Geometry, rake, handling, high speed wobble & weave

I think most will agree that the tapered head bearings are far superior to the original ball bearings. Big increase in the contact area of the rollers. My ‘76 which is basically stock, Avon Roadriders, tapered bearings set correctly, fork brace also starts to feel a bit unstable on the freeway above 115/120. I think the weave could be partially caused by the wide bars and sitting upright like a big sail on the bike. Any buffeting winds caused by other vehicles going in your direction don’t help matters. Hey, it’s an old bike and was never designed for high speed cruising. You wanna go fast it’s safer on a newer bike designed for that.
I was about to say the same.
Me litl' H1 400 pounder(515# with me) weaves a lot at 90-100MPH. No farings and tucked.

Tries to blow me skinny arse off the seat and constant steering correction needed.
 
First thing I did Bjorn, was ditch the bicycle bearings. Turns out mine were pretty knackered. But felt ok, riding moderately. Then I made the front brake work. We all have our priorities. Good luck!
 
Yeah I agree these bikes were not designed as modern bikes. And highway cruising might not be ideal.

It's funny how some people report their mostly stock XS650 is super stable at highway speed. And some, say it's not...
The whole subject is quite .... subjective anyway. It's not like HP measured by a dyno.

I think you are right about catching wind on these bikes. It's probably not helping.

My goal is remains, I want my bike to "behave" at highway speeds. I want to be able to comfortably drive 120kmh with some luggage on the back. And not worry about the smallest steering input to result in a big weave.

Makes me wonder how people racing XS650 deal with this? They must be going faster than 140kmh.
 
Sometimes you are so convinced that you don't even think about double checking it. Guess I'm guilty of that haha.

I just re red my own neverending-modding-XS-topic. And I've been using tapered rollers bearings all the time with this R6 fork..... Lol.

I had some trouble with the the length of the R6 steering stem. It didn't look long enough to fit all the parts an put the final nut on top. Legend_10 helped me out, and after some fiddling with all the parts I got it to work.

I installed tapered bearings on the original XS forks, it looked like the races were a perfect match for my new bearings. Later i found out they are higher, eating up the available steering stem length and had to go. To bad there is no fr*&ing room underneath the races to force them out. Thanks to the welder, i got them out and replaced.

The bearings i used are from All Balls racing. p/n 99-3515-5 for anyone that's interested. You need two of them. they are 30x48x12mm.
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Here you see the lower bearing race height of the new bearing
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With the correct bearings installed in the neck I could measure the thickness of the spacer I needed underneath the lower bearing (5,75mm). Machined the correct spacer and assembled the bearing onto the stem. Made an additional spacer to hammer the bearing on the race to its final position.
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just a hair of play. Anything more would take away length at the top of the stem.
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In the quest for milimeters, I even turned down both the ring nuts 0,5mm.

The over-length on top should leave me enough room for the new triple clamp. I hope to get started on that this week...hopefully:D
 
One thing stickers out to me.

You mentioned rebuilding the Koni's to b replaced at a later date.

From all accounts they are a good shock, can b built to a riders weight and or a loaded bike and they are adjustable.

Just maybe you got something wrong when they were rebuilt. ....has that thought been revisited.

I have a 2005 DL650. The consences, (from the Stromtruper forum), is they become light in the front at speed. (80mph)
The PO put weight rated springs with emulators in the front and an Elka shock weighted for him in the back. (I am about the same weight as the PO),
Even with a top box, (supposed to make the front lighter at speed), the bike tracks and is planted with real stable handling on an off hiway, ( second might b considered 2 1/2) road.i'm not a speed king but it handles well in corners once getting used to the high center of gravity
Only taken it to 155kph so maybe I need to go faster😅
 
I got a pair of custom shocks fitted in the meantime! Haven't been able to more than a small test ride since the weather is turning. But the last high speed run I did was with the new shocks. I have not noticed a benefit for the weaving unfortunately...

IMG_20251102_115540299_HDR.jpg
 
Size and spring rate?
and....who makes them?

I am looking for newer shocks than my 1976 FOX SHOX since rebuild kits are non-existent.

cliff
Recently I've seen a pair of Progressive shocks adv. on Facebook for $200. I see a Schrader valve on the shock. 12.5" or 13.5" eye to eye iirc. Due dilligence required! I could dig up the link if needed.
 
Throwing things out here.

See there is not much more adjustment on the chain, looking at the marks on the swingarm.

Have the wheel alignments been checked, back wheel straight or both wheels in line
 
Not read through busy
But My first thought is that brainstorming

R6 front fork (shorter than stock)
If that is Yamaha R6 That is a sports bike made for quick steering and then nearer to instability situations
And driver in a forward leaning position On an XS it is more upright and with increasing speed I can se the wind pressure
force the driver and bike backwards ..Rotating slightly around the rear wheel contact point
Extending that fork

I have that on stock XS Braking going in Going out hard from a Roundabout on the exit The leaning with the Applied throttle makes it shake its head I believe it is in part via the extension of the fork

So what happens if you try to lay flat on the tank and drive in the problematic speeds
Weight more forward and less wind force rotating.
 
These are a pair of adjustable, emulsion type Öhlins. 325 mm eye to eye. Progressive spring rate of 16/26N/mm.

The wheel runout has been checked last year, the wheel alignment to.

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Jan please read the previous messages. Otherwise we are e running in circles;)
Danke!
Bedankt!

I did have 2 thoughts(and nothing else)...
Bias ply on one end and radial on the other?-Been there on some of my bikes
Shifted belts on a tire?-Been there on customers' rubber
 
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Graag gedaan ;)

Yes, well spotted regarding the tires! Before last year I always ran Bridgestone BT45. They stopped making them so I wanted to try something else.

First mistake I made: out a "higher" 120/90 tire on the back. And stock size same model in the front. I believe it was a Michelin classic sport. This made the bike even more nervous on high speeds. So I replaced the back tire with the size I ran before 120/80-18. This time a metzeler roadtec. (New to me tire).

Later I found that Bridgestone makes a BT46, so I put that on the front. The rear however is still the metzeler.

I think I want to change the metzeler on the rear for a BT46 next year. No idea what tech each tire is. I'm guessing the BT46 is bias ply?

Could this affect things more than I would
know?

Edit: what do you mean with "shifted belts"?
 
Belt shift is the steel/kevlar/fiberglas wraps between inner and outer tire.
Either when laying belts or during cure they may shift enough to make the tire weird feeling.

Google the bias ply and radial ply tire tech. I am not in the know as to specifics. edit: watch out for wrong pictorials on which is which!

Love your workshop! top notch

BT46 has been out for a couple of years, any better than 45's?:shrug:
 
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