Low speed steering.. high speed stability.. passenger buffeting

Just done my first long distance motorway ride, two up with luggage.. motorways were stop/start in places, so went between the cars in places to keep cool! Only problem being that under 10 mph, the steering / bike is a bit all over.. like the damper needs turning up... Anyone else found this?

Then at speed, bit of crosswind, again it's not planted. Ok it's a tall bike so guess this is to be expected?

So we arrive at our destination and my wife is saying she's been buffited like mad for the past 160 miles. LOL.. STD screen, just before fully up it's ok for me, but obviously not the passenger. Will try it low going back so we are in the wind and not the choppy stuff... Best fix for this (other than don't take the wife ).

And whilst I'm at it.. the front seat after 100 miles... Ouch!

I keep my screen in the lowest position (I am 5ft 8) and my wife has never complained about bufferting

The buffeting for the pillion may well be coming from hour helmet.

It isnt the wind that causes buffeting its air coming in over something and then becoming turbulent.

Slow steering when going slowly ? its a big bike and well loaded up what do you expect.

Get a sergeant seat

Low speed steering is ‘light’, off-road capability and wide bars - it’s the nature of the beast.

I find high speed stability better when two-up fully loaded than when solo - the stability is great, especially mid corner.

5’ 1.5” pillion never complains about buffeting

2018 Rallye TE.

Yes.. get the rest.... I'm 6' so have the screen just back from full up as this is more upright and just gets the top of my visor... But must then wipe behind and get the Mrs... We are doing the Triumph tour today, but on the way back will try it on low. Bit wet I guess but see what that does...

Seat? Very disappointing for a bike that's a mile muncher.... But appears to be the way with BMW... If you want it to work the way you think it should, they will sell you the bits to make it right

The seat is adjustable, try different positions, I use high at the front and low at the back (for the riders seat) stops you getting crushed nuts on the tank

MRA Screen , work for us , against the standard screen ( 1200gs) all speeds .

beaver said:

Yes.. get the rest.... I'm 6' so have the screen just back from full up as this is more upright and just gets the top of my visor... But must then wipe behind and get the Mrs... We are doing the Triumph tour today, but on the way back will try it on low. Bit wet I guess but see what that does...

Seat? Very disappointing for a bike that's a mile muncher.... But appears to be the way with BMW... If you want it to work the way you think it should, they will sell you the bits to make it right

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Everyone’s anatomy is different I can do a 500 mile day on the standard seat without discomfort and Karen (pillion) says the 2018 bike is most comfortable GS so far - so hard to compare one experience with another and generalise.

Hi Beaver. The "buffeting" is as redrick describes but the cross winds are what they are and would probably have been far worse on a full faired bike. The BMW GSA seat is as comfortable as most OEM seats and is more down to our own arse padding, I compare it to most cinema/theater seats where you sit for an hour or two, their bloody uncomfortable too....Especially for my old boney arse.
The height of the rider is always overall and not taken into account that two six footers could be built differently re leg length and torso, so the height in the saddle differ.... what works for one may not for another.

Crosswinds, fully loaded and 2 up, plenty of places for the wind to grab at, just look at the trucks on the motorway how they swerve when kit on the side............

beaver said:

Just done my first long distance motorway ride, two up with luggage.. motorways were stop/start in places, so went between the cars in places to keep cool! Only problem being that under 10 mph, the steering / bike is a bit all over.. like the damper needs turning up... Anyone else found this?

Then at speed, bit of crosswind, again it's not planted. Ok it's a tall bike so guess this is to be expected?

So we arrive at our destination and my wife is saying she's been buffited like mad for the past 160 miles. LOL.. STD screen, just before fully up it's ok for me, but obviously not the passenger. Will try it low going back so we are in the wind and not the choppy stuff... Best fix for this (other than don't take the wife ).

And whilst I'm at it.. the front seat after 100 miles... Ouch!

Click to expand...

What did you have the Pre-load set to? If the rear sags too much it can make the bike steering feel very light/vague

What year is your bike? I have the lowered chassis 2017 and it is probably the most stable bike I've had. I've done a lot of high speed motorway miles, especially in Spain where they can be quite twisty and challenging in the mountains, and both with and without pillion have had no problem with high speed stability even with large topbox and panniers. I'm also impressed with the lack of twitchiness when passing trucks and experiencing sidewinds. Other bikes seem to get slammed with a bow wave of displaced air as you go past trucks, but my GS doesn't seem to be affected. I have fairly streamlined Shad luggage, which I suppose may be helping with stability compared with the more boxy standard luggage, and I also have a non-standard screen which I am sure also helps, as my wife gets no turbulence, and with the Exclusive seats fitted we both find the GS really comfortable.

I owned a Triumph Trophy for a while, which is a full-on touring bike, like the RT, thinking that would be the solution to two-up issues I had with the previous Versys 1000, but my wife experienced severe turbulence on the back of that, with the air apparently curving round and pushing her in the back, meanwhile up front I was fine behind the big screen, but overheated in even mildly warm weather.

On my GS low speeds are slightly tricky two-up with luggage, but still better than previous bikes, though, especially when two-up, it sometimes feels like it doesn't want to turn as you come out of a junction, so I now tend to stop angled as much as possible towards where I am heading to make things easier. When two-up, the steering is a little lighter at very slow speeds compared to solo, but nowhere near as bad as the Versys I had, which despite fitting a Nitron shock with stronger spring to fix excessive rear sag two-up, still felt highly unstable at very low speeds, not wanting to steer, and feeling like it would go into a slow motion tank-slapper at any moment, though once up to 10 mph or so it was fine. I think the auto-preload adjustment on the 2017-on bikes is a big factor in how well it copes with changes between solo and two-up riding, with the handling surprisingly little affected by pillion and luggage, so if you have an earlier bike you may not get such an accurate preload setting as you have to manually select one of only three standard presets.

I suggest you persevere as you will probably adapt to the bike's characteristics, and regarding comfort and turbulence, you can at least address the seat comfort with replacement seats, and experiment with alternative screens, and the latter may also improve high speed stability.

Fred

Hello all I've experienced the same with very low speed stability ie when getting on the train a Folkestone on a GSA and fully loaded we are going to France in July so I am going to try to put a higher pressure in the rear tyre to try to put some more weight on the front tyre

roadchefbob said:

Hello all I've experienced the same with very low speed stability ie when getting on the train a Folkston on a GSA and fully loaded we are going to France in July so I am going to try to put a higher pressure in the rear tyre to try to put some more weight on the front tyre

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Buffeting usually down to turbulant aero, so a screen change may help. Sometimes it's mirrors, updraft, your helmet aero or even your jacket (tight leathers smooth out the flow). Just try moving around, maybe using your hand as a deflector, when the condition is experinced & look for the culprit - for instance my Super 10 just needed winglet air deflectors to cut the updraft.

Turning to your low speed ride issue, it sounds like a mix of lacking rear pre-load & maybe your passenger leaning back - best if you both sit as well forward as possible when filtering to keep the CoG right. Mass centralisation. Make sure the luggage weight isn't OTT too, particulary the top box.

squibb34 said:

Buffeting usually down to turbulant aero, so a screen change may help. Sometimes it's mirrors, updraft, your helmet aero or even your jacket (tight leathers smooth out the flow). Just try moving around, maybe using your hand as a deflector, when the condition is experinced & look for the culprit - for instance my Super 10 just needed winglet air deflectors to cut the updraft.

Turning to your low speed ride issue, it sounds like a mix of lacking rear pre-load & maybe your passenger leaning back - best if you both sit as well forward as possible when filtering to keep the CoG right. Mass centralisation. Make sure the luggage weight isn't OTT too, particulary the top box.

Click to expand...

I agree with all of that. I have the passenger seat in the forward position and only put lightweight stuff in the topbox. You really want as much weight as possible forward of the rear axle. Any weight pushing down behind the rear axle will tend to lift the front of the bike, weight forward of the axle will tend to push the front down. I think that was the problem with the Versys I had - too much of the pillion's weight was behind the rear axle and so made the front go light. Weight distribution is key, and if it is wrong, more preload, rear tyre pressure, etc, is not going to help.

High speed stability IS affected by your suspension settings. Assuming ESA? then road is good up to fast, then Dynamic when going for it. Also watch for gripping the bars too tight. Let the bike/bars 'move' a bit rather than a death grip. Low speed, well its a tall bike, and heavy with pillion and luggage.

Also, there are several settings for the load in the menu (passenger, luggage etc)..they do make a big difference.

Only problem being that under 10 mph, the steering / bike is a bit all over.. like the damper needs turning up... Anyone else found this?

Click to expand...

Its a characteristic of the bike. You will get used to it. FWIW the RT is better in this respect

Then at speed, bit of crosswind, again it's not planted. Ok it's a tall bike so guess this is to be expected?

Click to expand...

Its a big tall bike and doubtless you have big square pannier boxes on it too so it carries a lot of windage. Again FWIW I put my bike in Dynamic ESA mode on motorways because it seems to make the front end feel less twitchy

So we arrive at our destination and my wife is saying she's been buffited like mad for the past 160 miles. LOL.. STD screen, just before fully up it's ok for me, but obviously not the passenger. Will try it low going back so we are in the wind and not the choppy stuff... Best fix for this (other than don't take the wife ).

Click to expand...

Try a Puig touring screen with the spoiler on top or buy a K1600GTL

And whilst I'm at it.. the front seat after 100 miles... Ouch!

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Sargent seat. Expensive but your bum will think its worth every penny

Right.. on the way back I changed a few things... but OMG.. it was wet on the M1 carpark!.. when we could do 70 I could not see a thing due to spray... just about dried out LOL..
My bike is not ESA.... So I have turned the preload up a lot.. and it helps with low speed and side winds.. I only had my top box on.. and was suprised how much Mrs B had put in it... TBH its was about 30KG ?? so will use panniers next time...
Seat is set hi front, lo back and normaly its ok when going around the A roads.. but guess you are always on the move.. just sat on the motorway in the same position for 3 hours is not good.. I did put my push Bike shorts on with gel pads in.. problem solved am 54 ow and guess my arse has lost a bit of its padding...

Tried the screen on low.. you get cleaner air, but still not great.. so will try one with a flipper thing on top, see if that helps.
I think in comparison with the last bike, she may sit further back.. as on a sport bike you are close and tend to nut each other... not had that once so she must be further away.. I do have the seat set on the forward setting, but also a pad on the top box and that may encourage her to lean back (which also does not help with low speed)...
So will look for a screen.. are the GSA ones any better than the std GS?.. may be worth getting a used one just to try?...