handlebar wobble

[dwight]

Just finished a 2700 mile counterclockwise circle from central Kentucky on my 06. The bike was fantastic although I will order a new seat this week. But I did notice that the handlebars had a slight wobble at around 40 - 50 mph when you let go of the handlebars. I couldn't remember if I had this problem on my 05 or not, it either has to be the front tire out of balance or perhaps the areodynamic nature of the FJR at this speed. Has anyone else experienced the same problem?

 

[Ignacio]

Likely head bearings that need to be retorqued to specification. We've found dealers have been flaking on checking bearing torque when they get the bikes in. It's likely whatever muscle the factory used to overtighten your oil drain plug came at the expense of undertorquing head bearings.

Lift her up and see if the front end clunks any. We've heard of some that bad. If so, I'd march to the dealer and suggest that should have been caught in prep. Even if not clunking there's some specific torquing procedures and unless you want to buy the tool and get a shop manual it's not that easy of a DIY item.

....I guess it could be tires, but I haven't heard the stock Metzler and Stones being funky from the factory.

 

[twowheelnut]

It's tires, steering head or wheel bearings. Check your bearings and head for looseness, if they check out ok, then it's your tires. Some weebles wobble and some don't. None of my tires have ever created a wobble except the Avons at speeds of 1 or 2 mph. That quickly went away with scrubbing in the tires for a couple of hunnert miles.

Or, you could simply run the route clockwise and undo what ever you did to create the wobble...

 

[dwight]

It's tires, steering head or wheel bearings. Check your bearings and head for looseness, if they check out ok, then it's your tires. Some weebles wobble and some don't. None of my tires have ever created a wobble except the Avons at speeds of 1 or 2 mph. That quickly went away with scrubbing in the tires for a couple of hunnert miles.
Or, you could simply run the route clockwise and undo what ever you did to create the wobble...

Thanks, I will check all of the above before I decide to do the clockwise thing.

 

[mdisher]

My 06 doesn't do this (yet). I checked because I have/had aero head shake on the ZX-11 around the same speed on decel with the bags on.

(It doesn't exist with the bags off).

Other than that, I too would check steering head, tires, wheelbearings in that order.

[Aren't you supposed to check/retourque the head bearings at the 600 mile interval?]

 

[nitelife]

Mine does this too and so did my V-max.

 

[Juneight]

My 06 does exactly the same thing plus a buzz feeling (separate thread in this forum) on the handlebars. Took the day off so I will do some investigation on this stuff. Let us know what you find, it might shorten my troubleshooting. Still waiting for my shop manual... 3 weeks. :angry2:

 

[KeithB]

If you have a Metzler Z4 or Z6, it may have a tire starting to separate. This is how mine felt these past few weeks as the tire started to fail.

 

[FJRMGM]

Tire pressure up to 40-42 psi?

 

[norflyer]

Hola,

 


mine FJR does it too, this is after 4500km...


I'm told to check the bearings.


BTW, got the Metzler tires so will be watching the front tire.

 

[mrgrease]

Iggy and TWN nailed it!!!

I've found the same thing, a number of bikes will have the wobble, 1 soultion is keep your hands on the bars

what I have also found, and I'm sure it has been discussed on this and or other boards, the more stuff you put on the rear of the bike, bags topcase, wife, whatever, the bikes center of gravity changes. I've taken the bags off, and the wobble was not nearly as bad......... also tire pressure is a factor, tire wear, tire balance, head stem bearings, alot of different possibilities, eliminate the easy ones first. take your bags off and see if that helps, take your bike back to the dealer, have them check the headstem bearings. then ride it like you hate it........

 

[MSLPILOT]

Iggy and TWN nailed it!!!
I've found the same thing, a number of bikes will have the wobble, 1 soultion is keep your hands on the bars

what I have also found, and I'm sure it has been discussed on this and or other boards, the more stuff you put on the rear of the bike, bags topcase, wife, whatever, the bikes center of gravity changes. I've taken the bags off, and the wobble was not nearly as bad......... also tire pressure is a factor, tire wear, tire balance, head stem bearings, alot of different possibilities, eliminate the easy ones first. take your bags off and see if that helps, take your bike back to the dealer, have them check the headstem bearings. then ride it like you hate it........

I have the 40+mph deceleration wobble on my '03 with a brand new set of Avons on it. Asked the service guy about it and he says a lot of times it's the rear tire (pressure or balance). Also suggested a fork brace?!?! Will this really help?

 

[jimbemotumbo]

I posted with the same issue last week. Cupped bridgestones at 3700 miles.

No steering nut prob. Just the tires. I keep em aired up to 40/42 and it still happened. Hmmm. Pilot Roads here I come.

 

[MSLPILOT]

mrgrease, how does your girl feel about you posting her tatas on the board? Love the avatar.

 

[mrgrease]

mrgrease, how does your girl feel about you posting her tatas on the board? Love the avatar.

My Girlfriend dosen't mind, on the otherhand My wife is not real fond of em. Just kidding, only Kidding!!!!!ha ha ha friggin ha

there was a debate in another thread, as to if they were real or not, I guess my thoughts are .........................................ahhh......................real or not, still a fine work of art!!

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My bike's OEM tires were the bridgestones, and had problems at about 5000 miles (cupping)

I've avons the 45 and 46 on a few different bikes and had no issues with them.

 

[MSLPILOT]

My Girlfriend dosen't mind, on the otherhand My wife is not real fond of em. Just kidding, only Kidding!!!!!ha ha ha friggin ha

there was a debate in another thread, as to if they were real or not, I guess my thoughts are .........................................ahhh......................real or not, still a fine work of art!!

------------------------------

ROLMAO! Agreed! A fine work of art indeed!

 

[Bounce]

https://www.bikes-n-spikes.org/maint/shb/shb.html

 

[vtcornercarver]

My '04 did not wobble with the original bridgestones. Put new Avons on and the wobble was at 45 to 50. Avon nicely sent me a new tire but pointed out that the tire has a zig zag rain tread right at the high point of the tire and this bike may follow the tread. He also told me to check the steering head bearings. they were for sure loose.

My Yamaha mechanic (who has owned a shop for 2 generations and was a racer) checked for looseness by squeezing the front brake with the bike on the ground, and rocking the bike forward and back. You can feel any looseness in the bearings this way without having to lift the front end off the ground.

His procedure was to loosen the stem nut (it's a 1 7/16" socket) and remove it, then loosen the two pinch bolts on the fork tubes, and lift the top triple clamp up just enough to expose the two spanner nuts. He then used a drift and a hammer and "by feel" carefully tapped them until snug. It took 3/4 of a turn to get the correct tightness. Then he buttoned it all up and all was well. I don't think you really need to buy a special spanner and torque tool to snug up the bearings, it is not rocket science......................VT

 

[evil_henchman]

In my case I'm convinced that it's 100% tire related since I got the wobble immediately after I replaced the Metzler front with a Pilot Sport.