690 head shake

[Grumpleton]

hope fully some person can help, my bike has a head shake that comes in at certain speeds and this changes all the time , is there a setting with in the suspension that can tune out this shake , it get quite scary at times and its getting to the point that I dont like riding the bike , it just is not comfortable , I love the power of this thing but not the ride , what to do ,

2018 Enduro R Standard with no fancy stuff

[chicco]

what tire do you have in front? TKC?

[Blikkies1]

Had that on my 990, after spending lots of moola on a new front rim it turned out to be balancing of my rear wheel.

[Pietsjiet]

hope fully some person can help, my bike has a head shake that comes in at certain speeds and this changes all the time , is there a setting with in the suspension that can tune out this shake , it get quite scary at times and its getting to the point that I dont like riding the bike , it just is not comfortable , I love the power of this thing but not the ride , what to do ,

2018 Enduro R Standard with no fancy stuff

Hi.
Have you tried adjusting the steering head bearing preload ?
That is something we often overlook... Sorted my headshake out.
After that: try increasing static sag on rear suspension, by loosening
Spring preload.

[Riebeek]

First check your tyre pressure. I play around a bit wirh it and now the head shake is gone.

[Grumpleton]

what tire do you have in front? TKC?

MotoZ adventure.

[Grumpleton]

Ive tried different tyre pressures , different tyres, softened and hardened the rear pre load , played around with the compression and rebound and still the headshake, have not tried the wheel balancing , but the tyres were balanced on fitting ,and have not checked the toque on the steering head bearings , bike has 10K km on clock, compared to my 950 with 95K on the clock on tar and dirt, the 950 is the better bike, even my mates  AJP is better to ride than this thing ,  to be honest if I had know this bike would ride like this, I would never have spent the money on it.

[Buff]

It's your front tyre. Mine did exactly the same thing when I fitted tubeliss and a Dunlop D908. I couldn't go over 130km/h without a hectic headshake, it was seriously just plain bloody dangerous 
I tired everything suggested above without luck until the tire needed replacing. Then I fitted a Dunlop D606 and normal tube and problem solved, no more headshake. I can take it up to 170 now and it's rock solid, like it was when I bought it. So fit either Dunlop D606 or a Pirelli MT21 next time 

[Mr D]

I have gone from a 950 Adventure to the 690 Enduro and also experienced the death wobble, far from ideal.

Interesting that Buff recommends the Dunlop D606 as that is what I have on the front and back (bike arrived with a brand new front and rear) and head shake is very much a thing.

After doing some reading online I leveled the forks with the triple clamp, fitted a steering damper and have the suspension on comfort settings all round and thoroughly enjoying the bike however will still relook my front tyre choice soon.

@Buff mind sharing where you're at with your suspension settings?

[OFFROAD FANATICS]

hope fully some person can help, my bike has a head shake that comes in at certain speeds and this changes all the time , is there a setting with in the suspension that can tune out this shake , it get quite scary at times and its getting to the point that I dont like riding the bike , it just is not comfortable , I love the power of this thing but not the ride , what to do ,

2018 Enduro R Standard with no fancy stuff

I had the same problem....I check the sag which had to be 18mm but was only at 8mm. Guys at Rad said that the suspension must still settle in. Check the sag at 1000kms and it was still the same. Got the sag at 18mm and the bike was completely different. Pushed my forks all the way down in the clamps and the problem was completely gone.

[Buff]

In my instance it was easy to diagnose the problem because it only started when I changed my tyres so I could race the Tankwa Rally. I changed the tyres on the Thursday and on the 1st stage on the Friday I had guys passing me on 450's because I suddenly couldn't take the bike past 130 on the open flat stuff. Just how bad it was blew me away though. Everyone just says ride through it and it'll smooth out after 140-145 but it was literally impossible to do without falling my moer off, it was like riding a bucking bronco. I still rode it like this for a year before changing the tyres (D908's are bloody hard wearing). My clickers on the suspension are all stock (mid range) currently and I'm now running D606's front and rear without any shake at all. I'm running 1.5 bar front around 1.8 rear on tar, obviously softer in the dirt.

[Toors]

Head shake is caused by (having owned 2 x 690) - check and fix in this order:

1:  steering head - check tightness of nuts (plus lube)  and if bearings is worn - as you have a new bike bearings might be out of speck so still check - Also check that triple clamps are in the right position - remember that most bikes come in a box and some assembly is required.  The QC is not always what it should be;

2.  bike geometry, - caused by suspension - i.e. you weigh 120kg and bike springs is set up for 75kg rider - and then bike front is too light (sag issue) - you must change springs (This can not really be fixed by changing suspension setting).  Have somebody like Hilton Hayward (or many other) check your suspension  - It is worth every cent - this is the first thing I do with any bike.
                             - caused by bad design - 690 is an off-road based frame, going fast.  but putting in correct springs I have always been able to resolve this issue.
                             - caused by tyres - tyre sizes changes the geometry and again and can again cause an imbalance resulting in a headshake - I've always used MT21 with no issues, but they might be to aggressive for some.  Tyres are like bullets/girls some guns like certain bullets and not others and some guys like certain girls and some bikes like certain tyres;

3. rider induced - if at a certain speed, you hold on to tight on the grips, you pull the front wheel offline, the front wheel wobble, you pull/push (thinking you're correcting the issue but you're not) creating a counter steer which exasperates the head shake. This is resolved by riding more balanced and not riding so tight or with a good scotts steering damper (High speed damping) 

I know some people don't like dampers (Not a solution to 1 or 2 - fixed that first) but damper have saved my ass many times racing offroads at high speeds - hitting a rock at 140km is some scary sh1t.  Me I put a Scotts steering damper on all my bikes (that doesn't come fitted with a damper).

[Amsterdam]

My 690 had a very serious headshake from about 100 kph.  Every time when going over that speed.  I tried everything that is mentioned above, yes everything.  Nothing worked.  Then KTM took my rearshock to Martin Peatzold.  He put it on his shock dyno and found that the shock had no rebound damping at all.  Full in or full out gave the same zero damping result.  Strip, fix and service and after that it was the best handling 690 I ever rode.

[Dolf]

On the 701 almost from day one I noticed this (very slight shake) under certain conditions but only when accelerating hard from around 90 to 140. When using the quickshifter I found I gripped the handlebar too tight causing a shake. When the tank was close to empty also more prone to shaking so I measured the sag and it turns out I'm not heavy enough for the preload on the rear shock but when the fuel tank is full and I have all the gear on it is ok.

[Blikkies1]

Howzit grumpy, see you said that balancing was checked upon fitment, same here which lead me down a rabit-hole, turned out that KTM did a shitty job at the balancing when they fitted the new front rim and new tyres, dude at Trac-Mac was surprised how wrong KTM got it, it's cheap enough to have checked out, hope you get sorted chop-chop.

[Grumpleton]

Howzit grumpy, see you said that balancing was checked upon fitment, same here which lead me down a rabit-hole, turned out that KTM did a shitty job at the balancing when they fitted the new front rim and new tyres, dude at Trac-Mac was surprised how wrong KTM got it, it's cheap enough to have checked out, hope you get sorted chop-chop.

well if I dont get it sorted there is going to be a 690 with low km in the for sale section soon.

[Grumpleton]

spent some time out on the dirt today with a screwdriver and 15mm socket and I think I got the suspension set up ,,,,,,,,, would you know standard settings work great for me , no headshake up to 130km/h and comfortable on the dirt,

[2StrokeDan]

My 701 picks up a "weave" as soon as I go over 150, and this has once gotten quite bad.

But it does not bother me at all, it's not like near as bad as a 70's Kawa or even GT750.

Actually quite interesting to go into that zone every now and then to see how angry the wobble is on that day.

[Grumpleton]

My 701 picks up a "weave" as soon as I go over 150, and this has once gotten quite bad.

But it does not bother me at all, it's not like near as bad as a 70's Kawa or even GT750.

Actually quite interesting to go into that zone every now and then to see how angry the wobble is on that day.