First test drive

Good morning all. New member here so please be gentle. I currently own an 08 Suzuki Burgman 400 (21000 miles and no complaints at all) but have been thinking lately that I might enjoy more power and something different. I had a Honda Reflex in the past and my wife still has hers. Great scooters, over 45000 miles between the two and not one single problem. So anyway on this test drive this silverwing felt squirrely in the rear end. Like the rear tire was low but with just a visual inspection it looked fine and was a fairly new Michelin Pure Pilot Sport SC. The scoot had 18000 miles on it. Is this feeling normal? I never went over 35 mph. It's a great price, but should I move on? Thanks Tom

Good Morning Tom and welcome to the best SWing site on the net.

What year is the SWing? I have an 08 SWing and never had a problem with it. I ride Interstate speeds with it with no problems. Is this from a private party or a dealer? If it's a dealer I'd have them check it out first to make sure nothing serious is wrong with it. I would also actually check the tire pressure to make sure that's not the problem. The squirrely feeling is NOT normal.

Welcome to the forum Tom.

Squirrely is not normal. Could be low tire pressure. Could be a bad tire. Could be, but probably not, a loose rear wheel. If it does prove to be a loose wheel then the wheel splines may have been knackered and the wheel itself need replacing.

Please let us know if/when you pick up the Silverwing and, above all, please let us know the resolution of that squirrely handling. We all benefit form shared knowledge --that"s what makes this forum great.

Tim

Welcome aboard the board!  I'm jumping in the Dale 'n Tim boat ... squirrely not right.  

First, put it on the center stand.  Start with checking the tire pressure ... specs state 29 psi in the front, 33 - 36 psi in the rear depending on load.  

Next and while on the center stand with the weight off of the rear wheel, put your hand on the rear wheel and manually try to move it side to side to see if the tire moves or wobbles.  Perhaps with a new tire on the back, whoever put it on did not tighten it back up properly.

Finally and while it's still on the center stand, spin the rear wheel and watch for any obvious wobbles that would suggest a bent rim, shifted tire belt etc. You can do this manually and then start the scooter and use low RPM's while watching.

Also, give it a visual check to ensure the brake pads are not engaging and that the parking brake is not partially engaged either.

Close the loop and let us know how things went. ~ BugJr ~

"Like the rear tire was low but with just a visual inspection it looked fine"

I've found it's impossible to tell by a visual inspection whether my SW tires are low. But I sure can tell by how it handles, though. Of all the bikes I've owned, it's probably the most sensitive to low tire pressure.

The Swing was an 02 and yes I agree looks can be deceiving. It belongs to a private seller and I was short on time but will go back this weekend with an air gauge in hand and maybe a pump. I will let you guys know how it turns out. Thanks for the help. Tom

I've got to agree, air pressure is the likely culprit. Having said that any seller that will allow a test ride without checking the basics like that would worry me... what else hasn't been looked after? And what if you had taken it out of town and got up to travelling speeds? check it out real careful, it could be a bargain or a nightmare.

My take on SilverWing handling......after 2 new ones and 70,000 miles or so----can be a little funny in rear-----of course low tire pressure, then tire rear Michelin Power Pure SC not Honda approved...but have worked ok for me on SilverWing and Burgman 400.....Added heavy top box and not the best handling/feeling bike in the world.

Old bike check swing arm bearings and steering head bearings----And check tire pressure both ends to start with.

For a few weeks, I got lazy about checking my air pressure.  I just kicked the rear tire from behind and if it felt solid, I let the actual air pressure test go.  Well, yesterday, I did the kick test again and thought about it..... got my pressure tester out and whoa, 15 lbs.  My front tire had 22 lbs in it.

Back up to 35 lbs.  I didn't notice anything but I bet my tire got good and hot a few times going 70 miles an hour...  



Just saying.

One thing to remember with scooters is that their tires are smaller and hold less air. Pressure seems to drop faster in these smaller tires than it did in my motorcycles. I recommend checking your tire pressure religiously before riding ever time. I do. But I have TPMS so it's just a push of a button to check 'em. If they go below proper pressure by about three lbs the TPMS will alert me besides reading out the pressure. It's built into my bike but systems like this are available after market and well worth having.

I fitted some tyre pressure indicators to my SWing. They are sold by PunctureSafe on eBay in the UK and simply fit in the place of a valve cap. You buy a pair according to the pressures you need. Green means pressure is fine, yellow means low, and red means you're outta puff!

I had reservations about fitting them as I worry that if they failed, it means sudden deflation. The manufacturers assured me this can't happen, so I got some. Also, some rebalancing may be needed, but didn't notice any difference on mine.

Difficult to see the rear one sometimes and it often needs a wipe due to brake dust/road dirt, but still easier than trying to push a pressure gauge on.

Thanks fellows. You guy are spot on. Steve_h80 you would not believe what this old swing looks like. For starters it's been left outside in North Florida. Everything worked but that's because it's a Honda. I'll check out what you guys suggested before giving this guy any money but it's cheap, real cheap and I'm fair with a wrench. I'll let you know how it turns out. Tom

I'd imagine sitting out in the weather in FL would be similar to sitting out in summers here in Southern OR. Clear coat deterioration and corrosion would be my expectations in FL. If it's a running machine and a good price, why not? If it's not seriously rusted the rest can be repaired.

I used to buy older, neglected Goldwings and refurbish them. The only thing that would make for a losing proposition for me was if there was excessive corrosion in the frames. I didn't come across more than a couple I passed on there in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Needless to say a SW ought to be a simpler job to repair/restore than a GW. Especially all the parts are still available. Motogrid, Honda Online and Partszilla are places that have most all OEM parts that are still available. Helm Inc. is a good source of any Honda service manuals. They reprint them under license from Honda so you get an identical shop manual as Honda produced.

BTW - I'm running Power Pures on my BMW scooter and find them excellent performers especially in the twisties. Not bad in the rain either. Very good rubber depth on the rear one, should make it last longer than my OEM tires did.

Good luck and go for it!

Flyingpanman wrote:

I fitted some tyre pressure indicators to my SWing. They are sold by PunctureSafe on eBay in the UK and simply fit in the place of a valve cap. You buy a pair according to the pressures you need. Green means pressure is fine, yellow means low, and red means you're outta puff!

I had reservations about fitting them as I worry that if they failed, it means sudden deflation. The manufacturers assured me this can't happen, so I got some. Also, some rebalancing may be needed, but didn't notice any difference on mine.

Difficult to see the rear one sometimes and it often needs a wipe due to brake dust/road dirt, but still easier than trying to push a pressure gauge on.

I fitted a set of the same valve cap tyre pressure indicators a few years ago and the rear one failed. Luckily the scooter was parked up in my garage for a few days when it happened. The plastic parts of the valve cap just separated and came off and I found the clear top and the indicator stem on the garage floor.

I've no idea what caused it to blow off, only that I'd recently sprayed Muc-Off cleaner on the wheels the last time I washed the scooter. So I binned the the bits along with the matching front valve cap and went back to using the OE valve caps.

I remember posting about it at the time, either here or on the Muppets.

Meldrew wrote:

I fitted a set of the same valve cap tyre pressure indicators a few years ago and the rear one failed. Luckily the scooter was parked up in my garage for a few days when it happened. The plastic parts of the valve cap just separated and came off and I found the clear top and the indicator stem on the garage floor.

I've no idea what caused it to blow off

Hmm, a bit worrying but the plastic parts hold the pin of the valve open to read the pressure. If the plastic blows out, the valve pin should just seal automatically. If the plastic simply cracked, I suppose air would leak out slowly enough to stay safe. So was the tyre flat?

My rear valve has a 90 degree adapter and retainer thingie fitted. If that is a common fitting to the rear wheels on the Silver Wing, I wonder if it could've had something to do with your rear failure?

I've googled various sources and read that the pressure indicators are notoriously inaccurate. I've got four on two bikes and they're spot on with my calibrated gauge. I think I'll continue using them but just keep my eye on them (which you're supposed to do anyway - and I always carry a tyre inflator with my puncture kit.)