[linux_tyro]

Oh those stock steering dampers….

My assessment is that they add weight to the bike and that’s about it. Sadly, that implies we need to spend a lot on a real quality damper.

Yes, it frustrates me that I hadn't even made the first payment on my '17 GSA and I'm already having to replace the front wheel and the damper. This is just after I replaced the tires before even riding the bike.

I'm sort of just walking around shaking my lowered head hoping that it will bet better.

 

[skychs]

2020 R1250GSA

I just replaced the Dunlop Mission Trailmax tires on my GSA with a new set. The old tires have 11,400 miles on them. They still have tread on them but they were getting loud, flat and started to cup.
I have not had any issues with wobbling. I did discover however .... the front wheel needs to be trued.

 

[linux_tyro]

Hello Sherman,

This is my first post here. I have a new to me '17 r1200gs Adventure with 24K miles and I am experiencing the same front end wobble that you describe with the Trailmax Mission tire. The bike had some aggressive Mitas tires and I replaced them with the DTM before I even took the bike on the road.

On my very first ride on this bike and these new tires I noticed a shimmy at around 70mph. Sometimes it occurs at a little less speed, sometimes more depending on the road surface.

Toward the end of our 300 mile ride we entered the freeway where I took it to 80mph and then 90mph as on this freeway that's what most of the cars are doing. The first time I went to make a lane change by pushing right to go right I noticed what you are calling the mini tank slap. I tried it to the left and got the same thing. So then I experimented and pushed on the bar both left and right, not a lane change, just a quick push. Same result each time. I slowed done to 60 and told those behind me to go ahead as 60mph was much more comfortable.

Now the tire shop that I use uses tire beads. I know some guys hate them but I've always had good luck with them on my '06 Tiger 955i. What I've done is had the tire broken back down and the beads removed. We had the tire balanced on a static balancer which took 7 ounces of weight to get a balance.

Today was my second ride on the bike and even with the lead balancing weights at right around 70 on the back roads we were traveling there is a distinct wobble. I didn't set the cruise and take my hands off the bars completely but with very light pressure on the bars the wobble was there. It seems the faster I go the more the wobble will present itself. Although when giving a quick push on the bar I didn't get a heavy wobble as I did when making a lane change.

I think my next step is to contact Revzilla and see if they will exchange this tire for me.

I want to mention that there are many people across three different clubs that currently run or have run these tires and none of them have experienced what I am describing. This is a bit of a let down for me because I have this problem straight out of the gate. I haven't even made the first payment on this bike yet.

Oh, I have up the pressure to 39/44 because my first ride the pressure was actually on the low side. No real changes

I'm looking for other input as well so if you guys have ideas please put it here.

Thanks guys

Okay Guys, replying to my own post here for an update to my dilemma.

We found 12 loose spokes on the front wheel. The BMW shop in Plano Texas petitioned BMW to replace the wheel. BMW offered to pay half the cost. My warranty transfer hadn't gone through yet so I elected to pay the other half of the wheel plus labor to swap everything over and install back on the bike.

On my next 350 mile day ride I still had a shimmy but the frequency changed and the speed at which the shimmy started had changed. I found an Anakee 3 on sale so I bought and installed it. My shimmy seems to have been cured.

One of the riders in my club needed a new front and has been running the Missions since they came out without ever a problem, installed my tire on his bike. Much to our surprise his bike then had a wobble.

So, with all of this explained to Revzilla they have agreed to issue a return authorization for store credit.

I'm so glad this much has been ironed out and will now look at the steering stabilizer.

 

[Mark_M]

I'm so glad this much has been ironed out and will now look at the steering stabilizer.

Check out Hyperpro Steering Dampers. I installed one and like the results.

 

[skychs]

Okay Guys, replying to my own post here for an update to my dilemma.

We found 12 loose spokes on the front wheel. The BMW shop in Plano Texas petitioned BMW to replace the wheel. BMW offered to pay half the cost. My warranty transfer hadn't gone through yet so I elected to pay the other half of the wheel plus labor to swap everything over and install back on the bike.

On my next 350 mile day ride I still had a shimmy but the frequency changed and the speed at which the shimmy started had changed. I found an Anakee 3 on sale so I bought and installed it. My shimmy seems to have been cured.

One of the riders in my club needed a new front and has been running the Missions since they came out without ever a problem, installed my tire on his bike. Much to our surprise his bike then had a wobble.

So, with all of this explained to Revzilla they have agreed to issue a return authorization for store credit.

I'm so glad this much has been ironed out and will now look at the steering stabilizer.

Thats unfortunate because Bob's BMW in Baltimore MD had BMW replace my front wheel for the same issue ... under warranty. No cost. While they were working on the bike they replaced the BMW front brake calipers, again under warranty.

 

[Sherman]

Okay Guys, replying to my own post here for an update to my dilemma.

We found 12 loose spokes on the front wheel. The BMW shop in Plano Texas petitioned BMW to replace the wheel. BMW offered to pay half the cost. My warranty transfer hadn't gone through yet so I elected to pay the other half of the wheel plus labor to swap everything over and install back on the bike.

On my next 350 mile day ride I still had a shimmy but the frequency changed and the speed at which the shimmy started had changed. I found an Anakee 3 on sale so I bought and installed it. My shimmy seems to have been cured.

One of the riders in my club needed a new front and has been running the Missions since they came out without ever a problem, installed my tire on his bike. Much to our surprise his bike then had a wobble.

So, with all of this explained to Revzilla they have agreed to issue a return authorization for store credit.

I'm so glad this much has been ironed out and will now look at the steering stabilizer.

Hi Guys
Sorry for the silence.

So I had much excitement. besides the wobble with the Trailmax Missions, I had a knobby on the rear start to tear. My supplier, Bike Tyre Warehouse petitioned Dunlop, who replaced the tire under warranty. Kudos to BTW for their efforts and Dunlop fir replacing the back tyre.
So interestingly enough, the tyre is rated at 180Kmh, about 110Mph, and today I had the brief occasion to take it up to 190Kmh, and the wobble seems to have settled. If you induce a wobble it will oblige briefly, but as I was pulling through the range, beyond the rating of the tyre, it was planted and stable. I did not do any harsh cornering as I am on a GS, but it would seem that with 4-5000km on the tyre, it settles in nicely and I felt quite comfortable at speed.
I will report back at 1000K Km.

 

[Lloydb]

Hi Guys
Sorry for the silence.

So I had much excitement. besides the wobble with the Trailmax Missions, I had a knobby on the rear start to tear. My supplier, Bike Tyre Warehouse petitioned Dunlop, who replaced the tire under warranty. Kudos to BTW for their efforts and Dunlop fir replacing the back tyre.
So interestingly enough, the tyre is rated at 180Kmh, about 110Mph, and today I had the brief occasion to take it up to 190Kmh, and the wobble seems to have settled. If you induce a wobble it will oblige briefly, but as I was pulling through the range, beyond the rating of the tyre, it was planted and stable. I did not do any harsh cornering as I am on a GS, but it would seem that with 4-5000km on the tyre, it settles in nicely and I felt quite comfortable at speed.
I will report back at 1000K Km.

Hey buddy, any feedback?

 

[dadamsinky]

Leaving Western NY fully loaded for Coldfoot and a circle tour of Alaska before Cassiar to Okanagan, Couer d'Alene, Jackson, Flaming Gorge, Boulder and eventually Houston in planned 5 weeks. New Trailmax Mission on rear, Shinko 705 with 1k+ on front. Should be about 13-14k miles all in. Will report back, maybe upload mileage interval pics.

 

[Ryno23]

Safe travels @dadamsinky !
Looking forward to your reports from the road.

 

[Krons]

Leaving Western NY fully loaded for Coldfoot and a circle tour of Alaska before Cassiar to Okanagan, Couer d'Alene, Jackson, Flaming Gorge, Boulder and eventually Houston in planned 5 weeks. New Trailmax Mission on rear, Shinko 705 with 1k+ on front. Should be about 13-14k miles all in. Will report back, maybe upload mileage interval pics.

Definitely post some photos and stories in the Traveling Tales area, we'd love to ride along with you!

 

[bigjohnsd]

Leaving Western NY fully loaded for Coldfoot and a circle tour of Alaska before Cassiar to Okanagan, Couer d'Alene, Jackson, Flaming Gorge, Boulder and eventually Houston in planned 5 weeks. New Trailmax Mission on rear, Shinko 705 with 1k+ on front. Should be about 13-14k miles all in. Will report back, maybe upload mileage interval pics.

It will be interesting to see how the radial-ply Shinko 705 front tire works with the bias-ply Dunlop TMM rear tire.
I'm sure a lightning bolt will strike you before you've gone too far, LOL.

Enjoy the trip,

 

[Rick92040]

I just finished a 10,000 mile, 5 week ride from San Diego and all around the Yukon and Alaska and back. The Dunlop mission tires were outstanding. I could have done another 5k or more on them. The back still has about 7/32 on them. They did snow, rain, mud, dirt and gravel without complaint. The worst part of the trip is getting all the crud off my bike. It may take months.

 

[Krons]

It will be interesting to see how the radial-ply Shinko 705 front tire works with the bias-ply Dunlop TMM rear tire.
I'm sure a lightning bolt will strike you before you've gone too far, LOL.

Enjoy the trip,

Pretty sure you can get the Shinko 705 in both bias and radial. Agree the best is to keep them the same so the bike behaves well.

 

[dadamsinky]

Thanks for the radial/bias comments, I'm uninformed on this topic. The Shinko was an emergency put on mid Smokies tour due to an "operator error" front end alignment problem, and best of the in-stock 80/20 options I had in prepping for the Dalton. Despite parking lot 1st impression of comparatively tractor-ish slow speed and turn in handling and rumble, I quickly became very impressed with 705's traction and handling during several strafing runs on the Dragon. Eyebrow raising and confidence building. Not sure which version, but it's all but brand new and I like it. I considered swapping it for a matched Mission front, but only briefly after ChapMoto video durometer readings reported not so different from 705. Given that I'm buying tires again on return in 2 mo's anyway, I thought I'd give it a go when basically I think the Shinko can make the 15k total mileage requirement. I just got the bike back from dealer and haven't worn the mold release off the rear yet so can't speak to handling (mis-) behavior as yet, but we have an oil service reservation in Anchorage in 3 weeks. If any detectible issues I'll just swap it there, calling ahead to insure availability.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Pretty sure you can get the Shinko 705 in both bias and radial. Agree the best is to keep them the same so the bike behaves well.

The 705 does come in both bias and radial configurations but in the 120/70R19 size for the poster's 2021 R1250 GS ADV they only come in the Radial configuration.


Outside Diameter Width Max Load @ Tube Type List Price

Part # Size Speed/Load Rating Permitted
Rim Size

87-4524

120/70R19

H

60

3.50~3.75

26.26 in.

4.7 in.

42 psi

Tubeless

$149.95

There is a Bias-ply 110/80-19 which could work in a pinch, it is designed for a narrower rim, it has the same circumference but 50# less load rating, and it might be tough to get the bead to seat.

87-4527

110/80-19

Q

59

2.15~3.00

26.26 in.

4.29 in.

33 psi

Tubeless

$89.95

 

[dadamsinky]

But when all else fails, "open my eyes and/or read the directions". Just checked the tire. It's the former 120/70R19, and it says right on it in big bold capital letters RADIAL. nuff said on this diversionary topic, sorry for hijacking.

 

[Krons]

Thanks for clarifying @bigjohnsd .

While we are on the bias vs radial rabbit trail...

 

[Rick92040]

Some bikes come from the factory with a mix of bias and radial. The Motorcycle Tire Question: Radial, Bias or Both?

 

[bigjohnsd]

6,050 hard Yukon/BC/Alaskan chip seal miles on my tires - 8/32" front and, 9/32 rear tread remaining. When new front was 10/32 and rear was 13/32".

 

[billpyszka]

Just installed the Trailmax. Test ride tomorrow