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Vibrations smoothed out after break-in?

maxwellian

maxwellian

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So, got about 150 miles on my NC,

A little suprised how much engine vibration I get. Nothing too disconcerting, but substantially rougher than the I4 Yamaha Radian it replaced. I've read several folks' descriptions of the NC as the smoothest thing they'd ever ridden, and I imagine they aren't only comparing to V-twin hogs :)

I know the friction is reduced, compression improves, etc. through break in, but anything that would settle down vibes?

Thanks for any info, this forum was quite useful when I was researching the bike.
 
I must be missing something and have never had a new bike
change characteristics after break in.
FWIW except for the pulsing in 6th gear at 55 mph, my bike
was smooth new and still is at 8500 miles.
 
My 2 cents: keep the revs up like over 3500 if your putting a load on the motor. While it makes good torque down low it is not making significant hp...given displacement.

I find this twin to be much less buzzy than an I4 and smoother than other twins ive owned. Does get smoother and more powerful with 1000 miles.

Tom
 
Reading the comments above............is the bike getting "broke in" or is the rider getting "use to" the characteristics of their new bike...........and the experiences vary widely on past bike ownership.



What is that the magazine writers say if it is too smooth the bike has no character or soul:confused:
 
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Mine really hasn't been to bad from the beginning. I'm not to sure my sport bikes didn't vibrate a little more but I liked keeping the RPM's up there. Do you notice this vibration all the time? Does it happen at a specific RPM? Does it go away if you engage the clutch or let off the throttle? Without sitting on your bike and witnessing it first hand it is hard to know if what your describing is normal for this bike.
 
SergeantChuck said:
Mine really hasn't been to bad from the beginning. I'm not to sure my sport bikes didn't vibrate a little more but I liked keeping the RPM's up there. Do you notice this vibration all the time? Does it happen at a specific RPM? Does it go away if you engage the clutch or let off the throttle? Without sitting on your bike and witnessing it first hand it is hard to know if what your describing is normal for this bike.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not expecting a diagnosis over the internet, just wondering if anybody has had some vibes that settled down after break in.

Generally the the same relationship of rpm/load/throttle to vibrations as my old bike, just amplified, so nothing that seems like an acute problem.
 
maxwellian said:
Yeah, I'm not expecting a diagnosis over the internet, just wondering if anybody has had some vibes that settled down after break in.

Generally the the same relationship of rpm/load/throttle to vibrations as my old bike, just amplified, so nothing that seems like an acute problem.
Click to expand...

Not to mention "vibes" can be a *very* subjective thing. My NC is smooth as glass compared to my paint shaker BMW, my CBR125R which I had thought of as smooth as glass now feels buzzy compared to the NCX, and the NCX feels like a thumper compared to my '85 GSXR750, which felt high frequency tingly compared to my '84 VF750F Interceptor, which felt lower frequency smooth as glass compared to my '82 CX500Turbo which felt...

My buddies who have swapped rides and compared notes with, would attribute different characteristics to each of those bikes yet again, which conflicted with mine.

My NCX is just viby enough that I can feel a little bit of hand numbing after a while riding. My CBR125R, which as I said now feels "buzzy" in comparison, has never hinted at making my hands/wrists go numb. Go figure. Frequencies and high/low amplitudes etc., work in mysterious ways person to person.

The only thing that has distinctively changed from new on my 700, is that the weird 3,000 rpm in 6th gear harmonic thrumming effect has blessfully disappeared. Oh, and it sounds a bit looser and more engine rattly, lol.

ps and my gas mileage seemed to go up a fair bit from new :)
 
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maxwellian said:
So, got about 150 miles on my NC,

A little suprised how much engine vibration I get. Nothing too disconcerting, but substantially rougher than the I4 Yamaha Radian it replaced. I've read several folks' descriptions of the NC as the smoothest thing they'd ever ridden, and I imagine they aren't only comparing to V-twin hogs :)

I know the friction is reduced, compression improves, etc. through break in, but anything that would settle down vibes?

Thanks for any info, this forum was quite useful when I was researching the bike.
Click to expand...

I too have a Yamaha I4 as my other bike - FZ6 - and it IS smoother compared to the NC. At normal cruising speed ~55 - 60 on the NC and ~ 55 - 70 on the FZ6 I can't even tell the bike is running on the FZ. Definitely fell a little bit of vibes on the NC. Over 60 or so it smooths out. My NC seems to want to "lug" just a bit when in hilly terrain at 55. That may be the vibes you are experiencing. As someone else said around 2k mile the engine does seem to get broken in better. The type of fuel you use and tire pressure also could play a factor in the "lugging". I don't think you have anything to really worry about.
 
Mine had some vibration, but I did notice it went away after a couple hundred miles. If you ever thought the NC was bad, try driving my CB750K a couple hundred miles. Even with the flywheel balanced, it's pretty bad. It will leave your wrists totally numb after about 40 miles on the highway. Use to have the same effect on my butt, until I had the seat redone and added memory foam underneath the old foam.


You gotta remember too, the NC is essentially a V-Twin, only it's not a V-Twin. Same vibrations apply, only honda put a counter balance shaft on it and did what they could to smooth out a parallel twin. It's really not that bad, compared to other bikes.
 
it's a parallel twin with a 270 degree firing order. so it's behaving like a v-twin. It will vibrate a bit more at low RPM, especially when it's new and the tolerance is still very tight. Do run it thru all RPM range in all gears and it will loosen things up. The vibration tend to be more noticeable below 3000 RPM in 6th gear. try gradual acceleration in that range. over time (the consensus is 2000 miles), it will smooth out.
 
If you're concerned about the vibrations you feel at speed, don't put it in neutral and let out the clutch while coasting to a stop. I do this about every morning while the bike is in fast idle and it sounds and feels as though there are a bunch of ball bearing rolling and shooting around in the crankcase and no, it doesn't go away after warm up. Vibrations smooth out for me at 46 mph, 57 mph, & 64 mpg in 6th. Needless to say, I bought the extended warranty, especially being a first year bike.
 
welld.geo said:
If you're concerned about the vibrations you feel at speed, don't put it in neutral and let out the clutch while coasting to a stop. I do this about every morning while the bike is in fast idle and it sounds and feels as though there are a bunch of ball bearing rolling and shooting around in the crankcase and no, it doesn't go away after warm up. Vibrations smooth out for me at 46 mph, 57 mph, & 64 mpg in 6th. Needless to say, I bought the extended warranty, especially being a first year bike.
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like you are referring to clutch basket noise, and it is normal when the bike is idling in neutral with the clutch lever at rest. If you pull the lever in, and the noise goes away it's normal.
 
It's exactly as you described, thanks for the good news. My other Honda's don't have this issue so I have been quite concerned.
 
Well, it seems to be smoothing out already after 400 miles.

I don't think I've coasted in neutral, but coasting in gear is perfectly smooth. My old bike had a loose spot it the chain, so it would slap around around when you coasted. I don't miss that.
 
I didn't think my BMW G650gs was buzzy until I traded it in on the NC700. The nc700 is smooth as glass compared to the bmw paint shaker, and is much smoother than my Suzuki C50 (800c v-twin).
 
davidc83 said:
I didn't think my BMW G650gs was buzzy until I traded it in on the NC700. The nc700 is smooth as glass compared to the bmw paint shaker, and is much smoother than my Suzuki C50 (800c v-twin).
Click to expand...

It's all relative. After a 500+ mile ride on the Goldwing 1800 flat 6, when getting back on the NC, the NC seems pretty rough.

Greg
 
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