• Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

Bandit 1250 Vibration

Forums New posts
Tundra Dweller

Tundra Dweller

0
Joined
Sep 25, 2013
Messages
272
Reaction score
3
Location
Minnesnowda
After picking up a very low mile 2008 I noticed excessive vibration especially through the seat at certain rpm ranges. In the handle bars too but not as bad, stock bars with stock grips (not for long on either).
Remedy: On the center stand use a jack with a block of wood to lightly support the motor on the bottom of the oil pan.
Completely loosen but do not remove all five engine mount points.
All of my mounts were over torqued from the factory. The upper rear was so tight I had to use a impact wrench to loosen it.
I applied locktite 243 (medium strength blue) to all the nuts and the two lower mid engine mount bolts. Torque to spec per the manual:
I did a back road weekend trip with 675 miles in S.W. WI. and it is much smoother.

BanditEngineMountTorque_zps3955df40.jpg
 
Great thinking, Never thought of that. Course, the bikes I had before the bandit and, the bike I have with the bandit. Vibration really has never been a factor. But, will check this. ;-0)
 
I have used this method on many motorcycles to great effect including a '97 Bandit 1200S. The key is to "relax" the entire motor then torque the mounts, in sequence if required.
I put a torque wrench on the 1250 mounts when loosening them. The upper rear went over 100 ft. lbs. and didn't move, breaker bar same thing hence the impact wrench.
I'm sure they blast these on at the factory with a impact wrench....before they hit the bolt with a little white paint brush :mrgreen:
 
If there is any residual vibration a throttle sync will probably clear that up. When all is right this is one silky smooth torque monster.
Thanks for the tip...worth checking.

P.S. "Completely loosen but do not remove all five engine mount points". What am I missing?....I only see 5 bolts.
 
Still not right to have that much vibration in the first place. My mounts are as tight as a ducks *** and I have an absolutely silky smooth engine. I agree with the throttle body sync theory of ywgbandit, that steed is designed to be waaaay smooth in fact almost vibration free.
 
Wow,with all this talk about vibration I'm starting to feel it now and this is the smoothest motorcycle I have ever owned.At first I thought I was imagining this but I know I'm not now,I'm going to try this with the bolts and also sync my throttle bodies again as soon as I get time and see if that is it.
 
I ride my KLR 650 more around home than the Bandit 1250S hours wise ( Different kinds of roads ) . When I get on the Bandit after getting off the KLR > What Vibration? LOL!
 
My 07 is silky smooth, and knowing what I do about the motor mounts I have to say that IMHO there is no way that over torquing the motor mount bolts will cause an increase in felt vibrations, do to the following reasons.

The first being that the top and bottom rear engine mounts are solid mounts with no rubber inserts like the front upper mount, so even if they were over tightened it’s not going to increase the inherent amount of vibration that is transmitted through them from the engine to the frame as it’s a metal to metal connection on both of them.

The second is that the upper front mount has two rubber bushings with a molded in inner sleeve which are pressed into the engine case, and in between them is a steel tubing sleeve that the inner steel sleeves on the rubber bushing bear up against when the long M10 bolt is tightened down. So once the inner steel sleeves on the bushings come into contact with the steel sleeve, that’s it and increasing the torque on the bolt is not going to apply force on the rubber part of the bushings causing them to expand and have a tighter fit between them and he engine case which would change the amount of vibration transmitted through them from the engine to the frame.

And lastly, the two lower mid motor mounts which both use a rubber and steel encapsulated bushing which are press fit into each mount and secured to the engine with an M10 bolt are just for vibration tuning and nothing else, and again especially on these two mounts, as long as the M10 bolts are tight, it wouldn’t change how the engine vibration is transmitted through them to the frame as again like the upper front bushings, once the M10 bolt tightens down on the inner steel sleeve which in turn contacts the engine case thats it, in fact you could take those lower mid motor mounts off completely and it would not damage the bike in any way outside of the fact that you might see a change in the vibrations from the engine, and they were not even installed on 1st and second gen Bandits sold in the states, but only on ones sold in Europe.

I can also guarantee you that Suzuki is not tightening the engine mount bolts down willy nilly with an impact driver, and they are using precision slow speed air or electric powered torquing devices that consistently and accurately apply the same amount torque to not only the motor mount bolts, but to all of the fastener on the bike. :trust:
 
Well theory aside I know this has helped on more than one Motorcycle that I have owned and will continue to use this method in the future.
When I get time I will be syncing the TB's also.
 
Maybe it changes the point of resonance so thus it feels better in the usual riding RPMs or in general!? If it works it works! ;)
 
Stormiezzz said:
Still not right to have that much vibration in the first place. My mounts are as tight as a ducks *** and I have an absolutely silky smooth engine. I agree with the throttle body sync theory of ywgbandit, that steed is designed to be waaaay smooth in fact almost vibration free.
Click to expand...


Be careful as you to may come down with bad vibes also, as it seems to be contagious as it is that time of year. I'm going to go over to Walgreens and see if they have any vacinations for bad vibes, cause I'm starting to shake. :-P :rofl:

travis119 said:
Wow,with all this talk about vibration I'm starting to feel it now and this is the smoothest motorcycle I have ever owned.At first I thought I was imagining this but I know I'm not now.
Click to expand...
 
Lol MetrickMetal. I agree, I don't believe in bad vibes, only bad imaginations or busted up balancers or poor firing. I have done only 2000KM on my '07 but i have yet to feel a bad vibe on my steed. I also own a 1981 GSX 1100 which is also extremely smooth but nowhere near as smooth as my bandit. The only thing negative I have found about my bandit so far is the clunky box.

MetrickMetal said:
Be careful as you to may come down with bad vibes also, as it seems to be contagious as it is that time of year. I'm going to go over to Walgreens and see if they have any vacinations for bad vibes, cause I'm starting to shake. :-P :rofl:
Click to expand...
 
I found that when I run the 5W40 Rotella T6 synthetic that it frequently hangs up in neutral going from 1st to 2nd. Not so with the dino Rotella Triple Protection 15W40, which it is heavier than the recommended 10W40. I talked to a guy at Shell and asked about the Rotells T5, in the 10W40, which is the recommended weight, but it is not JASO MA approved and NOT safe for wet clutches. He said it was a blend of Rotella T3 and T6…the T3 is not JASO MA approved.
He suggested blending the Rotella Triple Protection 15W40 and the T6 synthetic 5W40, 50/50, which are both JASO MA approved and the net result is a semi synthetic of 10W40 weight. I'm going to try this because in the spring and fall here, the 15W40 is a little thick in the cold mornings.
 
LOL didn't mean to turn it into a oil thread! Maybe the people who have a "clunky" box need to ride a Harley or most other bikes as these really aren't that bad! But yes running non Jaso MA oil could be part of the problem! I find that firm controlled shifts help avoid miss shifts when the oil is old and in general makes for a better ride experience! ;)
 
All I know is when I was using the 5W40 Rotella T6 synthetic it would hang up in neutral going from 1st to 2nd and when I switched to the Rotella T, Triple protection 15W40 it would slip into 2nd so easily that I had a hard time finding neutral sometimes. I believe this to be a result of the oil weight, not the brand.
 
Very interesting. I will remember that when I am due for an oil change and check to see of there is any difference.

ywgbandit said:
All I know is when I was using the 5W40 Rotella T6 synthetic it would hang up in neutral going from 1st to 2nd and when I switched to the Rotella T, Triple protection 15W40 it would slip into 2nd so easily that I had a hard time finding neutral sometimes. I believe this to be a result of the oil weight, not the brand.
Click to expand...
 
I would like to know if you have a similar experience…please let me know.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top