounds like balance is out .

Thank you for the two replies to my question about tire vibration. I understand the issues raised by both replies, but I do not understand why the vibration only happens on some roads and not other roads. Shouldn't the vibration be consistent? Thank you.

Hi Shrink13,

First, welcome to the forum.

I would check to see if the dealer tightened up all the bolts (check this carefully). Torque all bolts to the book. They do get in a hurry at the dealers at times.

Then I would check the tires yellow balance dot location to see it is aligned with the air nozzles on both tires.

Next I would check to see if they have the tires installed with the rotation going in the correct direction. Seems like a no-brainer, check it to be sure.

Dealers....Always check the work they do!

DennisB

Thank you Dennis. I'm glad to discover a site where people can communicate about their Silverwings and get advice. I will follow up with your suggestions. Thank you very much.