Headlight bounce on 2006 +

I did a search and couldn't find any other topics in regards to this.

With my work schedule, I'm riding at night quite often. On my 07 it seems that I have a lot of headlight bounce. At least more than any other bike I have owned. I have adjusted the suspension which hasn't changed this "bounce" . Since owning it I was pretty much ignoring it (or getting use to it) until I recently raised the lights up some more and it seems to have gotten worse. Now, I'm still not sure if it's loose lights, suspension, front end or if it's just normal. Has anyone experience this? Is this a normal thing for the FJR? Has anyone fix this before, if so what?

Thanks in advance!!

I certainly don't recall ever feeling like the lights on my 06 'bounce'...

I'd start poking around to see if there's anything loose in the front end (plastic-wise). While I've never had the headlight assembly off, others have.

Maybe they can chime in with more specifics to check.

But to answer your question, no that isn't normal.

I did have a problem of a bouncy light on my Gen I this Spring....and even had my adjusters maxed out. I found this nut to be so loose....it fell off in the parking lot. :blink:



See this blog for more info.

Ignacio said:

I did have a problem of a bouncy light on my Gen I this Spring....and even had my adjusters maxed out. I found this nut to be so loose....it fell off in the parking lot. :blink:

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Thanks for all the advice.

I went out and checked the fairing, bulbs and bolt (as much as I could without actually pulling it a part). Everything feels tight and or snug without excessive movement. With that said, maybe it's the suspension that's off or the stearing stem bolt is not torque correctly. The suspension was already adjusted as it was recommended in the "bin of facts". However I have not yet checked the torque on the handlebars ( I just hope I have a socket big enough to fit on bolt!!)

If it's not the handlebars being loose, which suspension adjustment would help to eliminate this bounce?

Chris,

When the headlights bounce do they bounce with the bike? If you hit a bump that causes the front of the bike to rise does the headlight go with it? Or does the headlight bounce as the bike stays level? If the steering head bearing is loose enough to cause this problem then the bike will demonstrate some scary behavior in corners - ie head shake.

v65 said:

Chris,When the headlights bounce do they bounce with the bike? If you hit a bump that causes the front of the bike to rise does the headlight go with it? Or does the headlight bounce as the bike stays level? If the steering head bearing is loose enough to cause this problem then the bike will demonstrate some scary behavior in corners - ie head shake.

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V65,

It seems to move with the suspension, which leads me to believe a suspension issue. I have corner enough to drag the pegs without noticing any weird behavior. If it's the suspension, I'm at a lost as to what to adjust and or replace, mainly because the bike seems to ride and handle the bumps just fine. I'm aware that there should be some bounce with headlights due to the suspension, but in all the bikes I have ever owned I have never seen this much before. However I will admit that I have never owned a Yamaha until now, so this is why at first I thought that this "bounce" may of just been a trait of the model.

CHRIS_D said:

It seems to move with the suspensionmainly because the bike seems to ride and handle the bumps just fine.

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Too bad really, would have been much easier to diagnose of it was broke. If it's an '07 you could go the dealer route ...

I cranked up the preload, as well as the other 2 adjustments in the front, making the suspension much harder than stock (to avoid dragging the pegs), and bike feels great. Unfortunately, the suspension soaks less road irregularities (always a trade-off), making the fairing and the rest of bike move up and down more than with stock suspension settings. As long as you don't feel slop on your headlights (try to move them with your hands), it's perfectly normal man. I have always seen the lights 'bounce' with bike's movement in all my sporty bikes, but it doesn't bother me at all, and I hardly ride at night anyway. If you want to isolate your bike from the road more, you'd need a monster touring bike like the Goldwing, but I don't remember having any fun when I had my GL1800; it was just like a car in 2 wheels. As a passtime, watch bikes' headlight(s) next time you drive/ride at night, and most will look to be bouncing. Take care.

JC

Has the spring holding the bulb come loose?

jim

Jim,

Thanks for the reply, yes the bulbs seem to be secure.

To be honest I think it's just me being anal and or having my head up my a#$ :confusedsmiley: . My first problem is it that I originally thought the headlights where set to their maximum "up" limit. This so called max up setting caused the headlights to place a nice defining line of light on the road, so this caused me to noticed every bounce (or suspension movement) of the headlights. In other words, the headlights where set too damn low, not high!!! Then I realized that I did in deed had more height adjustment (I didn't play with it enough). I went ahead and moved the headlights up some more which caused the defining headlight line to be less define or dissipate. Now I know the bounce is still there, but I believe it's just normal suspension movement.

To sum it up, I think my bike headlights where originally set way to low causing this "defining line", thus making me see a headlight bounce when in fact it's just (hopefully) normal suspension movement.