Hi everyone. My 2013 Heritage Softail Custom has a nasty vibration after about 45 min of riding at highway speeds. It seems to get worse as time goes by and puts your hands and feet to sleep unless you pull over and let them regain feeling. Anyone else see or hear of this type of problem? My riding buddy says he can actually hear it when I start pulling up a hill.
Softail Vibration.
- Thread starter Grumpa
- Start date
I have it at my dealer right now looking at it. They have already looked at it once and said it was OKAY, but I told them to have a better look and actually ride it on the highway this time and for more than 5 minutes. I had heard that STC's have more vibration than most, but this is terrible. Thanks for the input and I hope they find and repair the problem this time.
ILLADELPHFATBOY
Member
Pardon me for asking what might be a "dumb" question, but are we specifically talking engine vibration, or vibration from wheels/tires,etc? If you are talking about engine vibration, I'm curious to know how the engine runs in other situations like idle, stop and go, etc.
Sorry, I guess I should be more specific. The vibration seems to start up when in 5th or 6th gear, and more pronounced in 6th when under load. My gut feeling based on about 40 years of pulling wrenches on commercial vehicles is bad tranny bearings, but I have heard of so many different causes of vibration issues on these bikes that I didn't want to pigeon hole the problem just to the tranny. At about 110 to 130 kms it really gets bad, and if I roll back on the throttle it quiets down a bit and as soon as I cracks the throttle again it comes right back. At idle and lower speeds and gears, it seems fine, just the normal rumble of a twin. I wanted to throw it out there to see what the rest of the masses had experienced if anything.
dolt
Well-Known Member
Could be the balancer sprocket on the crank has slipped. The sprockets are not welded but pressed on with an interference fit. It is a know problem but not a common one. You would have to split the cases to find out if that is the issue. The fix is tack welding the sprocket to the crank.
Could be tranny bearings but you should be able to diagnose that with clutch. Does the vibration go away when the clutch is disengaged? Tranny bearings going bad usually make some noise as well.
Could be tranny bearings but you should be able to diagnose that with clutch. Does the vibration go away when the clutch is disengaged? Tranny bearings going bad usually make some noise as well.
Thanks for the input Dolt. Just heard back from my dealer today and they think vibration is normal, but are going to ride it for a longer period to see if they can find the vibration I am experiencing. The vibration does quit when the clutch is pulled in and the noise can be heard when riding. Got my fingers and toes crossed that they find the vibration this time.
dolt
Well-Known Member
Could also be the inner primary bearing going bad; not uncommon.
All the suggestions are great and I hope the dealer is checking all the possible things that can cause your problem. If the dealer has a demo 2013 on the floor take a ride, and if the ride is different from yours have the dealer take a ride to see if they feel the difference. If they still don't think you have a problem it might be time to get the MOCO involved.