New owner... Vibrations.. And a question

[Rox_imp]

Too bad lazz, but life is too short to put up with a motorcycle that you don't like.

On a side note I owned a T-100 Bonnie, have ridden my brothers T-120 Bonnie, my nephews V7 111, plus my sons Ducati 696 Monster, and rented a BMW R1200R for 9 days on a European trip and much prefer my CB 1100 over all of them.

Hope you find something that pleases you.

Nail on the head.. Im wondering what this guy's "retro standard" was.. It couldn't of been a Triumph Bonneville.. Had 3 of them. They vibrate.. Guzzis vibrate more. CB1100s can be buzzy at some rpms but nothing to put your hands asleep. Bar weights would fix that in a haiste.

 

[Cormanus]

I forget now who it was, but there was another member of this forum early on for whom the handlebar vibrations were too much.

 

[Lord Popgun]

I wish someone else with a CB could have traded bikes with him for a ride. That may have helped tell the tale.

 

[Tev62]

I wish someone else with a CB could have traded bikes with him for a ride. That may have helped tell the tale.

Yes, I would of loved to of known if the lad was just very sensitive to the vibration or vibration frequency or whether the dealer was trying to palm of a dud.

 

[Cormanus]

I’d be inclined to the former view.

This, http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=13338

And this http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9062

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

I reckon no Harley for him.

 

[bvictory_imp]

Hi everyone,

recently bought a CB1100EX 6speed that had just been run in.

I really like the bike in all respects and it seems perfect for my needs.

Except, on my bike, the constant vibrations/buzz in the midrange (from 3K to 5K) are intensely intrusive. To the extent that on a recent 3 hour run, my hands and feet were buzzing for several hours afterwards. I was wearing full riding gear.

I have been riding for 20 years, everything form old brits to racing ducatis with many guzzis in between and a fair few inline 4s. My daily round town ride up until now has been a 1970 Triumph twin and that causes me no problems in terms of vibration! (I mean the thumping vibration is there, but it is transient, unlike the constant buzz on my new honda) Heck, I've been using a 1960s guzzi police bike for the past 4 years for my long distance work.... So I don't believe I'm overly sensitive to vibrations.

I use a motorcycle as my primary mode of transport and ride far and often.

There are a few others who have complained about vibration on this forum and many who haven't, what I'm trying to figure out is whether my particular bike has a fault or if this is just a characteristic of the model.

Do you all just keep the revs under 3k?

Does anybody out there have a bike that is smooth between 3K and 5K?

Any info/data points gratefully appreciated

Ride safe,

I have a 2014 model and it is smooth at all rpms and gears compared to any other bike I have owned. I am thinking the vibration will decline once you put more miles on it.

 

[Ayrshire Dunx_imp]

Well mine vibrates so much the mirrors are a blur when it idles. Still love it tho :heart:

 

[active1951_imp]

Well it took a year, but finally dramatically reduced buzziness in the handlebars, ESPECIALLY in throttle grip.
I have low-style aluminum bars with small IDs. Found some bar-ends for small ID bars. Big reduction, right hand does not go numb. Gel gloves also helped.
:biker: :excited:

 

[peterbaron]

What vibration/buzzing are you talking about...2014 CB1100 Standard ???
None of my bikes has it, but I noticed one is smoother than the other, both are 2014.

 

[PowerDubs_imp]

Well mine vibrates so much the mirrors are a blur when it idles. Still love it tho :heart:

Either your mirrors are loose, non-factory, or you have modified the engine / exhaust / tuning in some manner.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Members have written about it and suggested it, but has anyone had the luxury of riding another member's CB1100 that had "extra vibrations"? If so, does anyone remember the root cause?

 

[Tev62]

Well mine vibrates so much the mirrors are a blur when it idles. Still love it tho :heart:

I would be tempted to find out if the engine mounts had ever been out and refitted with a spacer/washer incorrectly. It can be as simple as a misplaced spacer when someone has fitted engine bars for instance. SW-Motech crash bars were well known for introducing vibrations to the Africa Twin as the fitting instructions were a little vague in places and misplacing spacers was very common. Seemingly well fitted engine bars caused a lot of vibration.

 

[michael1954]

I guess I am spoiled because the EX does not seem to buzz me at all. But I do ride it mostly in 6th on the Hwy and cruise at about 80 mph. I did install heavier bar weights on both of my CB's sometime back just to see if heavier was better low on. Will show pixs soon, got to go to work!

 

[active1951_imp]

Well mine vibrates so much the mirrors are a blur when it idles. Still love it tho :heart:

I would be tempted to find out if the engine mounts had ever been out and refitted with a spacer/washer incorrectly. It can be as simple as a misplaced spacer when someone has fitted engine bars for instance. SW-Motech crash bars were well known for introducing vibrations to the Africa Twin as the fitting instructions were a little vague in places and misplacing spacers was very common. Seemingly well fitted engine bars caused a lot of vibration.

I would be tempted to find out if the engine mounts had ever been out and refitted with a spacer/washer incorrectly. It can be as simple as a misplaced spacer when someone has fitted engine bars for instance. SW-Motech crash bars were well known for introducing vibrations to the Africa Twin as the fitting instructions were a little vague in places and misplacing spacers was very common. Seemingly well fitted engine bars caused a lot of vibration.
Now THAT is a interesting post. My bike came with small engine guards. I will remove them before my next ride. The heavy bar-ends are great, but I will see if this helps more.

THANKS

I guess I am spoiled because the EX does not seem to buzz me at all. But I do ride it mostly in 6th on the Hwy and cruise at about 80 mph. I did install heavier bar weights on both of my CB's sometime back just to see if heavier was better low on. Will show pixs soon, got to go to work!

I will try to post pics and a link to my bar-ends also.

 

[Ayrshire Dunx_imp]

Sadly it is none of these things, bought it brand new less than a year ago and it has vibrated like mad from day one. I'm hoping the first proper service next year will reveal one cylinder not firing properly.

 

[peterbaron]

If any cylinder is not firing properly, you would definitely have a performance issue and most likely MIL on...

 

[Olof_imp]

I bring nothing new to this but the OP asked for data points so here is my experience. Please bear with me. I've ridden three different CB1100's (all 2018 RS) with all from zero to 4000 miles, and to me they all vibrated identically and more than I think an inline four with a balance shaft should. These bikes have had two sweeter spots - around 3000 rpm and 6000 rpm - where it's sort of ok, but outside that I get a high frequency buzz, quite painful in the long run. Longer rides, more than a couple of hours, lead to tingling hands. Other bikes I've had (a string of 750-1200 sports twins and triples) have vibrated too, some even more, but never affected my hands as the CB does. This to me is the most negative aspect of the CB. Having said that I'vd yet to try Grip Puppies and heavier bar end weights, but this thread has got me thinking I should. In particular I'm curious if it would pay off to try "tune" the weight of the bar ends by playing around with rim balance weights. Anyone tried that and found an optimal weight?

 

[the Ferret]

OP has not been back in a month. I would assume his CB his no longer his CB, and that he is happily cruising around at 80-90 mph on something else. Don't blame him if it wasn't enjoyable or getting the job done for him. Life's too short.

 

[active1951_imp]

Well mine vibrates so much the mirrors are a blur when it idles. Still love it tho :heart:

I would be tempted to find out if the engine mounts had ever been out and refitted with a spacer/washer incorrectly. It can be as simple as a misplaced spacer when someone has fitted engine bars for instance. SW-Motech crash bars were well known for introducing vibrations to the Africa Twin as the fitting instructions were a little vague in places and misplacing spacers was very common. Seemingly well fitted engine bars caused a lot of vibration.

I would be tempted to find out if the engine mounts had ever been out and refitted with a spacer/washer incorrectly. It can be as simple as a misplaced spacer when someone has fitted engine bars for instance. SW-Motech crash bars were well known for introducing vibrations to the Africa Twin as the fitting instructions were a little vague in places and misplacing spacers was very common. Seemingly well fitted engine bars caused a lot of vibration.
Now THAT is a interesting post. My bike came with small engine guards. I will remove them before my next ride. The heavy bar-ends are great, but I will see if this helps more.

THANKS

I guess I am spoiled because the EX does not seem to buzz me at all. But I do ride it mostly in 6th on the Hwy and cruise at about 80 mph. I did install heavier bar weights on both of my CB's sometime back just to see if heavier was better low on. Will show pixs soon, got to go to work!

I will try to post pics and a link to my bar-ends also.

I would be tempted to find out if the engine mounts had ever been out and refitted with a spacer/washer incorrectly. It can be as simple as a misplaced spacer when someone has fitted engine bars for instance. SW-Motech crash bars were well known for introducing vibrations to the Africa Twin as the fitting instructions were a little vague in places and misplacing spacers was very common. Seemingly well fitted engine bars caused a lot of vibration.
Now THAT is a interesting post. My bike came with small engine guards. I will remove them before my next ride. The heavy bar-ends are great, but I will see if this helps more.

I removed my crash bars and now less vibrations in fuel tank area.
In a very old post, someone mentioned torquing the riser nuts to 20lbs. I tried this and it reduced the buzz at the handlebars, even more. The riser cushions are flexible now and not mashed. The nuts were torqued by someone who installed the aftermarket bars, probably. Service manual does not specify torque.

I am using the lower gears with more revs now, my kinda riding ......