Bike weaving at speed - the woe's continue
 

Hello All,
I was out early on Sunday morning to make the most of the empty(ish) roads and to enjoy some 'spirited' riding and discovered that the bike starts to weave and move around quite a lot at speed, particularly when cranked over in long bend. The motion seems to start at the rear of the bike and moves forward through the bike until the front goes light - kind of like riding with a punctured rear or very low pressure. I was riding in 'Sport' setting and was pushing on a bit and meant to go back and repeat the test in 'Race' mode to see if made a significant difference. Has anyone else experienced this at all? Ive seem some comments about it on other forums.

Im still riding on stock suspension settings ( I weigh 90kgs without gear ) so it maybe that the rear needs stiffening up a bit. Tyre pressures at also at factory settings.

Ben

The handling woes continue.. the bike feels almost like its loose in the middle and weaves and moves around all over the place when its lent over, so much so that it/we've run wide on a couple of occasions.
I have changed to race mode and repeated the corners and whilst the movement is a bit less its still very pronounced and not confidence inspiring - the 1098S used to corner like it was on rails and was completely stable, the 1199S is like being on something that is about to throw me off. I have had a good look around the bike to look for anything loose or any excessive play and can't see anything obvious ( I rebuilt an R1 from a bare frame after a crash and impressive fireball at Silverstone so Im reasonably handy with the spanners ) but cannot fathom what could be wrong with the bike. Has anyone else experienced this? Its going in on saturday for the full system to be fitted whilst Im away next week so I'll ask the mechanic to take it out and see what he thinks as he races so should have a good feel.

A not very happy Ben.

Not actually played with setup on an 1199 yet but if I was happy a bike had been set up (springs/static sag etc) to suit the rider, and they still said it felt 'loose', my instinct would be to increase rebound to try and dial it out ....

Just read a write up in Bike and they talked about it not liking bumpy roads and tying itself it knots, example given was bottom of mountain at cadwell and a bumpy b road. Also said it handled like an IL4 more than a twin

I read on another forum and from an 1199 owner that all the early bikes were set up with the suspension set up for track use and that they had to change it over to be able to get any change in the feel of the bike.

I think they said they had to move the adjuster (with the arrow) on the rear shock linkage to the opposite of where it was was when it was delivered.

Or this !!!

http://www.dealernews.com/dealernews...tegoryId=48447

Lets hope its not that! Im getting plenty of feel from the bike.. it feels like its trying to weave and shake me off. I hope I haven't got one the of the old legendary 'Friday Afternoon' bikes.

Does anyone know what difference it makes moving the rear suspension linkage from flat to progressive? I asssumed that the bikes would come set up for the road but perhaps not?

If you email Rich at Austin Racing.info he may be able to help you regarding the suspension as he had problems with his, tell him Ian sent you.

He has some nice products as well, the rearsets are stunning.

Hi Ben

I've got mine on progressive and I haven't yet experienced any problems. The only handling issue I've noticed is a tendency to move about when there is a cross wind. I put that down to the diminutive weight of the bike.

Whether you have it on P or F I still think it a good idea to get the suspension set up for your weight. There is likely to be a value of 20Kg or more range of weights for different riders. That gives a significant difference for the suspension to accommodate and will only become more noticeable as g force on long sweeping curves kicks in.

Hi All,
Thanks for the info / suggestions, I will keep you posted.

ps. clocked up 1070 miles now, not too bad considering I'd have been better off buying a canoe in this weather.

Cheers,
Ben

Weave can be caused by too much steering damping. Try backing off the adjuster (counterclockwise).

I have done 4300 miles on mine now including a recent trip to Croatia, the bike does weave at high speeds and it certainly doesn't like slightly bumpy roads especially in corners ir doesn't give me any confidence at all. The front end is doing something completely different to the rear, very un nerving, i have tried many different settings but with no real success so far.
I have also changed my setting from F to P.

Blimey. Glad I haven't got the dosh to chop in my EVO

Having now developed a phobia that my bike will do the same I have booked it into JHP to get the suspension set up for me.

That said, today I did another 300 mile round trip and deliberately included some long sweeping corners at highish speeds with the tyres now taking the writing off the tyre shoulder and no weave or unpleasantness was experienced. Indeed it handled very nicely indeed.

I am now worried that my paranoia will be difficult to explain to the Law when I say, well officer I've heard that there could be a weave at high speed on long sweeping bends so I feel obliged to now do it at every opportunity. ;)

I am picking the bike back up today or tomorrow where its been having the full system fitted. I also ordered the race seat as the original one doesn't really offer much in the way of grip.
I did a full reset of the settings on the way up to the dealers last weekend and the handling was much better, I don't know if its possible for the stepper motors to get out of synch? I'll have a chat with the mechanics when Im there and see what they think re suspension settings as they are all club racers so should have a few suggestions.
I'll keep you posted.
Cheers,
Ben

Good luck

The weave issue must be a set up problem as its inconceivable that Ducati will have designed the architecture of the bike to be unstable or problematic.

Be good to hear your perception of the full Termi system.

Also good to hear whether the seat is an improvement as I agree the standard one is not all grippy and is also hard as a board too.

Hello All,
The love affair is back on. The reset on the handling made a big difference and we are going where we want rather than weaving all over the place. The front is a bit too soft but at least I have a good point to start from rather than wondering what on earth is going on.
I'll try and speak to Rich at Austin Racing later on to see what he thinks re settings and keep you informed.
I'll post re full system and race seat under a different post.

Cheers,
Ben