[Raj V]

Hello all,

I am enjoying my B5 a lot. But, it has a sweet spot of 50MPH. Above 55mph, the vibration is just too much. Is this normal? I expected to cruise at 60mph smoothly. My bike has 2K miles on it. Thanks.

[Royalista]

Not normal.
Check bolts of frame and engine.
You should not have much vibration until reaching 75 mph and even then it is not so excessive as to be uncomfortable.
If problem persists contact dealer.

[Ducati Scotty]

It may continue to change character.  My bike didn't really settle in until about 3,500 miles.  Now I can ride pretty much any speed I want without too much vibration.

I did get a lot less vibration when I got the Emgo reverse cone muffler.  Also, ProGrip gel grips are great on any bike.

Scott

[mattsz]

Raj V - I've got a 2011 B5 with just over 4000 miles.  At first, it was a rough ride, but I expected that during break-in.  It's settled in quite nicely now.  I could cruise in 5th gear at 60 mph all day long - my sore butt would stop me hours before vibrations would!  Now, 65 is another matter...

How many miles do you have on your bike?

[ChrisS]

Check the frame and engine bolts as Royalista said and check that the head steady bracket between the engine head and the frame towards the rear of the gas tank is not snapped, and, if not snapped then tight.

Good luck,
Chris S

[JVS]

Hello all,

I am enjoying my B5 a lot. But, it has a sweet spot of 50MPH. Above 55mph, the vibration is just too much. Is this normal? I expected to cruise at 60mph smoothly. My bike has 2K miles on it. Thanks.

I agree with Royalista. With a 500 single, you should be expecting 'some' vibrations, yeah? But if the vibrations are too much, i.e. you think the bike is going to explode or something, then you really need to go over the bolts etc. It is hard to judge because we are not sure how much vibration you're getting.

Plus, try to stay around the 55-60mph mark. That is where these bikes run best. Anything over that is just overkill for a stock Bullet (unless you're trying to overtake  ), even though it can withstand higher speeds.

[ROVERMAN]

I have just shy of 300 mi on my B5 until rain stopped play. At first anything over 50 was harsh. As the miles have increased it is steadily smoothing out. For full disclosure: I came from an Iron Barrel with an unbaffled Goldstar exhaust, and my B5 has had an EFI pipe from day one so my expectations are probably different than Raj V. +1 to all the advise from others, from what i have seen the fuel tank install is critical.
Roverman.

[ADB]

If the vibrations dont improve, an easy/cheap fix i found was getting slightly heavier bar-end weights...that really help the vibes for me. Didn't necessarily stop the vibrations, but changed the frequency and made a world of difference for me.

[ADB]

http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,15066.0.html

[barenekd]

My G5 took probably 1000 miles before the vibrations became an afterthought. Gearing up to an 18T sprocket also move the vibes up the speed range. But after the bike was thoroughly broken the vibes were quite comfortable everywhere up to top speed. It never put my hands to sleep as opposed to other motorcycles I've owned. I once saw 92 on the speedo, still no excessive vibes.
Bare

[no bs]

Hello all,

I am enjoying my B5 a lot. But, it has a sweet spot of 50MPH. Above 55mph, the vibration is just too much. Is this normal? I expected to cruise at 60mph smoothly. My bike has 2K miles on it. Thanks.

after riding my 2011 g5 home from san fransisco to dixon with my better half following(approx. 75 miles), my first words to her were "women will love these!"

[hillntx]

As others have said check all your fasteners.  Mine developed a weird vibration and hum when the tank bolts started to loosen.  I retorqued and problem solved.  After 2000 miles something probably loosened.

[mattsz]

How many miles do you have on your bike?

Read the original post, Matt, you dip$hit...

[busmec]

I have over 8000 miles on my 2011 B5. I get a vibration around 20 mph then smooths out. I cruse between 50 to 60 mph with very little vibration. It's when I go above 63 mph when I pick up some major vibration. I ride on two lane highways or country semi-paved roads , so I very rarely go above 60mph. Also if your engine is noisy, which mine was, my engine quieted down around 6800 miles.
   Dan

[shamelin]

As others have said check all your fasteners.  Mine developed a weird vibration and hum when the tank bolts started to loosen.  I retorqued and problem solved.  After 2000 miles something probably loosened.

+1.  I've only had unpleasant vibration when the rear tank bolt or the exhaust header bolts start coming loose.  I'd check those first.  2011 B5 with 10K miles, and I can hit 70+mph without issue.