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Issue with my 2015 RT oscillating side to side in slow turns

E

ehc0720

New member
Well, the first 2015 RT back in Apr 2015 it oscillated or weaved back and forth so badly the dealer took it back and gave me a new one after they test road it and tried a few fixes with no luck.
The second one did this oscillating also (none of the test bikes did this) but not as bad as the first and the rear shock leaked. After several attempts by the dealer to fix the wallowing the dealer called BMW and they asked about the leaking shock, which was already on order, and they said it was causing the wallowing. The shock was replaced about 4 wks later and seemed to fix the straight line wallowing, it still does it in slow low rpms(<3500) in turns. This is very unnerving in the mountains or long slow sweepers, it feels like the bike is about to lay down.

I sure would like to get it fixed, maybe I need to try a different dealer. Anyone out there have any suggestions? I hate the idea of shopping for another bike and losing my ass on this one. I've added a Werks windshield, Illium bar backs, Suburban lowering pegs and want an LDR seat but unless I can get this issue resolved I don't want to spend more money on it. I've owned 2 other R bikes in the past and never felt this, could it be a surging issue at low rpms?
 
It's odd, if I were in a car I would say it's out of round or defective tires. Did the dealership try and switch the tires with one of the demos that was not having this problem?
 
How many miles on the bike?
Are you still on the original tires?
Does it only happen at slower speeds?
Did the dealer check the front ball joints?
 
146023 said:
Ball joints ????
Click to expand...

The front suspension has a upper and lower ball joint, unless the RT went back to regular forks.
I had the ball joints replaced on my 03 K1200RS when the bike was fairly new and both me and my wife had the ball joints replaced on our 2011 K1300S bikes.

Edit: I just looked at the parts fiche on the RTW and did not see ball joints on the front suspension.
 
Last edited:
Only 2800 mi on it now, I've had it for about 7 mo but I've been out of town half of that plus I have a VFR. They did a tire change on the first one, not on this one but tried different tire pressures. I'm thinking it is some kind of surging or fuel delivery issue. It is only at low rpms, I don't feel very confident in turns. I've had a few people on different forums say they had the same thing, one traded it off.
 
I have a couple of different comments. First and formost you need to try to determine if the perceived instability is coming from the front end of the motorcycle, or if the instability is coming from some type of looseness in the rear of the motorcycle; or if it is being caused by uneven or erratic push coming from the engine.

At the front I would check the telelever bottom yount for looseness, and check that the cross pivot that goes from side to side through the engine is properly snug and torqued. Then wheel bearings.

At the rear check both the swing arm pivots and paralever pivots to make sure they are snug with no side-to-side play.

Then to the engine - what does the tach show when you feel the instability??? What do you hear???
 
Good point about engine. Have you tried disingaging the engine when your wobble begins via the clutch?
 
PGlaves said:
I have a couple of different comments. First and formost you need to try to determine if the perceived instability is coming from the front end of the motorcycle, or if the instability is coming from some type of looseness in the rear of the motorcycle; or if it is being caused by uneven or erratic push coming from the engine.

At the front I would check the telelever bottom yount for looseness, and check that the cross pivot that goes from side to side through the engine is properly snug and torqued. Then wheel bearings.

At the rear check both the swing arm pivots and paralever pivots to make sure they are snug with no side-to-side play.

Then to the engine - what does the tach show when you feel the instability??? What do you hear???
Click to expand...

Good questions,

I can't really say for sure if it is from the front or back, kinda feels like the rear tire is low but it's not. I mounted a gopro on my illium bar risers and it clearly shows the wallowing side to side which is helped me to get the dealer ship to replace the leaking rear shock.

I'll check the telelever mounts, and the cross pivot. I checked and so did the dealer check the wheel bearings.
when this wallowing starts I can speed up a little (get up over 3500rpms) and it goes away, I also feel it under braking.
 
froggy said:
Good point about engine. Have you tried disingaging the engine when your wobble begins via the clutch?
Click to expand...

Good point I'll try it this weekend. Usually when it happens I speed up real quick to stop it. I'll also try bumping the suspension up from normal/road to see if it changes anything.
 
ehc0720 said:
when this wallowing starts I can speed up a little (get up over 3500rpms) and it goes away, I also feel it under braking.
Click to expand...

Are you saying it can happen at different speeds, but the RPM is always at 3500 when you feel the weave?
 
Lee said:
Are you saying it can happen at different speeds, but the RPM is always at 3500 when you feel the weave?
Click to expand...

Yes, only happens below 3000-3500rpms and the gear doesn't make any difference either, however it is felt mostly in 3rd gear below 3200rpms. This is why when it happens I usually speed up to straighten it out.
 
Unbolt the stearing damper.. low speed movements can hit the damping due to the range on movement... Cheers

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk
 
Lee said:
Edit: I just looked at the parts fiche on the RTW and did not see ball joints on the front suspension.
Click to expand...

The fiche on the Max BMW web site for the RTW shows an angular contact ball bearing on the bottom of the handlebar assembly (fiche 32_2292, item 9). The lower ball joint appears to be part of the lower fork cross brace (fiche 31_1039), but is not shown as a separate replaceable item. Earlier models show replaceable upper and lower ball joints.
 
kthutchinson said:
The lower ball joint appears to be part of the lower fork cross brace (fiche 31_1039), but is not shown as a separate replaceable item. .
Click to expand...

I saw that cross brace and it looked like it had a ball joint attached but figured I was wrong since it didn't show it as a separate part.
 
ehc0720 said:
Well, the first 2015 RT back in Apr 2015 it oscillated or weaved back and forth so badly the dealer took it back and gave me a new one after they test road it and tried a few fixes with no luck.
The second one did this oscillating also (none of the test bikes did this) but not as bad as the first and the rear shock leaked. After several attempts by the dealer to fix the wallowing the dealer called BMW and they asked about the leaking shock, which was already on order, and they said it was causing the wallowing. The shock was replaced about 4 wks later and seemed to fix the straight line wallowing, it still does it in slow low rpms(<3500) in turns. This is very unnerving in the mountains or long slow sweepers, it feels like the bike is about to lay down.

I sure would like to get it fixed, maybe I need to try a different dealer. Anyone out there have any suggestions? I hate the idea of shopping for another bike and losing my ass on this one. I've added a Werks windshield, Illium bar backs, Suburban lowering pegs and want an LDR seat but unless I can get this issue resolved I don't want to spend more money on it. I've owned 2 other R bikes in the past and never felt this, could it be a surging issue at low rpms?
Click to expand...

Read the article on page 16 of the Feb. edition of BMW OWNERS NEWS . It's in the" RIDER TO RIDER" section (Letters to the editor). The name of the segment is "Steering Explained" which I found very interesting. This may or may not have anything to do with the problem but it's a good read anyway.
 
EXCURSION said:
Read the article on page 16 of the Feb. edition of BMW OWNERS NEWS . It's in the" RIDER TO RIDER" section (Letters to the editor). The name of the segment is "Steering Explained" which I found very interesting. This may or may not have anything to do with the problem but it's a good read anyway.
Click to expand...

I'd love to read this article, the last Owner News mag I got was for Jan. When did you get the Feb issue or are you referring to Feb '15 not '16? Is it on line too?

I just called MOA and was told the Feb issue would be in the mail around Feb 15,2016?!?!?
 
Last edited:
ehc0720 said:
I'd love to read this article, the last Owner News mag I got was for Jan. When did you get the Feb issue or are you referring to Feb '15 not '16? Is it on line too?

I just called MOA and was told the Feb issue would be in the mail around Feb 15,2016?!?!?
Click to expand...

Who at the MOA said that. I have mine right in front of me. It seems that we now ought to be sure to get a name when we call the MOA. If in fact somebody said that I hope it was a car guy who wandered by and grabbed a ringing phone.
 
Funny, I got mine in the mail today. This morning I called the MOA membership line and the lady who answered said I would get it around Feb 15, oh well.

Anyway I read the article on slow speed turns and this is kinda feels what I'm writing about. But, it happens to me between 2800 and 3500 rpms in 1-4th gear in a turn not at 18-22mph. I've felt it over 30mph and the article said it would be before 22mph. Like I've said I've had/ridden several BMW's and never felt what I feel with this bike. Unless this wallowing occurs higher than the authors range of 18-20mph I think I have a different issue. I will go to a parking lot and try the 10, 15, 20... mph turns and see where my bike hits that transition speed. I'll try to watch rpm and mph while doing this.

Thanks for pointing me to the article though.
 
Well it is about 80deg out here today so I went and did some testing. I can definitely feel the transition from track to counter steer between 18-20mph and that is not what my "wallowing" is from. I can feel it the most around 3000rpms, at about 27pmh/3000rpms in 2nd gear, and then at about 33mph/3000rpms in 3rd gear. So the hunt continues!!!
 
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