front end shake

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FJRay

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Some of you that were at CFR or Spearfish might recall I was fighting front end problems with my Wing. Put a new tire on in Canada but no joy. Tore it down at Big Johns house and bearings both wheel and steering felt good and the rotors had less than .005 run out so I put it back together and rode it home. At home I replaced steering head bearings ( a real pain in the ass on a wing) along with wheel bearings just for grins. Seemed to be fixed until we rode it two up and it still has a low speed wobble 20-30 mph but only turning left. Turning right I don't feel it. I torqued the steering head to 22 ft lbs which is supposed to be the sweet spot for a wing. wheel balance is spot on and wouldn't be a factor at low speed. Rear tire is darkside and looks fine Any wild ass guess would be appreciated.

 
Any suspension issues? (Forks both in good shape with no slop?) Are you using a fork brace - I was told by a 'Wing owner that it made a difference - no personal experience. Other than that, there is always the possibility of TWO bad tires in a row...

Good luck.

 
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  1. My first thought would be to replace the dark side tire with a moto tire. Cheap enough and easy too. Having ridden Brodies DS FJR, I can tell the car tire pushes the front much more than a moto tire.

Triple tree bolts properly sequentially and final torqued?
Swing arm pivot points?
Did this come on all at once or gradually?
 
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  1. My first thought would be to replace the dark side tire with a moto tire. Cheap enough and easy too. Having ridden Brodies DS FJR, I can tell the car tire pushes the front much more than a moto tire.
  2. Triple tree bolts properly sequentially and final torqued?
  3. Swing arm pivot points?
  4. Did this come on all at once or gradually?
Thought about the tire but it's been on the bike for 12k with no issues. I did new fork innards when I got the bike and all was well.and all torqued to spec."Three squeaks past tight". Haven't looked at the rear suspension but don't suspect it . The Problem started halfway through the second day on the way to Nakusp after I cleared customs.

 
more spring rate in the rear
Not a bad thought but I already have a 1200 lb spring and this happened in a short amount of time. It wasn't there when I cleared customs but was there when we got to Nakusp. I think it's Barb's fault
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What year is your Wing? I have heard that the early year perimeter frame had cracking issues. Wouldnt hurt to give it a once-over to rule out that possibility. At least what is visible or accessible. Something like that would fit a sudden onset situation.

Brodie

🙂

 
What year is your Wing? I have heard that the early year perimeter frame had cracking issues. Wouldnt hurt to give it a once-over to rule out that possibility. At least what is visible or accessible. Something like that would fit a sudden onset situation.
Brodie
This is an 06 and the frame issues were theoretically solved by 04. I checked all the trouble spots when I got the bike with 19k on it and now it has 35k. I checked my stash and have an old but serviceable rear tire so I think I'll mount it up and recheck the frame while it's apart. Thanks

 
Not sure if this applies to a wing, but when you retorked the front axle, did you tighten the shaft then the pinch bolts or tighten the pinch bolt first?

That could throw it off when turning one way and not the other way.

 
Any chance you bent the rim slightly? Had a similar issue, bent near the hub, not on the outside of the rim.
Bent wheel would show up under all conditions. this is only on slower left turns

Not sure if this applies to a wing, but when you retorked the front axle, did you tighten the shaft then the pinch bolts or tighten the pinch bolt first?That could throw it off when turning one way and not the other way.
Double checked that and on a wing it will cause some brake issues.

Rechecked frame and all is well so I mounted up a Dunlop E3 takeoff and went for a ride.

The White Whale is a Happy camper again. I'm going to see if Discount tire will Honor the warranty and if not I'm going to do an autopsy with a sawsall and see what I can find.

Avon has a m/c tire rated at 992 lbs vs the standard 827 lb standard wing tire. I think I'll give it a shot. The car tire was rated at 1201 lbs at 51 psi so the 30 psi that I ran in it probably wasn't more than the available Avon.

Thanks for the help.

 
  1. My first thought would be to replace the dark side tire with a moto tire. Cheap enough and easy too. Having ridden Brodies DS FJR, I can tell the car tire pushes the front much more than a moto tire.
Dayuuuum! What a fart smeller I are! :whistle:

 
  • My first thought would be to replace the dark side tire with a moto tire. Cheap enough and easy too. Having ridden Brodies DS FJR, I can tell the car tire pushes the front much more than a moto tire.
Dayuuuum! What a fart smeller I are!
whistle.gif
I might go with a lucky guess but Smart is a bit of a stretch.
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XOXOXO
Guess thats why they call them car tires?
Won't bother with the debate but I've had twice as many m/c tire separations as car tires. Two Avon storm fronts on my 03 FJR. Hopefully the Avon AV72 I'm going to try is better although it still doesn't have enough weight rating to make me happy.
 
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Ray, was that an Alpin on there?
I think this will be my next ct when Alpin is toast https://gl1800riders.com/forums/15-darkside-riders/431391-just-ordered-perelli-snow-control.html
It was the Alpin with about 12k on it with lots left. I'm looking at options. With a full load I'm putting about 1100+ on the rear tire. The best m/c tire is good for 992 and the Alpin was 1201 at 51 psi so at 30 psi I'm sure it was challenged. It would be nice to know how conservative those numbers are. The Pirelli could get the vote after I look around some more.

 
It does seem odd for the Alpin to do that being a RF but stranger things have happened. I tried the Driveguard but it wandered going down the road, the Alpin was so much better. Let me know what you end up with.

 
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