Touring Bike Wobble
- Thread starter Monsoon
- Start date
hoggy25
Active Member
Just to update. I boosted the front tire pressure to 38 1/2 lbs and the wobble went away but there's a little bounciness where the wobble was. Makes me think my problem is tire related or a slight balance problem. What I did was split the max pressure listed on tire vs the recommended pressure. I can live with this until I need a new tire.
Check and see fi your tire on front is covered by service flash
09 Front Tire Bulletin Revised - Harley Davidson Community
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CLASSICRYDER
Member
THE WOBBLE IS DEFINETLY REAL....I ACTUALLY LOST A FRIEND OCTOBER 25TH :newsmile077::newsmile077:TO THIS PROBLEM WITH THE TOURING BIKES. I PUT A PROGRESSIVE TOURING LINK ON MY BIKE AND IT'S MUCH MORE STABLE. FOR THE CHEAP COST OF IT I RATHER RIDE WITH IT THAN WITHOUT IT.....JUST MY $.02
Redman
Active Member
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ClassicRyder, truly sorry to hear of your loss and certainly have every reason to believe the loss was something mechanical. But accidents are complex and conditions both of the bike, environment and traffic among them, and of course the rider being a major part of a motorcycles' dynamic performance and maintenance is key in solo or two up conditions.
This is why they have whole teams of analysts pour over an airplane or train when tragedy happens. The statistics on most modes of transportation says there are 1,000's of satisfied users verses not, just as there are possible thousands of reasons for a motorcycle to develop a wobble, much less specifically that would cause an accident.
The classic one is tire condition as the tires not only help to induce wobble, but are like a shock absorber dampening it by virtue of the tread pattern and profile. Another is steering head bearing preload (no play), fall away, and chassis attitude and suspension setup. Again, a very tough call and certainly real enough to always check your ride for your specific cause and effect and get it fixed promptly.
This is why they have whole teams of analysts pour over an airplane or train when tragedy happens. The statistics on most modes of transportation says there are 1,000's of satisfied users verses not, just as there are possible thousands of reasons for a motorcycle to develop a wobble, much less specifically that would cause an accident.
The classic one is tire condition as the tires not only help to induce wobble, but are like a shock absorber dampening it by virtue of the tread pattern and profile. Another is steering head bearing preload (no play), fall away, and chassis attitude and suspension setup. Again, a very tough call and certainly real enough to always check your ride for your specific cause and effect and get it fixed promptly.
Delmar
Active Member
Classicryder you have my condolences on your loss.
To clarify my earlier posts I do believe the wobble is real. However I also feel the wobble could be caused by worn or misadjusted components. That is why some bikes experience wobble and some don’t. If it were a design issue all bikes would wobble.
Fitting a bagger brace may only mask the symptom, and not fix the actual problem. If the symptom is masked until the problem component eventually fails it could have catastrophic consequences.
To clarify my earlier posts I do believe the wobble is real. However I also feel the wobble could be caused by worn or misadjusted components. That is why some bikes experience wobble and some don’t. If it were a design issue all bikes would wobble.
Fitting a bagger brace may only mask the symptom, and not fix the actual problem. If the symptom is masked until the problem component eventually fails it could have catastrophic consequences.
Sorry for the loss of your friend. I experienced a high speed weave or wobble, not sure what the cause front or rear, and added a TWR stabilizer to my 05FLTRI. I have not had the problem since. Some have suggested that the problem is tire wear or mechnical in nature. I'm not so sure what the initial cause of my weave was, I do know that when HD applied for the original pat. on their touring bikes, Eric Buel wrote it and called for 3 stabilizing points. HD chose to go with 2 and hooked the rear up to the rear swingarm which is supported by elastic bushings. This give the motor/trans. room to move side to side in the frame, and this I believe is the start of the weave. The rest is rider input as in to tight a grip on the bars, strighting up while in a turn or improper braking technique.
this has been said a few times but what about when ya feel it on a new bike and nobody can find anything wrong with it ? i felt it on mine from new.. addign a brace fixed a good amount changing tires made it a lot better but remove the brace it comes back just not as bad