V9 Bobber first ride impressions & questions

[faffi]

Are we talking about shock or fork springs?

Shocks. Fork OTOH is plenty stiff and oil is too thick for my taste, giving a harsher ride than needed.

[Zimmermichaels1ea]

What static sag do you have with the bike alone, as well as with you sitting normally? Because they feel stiff, I agree, but that due to them bottoming out. At least on mine. I am 190 lb net and carry 20 lb of riding gear. Same case with my son's V7 from 2010 - rear felt harsh, we upped the preload and it became much smoothere and comfortable. He is around my weight.

Well, I weigh 280 in all my riding gear.  I have the preload dialed all the way up, which seems to help a bit.
I'm really putting my hopes into better shocks and better tires.  Todd at GTM cycles recommends Dunlop Mutant radials, which I think I'll order this week.

[bad Chad]

I’m 240lb and found the stocks to be punishing over bumps, directing the energy through the chassis and into my spine!

I put on a set of Ikon shocks, off the shelf but made to run on the v9 and found the to be much much better.  No more grunting on bad roads.  I don’t know what sag I have set, they work fine for me out of the box so I haven’t felt the need to look into it.

[faffi]

I’m 240lb and found the stocks to be punishing over bumps, directing the energy through the chassis and into my spine!

As did I before I upped the preload - the shocks were bottoming constantly with stock preload. With you being 50 lb heavier, it must have been bone-jarring.

[Dirk_S]

It was noted earlier the counterintuitive notion that the V9 handles well despite having big bobber tires. Conversely, considering the V9 has a fairly steep rake at 26°, shorter trail than typical cruisers (117mm/4.61 in.), and the stock balloon tires have diameters that are at least as big if not a hair more than the V7’s stock tires, on top of the weight of the wheels, less gas up top, and lower seating of the V9 all bringing the weight of the bike closer to the ground, it makes sense why the V9 is perceived as cornering pretty well. Even the unsprung weight of the wheels coupled with the steering geometry of a standard feels to me like the bike’s front WANTS to move easily, as the farther the steering gets from the rider’s hands, the heavier the front gets, thus the front has a bias wanting to fall more into turns. That’s at least what I’m sensing with my position on the bike having changed to a sporty stance with clip-ons up front.

[Bulldog9]

Just catching up with this thread.

A couple of thoughts.
1. The OEM tires are notorious for bed manners and if they are older you may need to change them out.
2. Figure out the proper tire pressures and preload settings for your rear shocks. Have you set the sag properly? Setup makes a ton of difference and getting your bike sorted for you and your writing styles make a big difference.
3. As far as positioning the saddle. In my experience, moving back in a way from the handlebars and closer or more over the rear axle promotes and increases high speed weave. If that gets out of control, you can end up with the tank slapper and become history especially if you going too fast. Perhaps I haven't had enough coffee yet, but I seem to remember the best way to get rid of a tank slapper or that kind of weave is to lean forward and loosen your grip on the handlebars. So sitting farther back makes no sense to me.

Two main causes for the kind of weave you describe for me are too much weight in my saddlebags or top case, too little rear preload, and bad tires or tire  pressure.

[bad Chad]

Maybe that was part of my problem.

[Dirk_S]

Just catching up with this thread.

3. As far as positioning the saddle. In my experience, moving back in a way from the handlebars and closer or more over the rear axle promotes and increases high speed weave. If that gets out of control, you can end up with the tank slapper and become history especially if you going too fast. Perhaps I haven't had enough coffee yet, but I seem to remember the best way to get rid of a tank slapper or that kind of weave is to lean forward and loosen your grip on the handlebars. So sitting farther back makes no sense to me.

I agree with the seating… to a point. I’ve been playing with this, because my V7 III will do a bit of a lateral metronome swing since I began experiencing my front suspension issues with the enduro forks and 21” wheel. One thing I noticed about moving forward is that it forces your elbows up. Noticing that, and keeping in mind that veteran off-road riders always say “keep the elbows up”, I started experimenting—at high speed, if my V7 III begins to do the left-right rock, I lift my elbows, and the rocking usually subsides. Even without moving my weight forward, the rocking subsides. I’m not gripping the handlebar more; in fact, I make sure to keep the grip somewhat loose, but I’m changing the force direction that I put on the ends of the handlebar. I think when the elbows are down, our hands can often pull the ends of the handlebar without our noticing it. This extra pulling force on opposite ends can fairly easily get out of balance once we ride over a bump, uneven surface, etc., which can then lead to an escalating oscillation between the otherwise consistent pull or push on each end. Whereas keeping the elbows up, we’re getting rid of that tendency to hang weight on the ends. So, while I personally found some stabilization on my V9 at speed by moving my weight back to where it’s supposed to me, I did so making sure those elbows were up (and yes, I have also gotten rid of these lateral swings by moving myself forward as well, but noting the elbow placement).

Note that I have also been able to get rid of this pendulum rocking by simply avoiding a straight line and dipping to the left a little, then to the right. But clearly that’s not a permanent fix.

[Zimmermichaels1ea]

Okay, bumping an older thread to give a promised update on the V9 and my issue with it "wiggling" on the back tire a bit at speed.

Well, I purchased new Michelin Commander III Touring tires in the correct load range for the relatively light-weight V9 Bobber, and they have made a HUGE difference!!
The rear tire does not wiggle under me as I ride along smooth pavement (I had trouble detecting the wiggle on crappy road surfaces  ).
The Michelin's make the bike feel very planted on the road even at 80+ MPH on the Interstate.  They don't seem affected by grooved concrete, which is a great, and they corner like the bike is on rails.
So, I think I'm at least 75% there in sorting out handling on the V9.
I say that because riding on a really smooth, freshly paved asphalt road in my town, the ride was very "bouncy" (up and down) and I think that may be because I have the pre-load on the shocks cranked all the way down, probably way too much pre-load.
I guess if the "bouncy" ride continues even after experimenting with rear shock pre-load, the my next move is to purchase better rear shocks set for my weight with adjustable pre-load AND rebound.

That's my story so far!