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Handle bar vibration

StormShearon

StormShearon

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Oct 28, 2008
Messages
194
Location
Sammamish, WA
I have had my '07 Norge since March of '07, and the only thing that continues to be an issue is the amount of vibration in the handlebars. It varies with engine speed, and is generaly better above 4000 rpm. But since I have been working through a pinched nerve in my neck that affects my left arm for the last five months or so, I have found that on loger rides, it has become an issue I must solve or I will have to sell the bike.

So, anybody have any suggestions on what might be causing this and how to try and resolve? I do notice that the vibration also varies with the amount of gas inthe tank - less gas, generaly more vibes.

I have tried bar risers - did not help. And I have put on heavier bar end weights - which alters the point at which the vibration becomes more than annoying, but does not resolve the issue.

Bike is tuned, TB balanced, TPS set, and rest of maintenance done per the manual.
 
I had a similar issue with a Stelvio and tried many things. What ended up being a big help was adjusting the front break lever adjuster (I moved the clutch lever out as well so that may have been part of the solution as well). When I left the dealer he had set them both at #4 which put the levers closer to the handgrips. I posted a problem about the vibration as well and someone responded that moving the levers out helped his vibration problem. I was skeptical and didn't try it until a month later, but the vibration was noticeably less. There is still vibration, but at least now the left and right hand grips have pretty much the same vibration as compared to before when the right was quite a bit worse. I'm assuming the Norge comes with the same adjustable levers.

Another thing I did was put silica sand in the handle bars to add density. I wanted to put a lead shot/silica sand mixture but I couldn't find any lead shot. You'd think it was poisonous or something. :roll: Make sure you use silica sand and not regular sand because silica sand doesn't absorb moisture. I got mine at the Home Depot as it is used in laying patio stones and the such. You can also Google "bar snake" and get a solid rubber bar to insert to make the density higher (same effect I was trying to achieve with the sand/lead). You can also get Bar Snake in liquid for which solidifies inside the bar.

A third option is either closed-cell foam grips (not open cell foam as it absorbs water) or gel grips. You can either replace your existing grips, or in the case of some of the foam grips, slide them over top of the existing grips (although you have a little thicker handgrip).

Lastly you can consider special gloves that have padding in specific places to avoid putting pressure on specific nerves going into your hand. I haven't tried these yet but Check them out here: http://www.QwiGloves.com

Hope this helps.

Cory
 
Interesting... My right bar has a noticeable buzz and the mirror is barely useable on the highway, while the left is amazing... so vibe free... Having said that the brake lever rattles and bounces pretty merrily, I've never seen anything like it. Mebbe I will fiddle with it before I try anything more drastic.
 
You cannot do the sand\shot trick to Norge - cast risers with solid bar extensions each side for the grips and switch gear\brake and clutch attached.
 
I also had a problem with severe vibration on the right grip, almost put my hand to sleep it got so numb, the left wasn't as bad .I tried the lead shot thing on my Norge, didn't work all the little shot did was get into my controls particularly the horn button. Although the tubes for the grips look solid they are not, I ended up taking the shot out. When I filled them with shot I found that the bolts that held the grips in were not paticularly tight and the bolts for the clutch and brake were also the same. I replaced the stock mirrors with the 1200 sport and tightend the bolts to my liking and mirror vibration and grip vibration are considerably less. The 1200 sport mirrors are a 100 % improvement just a little vibration at certain rpms. This info doesn't really help StormShearons problem though. If it wasn't for some minor mirror vibration at times I wouldn't notice it and I haven't touched anything other than what I've mentioned.
Bob
 
StormShearon said:
You cannot do the sand\shot trick to Norge - cast risers with solid bar extensions each side for the grips and switch gear\brake and clutch attached.
Click to expand...
The bars are hollow, but they have the ends plugged, with a 6mm threaded hole only.
Sand, or a liquid rubber could still be used.
 
Ah - So the end that fits in the riser would have the 6mm through hole? Or the outer end where the bar end weights are attached?
 
I don't know what kind of tubes you guys have for the grips but after I put the lead shot in it would come out of the tube right where the hand controls are clamped on. There must be some holes in the tube underneath the control clamps because every time I put the bike on the side stand a few would come out, finally took the shot out because it shorted my horn while I was riding and jammed the thumb control so I couldn't push it in. Ticked me off so I pulled over undid the grips and dumped the shot.
Bob
 
StormShearon said:
Ah - So the end that fits in the riser would have the 6mm through hole? Or the outer end where the bar end weights are attached?
Click to expand...
Both ends have a threaded hole in them. The inner end in order to bolt it into the riser, and the outer for the bar end weight.
 
Brian - thanks for the info. I will have to take a look this weekend and check it out.

Now to figure out what to put in? If only someone made an easily sourced viscoelastic material in a liquid form that set up solid and would dampen the vibes. I guess I will have to look into lead shot (and look at plugging the small whole that the switch gear uses as a locator on the bar) or some alternative - maybe the steel\tungsten stuff that is enviro safe.
 
I looked at those ugly, heavy mirrors on my B11 and thought that the amount of vibration would be significant. I took the mirrors off and things felt much better. I replaced them with a pair of Rizoma mirrors and the good feeling still remained. It might be worth looking at for B11 owners
Cheers :idea:
 
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