Steering Wobble

[user 18298]

I was riding my FJR this weekend and as is my usual habit when out on long abandoned country roads in north Florida I let go of the handle bars and rested my hands on the tank some. Never any issues just nice straight hands free riding.

However to my surprise when I let go this weekend the bars started a low frequency wobble that quickly went to medium wobble and if not stopped would have taken me down. I thought it may have been a pothole or quirk so over and over I tried and the same thing happened!

The only two items I can attribute this to are:

1) Put a new front tire on 200 miles ago??

2) I had ridden the bike SLOWLY over a dirt road??

I think it's #1 but how would I explain to the dealership? Any similar experiences?

Thanks

charles_florida

’05 FJR1300

’97 Honda Valkyrie

 

[r1byker]

How was the bike loaded? Do a search cuz I've read somewhere else on the Forum that any kind of weight on the rear of the bike will cause this. I don't think this is something that the dealer is even going to give you the time of day about since taking your hands off the bars is not a recommended activity.

 

[user 18298]

How was the bike loaded? Do a search cuz I've read somewhere else on the Forum that any kind of weight on the rear of the bike will cause this. I don't think this is something that the dealer is even going to give you the time of day about since taking your hands off the bars is not a recommended activity.

Nothing was loaded on the back ... just an empty trunk as always.

 

[fjrrider]

Tires are normally the biggest cause of what you described, but with only 200 miles, that does not seem likely. Storms are notorius for this kind of behavior. Along with what r1byker said, is the front tire balanced properly?

 

[03HiYoSilver]

CT,

Also, make sure your Tire Pressures are up to snuff.

 

[NMRoadRunner]

What he said, tire pressure and maybe the balance. Sometime the shop guys don't take the time to really balance tires properly using a gravity balancer. Thats why I do my own mounting and balancing, and balancing could take and hour or so to get it just right.

 

[escapefjrtist]

What brand of tire did you install? As noted above, if it's a Storm then odds on the tire is causing the wobble.

--G

 

[JuiceMcGoose]

Look for something loose. Steering head bearings? Grab the top of both tires and try to move them sideways. Grab the back of the back tire and try to move it sideways to check swing arm bearings.

 

[tyronewildman]

This comes up, from time to time. All of the above & this from a previous post....De

Front end wobble. Guys & gals, all of them do it, some just less than others. Cycles steer straight by the front tire swinging to the left & then self correcting to the right and so on. It’s the same thing in a turn. Thing is that it’s at such a low frequency and magnitude that its usually not noticeable. Your hands on the bars (dampen) and the gyroscopic force of the tires are trying to keep the wheels in the same plane keeps the wobble down to an unnoticeable amount. Ever get a grocery cart that the front wheel wobbles back & forth? When working correctly, it self corrects too, but you just don’t notice it. Sooo, keep at least one hand on the grip, especially when slowing at lower speeds which puts more weight on front tire and makes the oscillations bigger cause it’s harder to self correct with all that weight on it and when it finally does self correct, it swings wider (wobble) with each self correction. Is it easier to turn the front wheel, in your garage, with U setting on it or with you standing beside it, Hmmm, more weight (slowing down) makes it harder to turn or self correct. Try not to run over a rock, brick, board, etc with the edge of the front tire cause that really causes it to wobble. Now if we could all remember to press more, forward on the grip in the direction of the turn we could keep from running off a perfectly good road. Then again, nothing wrong with running off the road in the mountains, there are plenty of trees to stop you before you get to the bottom…Later,,,De

 

[Intech]

I actually experienced this exact thing yesterday on my trip home. I stopped to check tire pressure, front end, etc. I could find nothing wrong. I contnued and released the handle bars again sometime down the road and found no wobble. I didn't note gear, speed, or anything else at any of the times it was doing it other than I would never let go at highway speed. I attribute it to the road I was on. I rode almost 600 miles, so I had plenty of opportunity to test that theory.

 

[user 18298]

What brand of tire did you install? As noted above, if it's a Storm then odds on the tire is causing the wobble.
--G

I put on Dunlop Qualifier radials

 

[Hawkerplt]

My 07 does it too. We tightened up stem pre-load (mechanics touch...from a fine mechanic at that!) and that did help, but didn't elimintate the issue.

I'm going with All Balls tappered bearings and getting rid of the ball and cage crap that is in there now.

All my dirt bikes have tappered and no head shake issues with them.

Good Luck!

 

[manwhoride]

Same issue a short time ago. A very knowledge forum member said softer tires are the culprit. Not a reason to change to a harder tire, because this is where we get our stick to the twisties attitude. If you have a throttle lock or cruse control set it at speed and I can almost (almost) guarantee it will not happen. At least mine does not wobble under a speed load so to speak. Coasting is a complete other story, and is the nature of the beast so I am told. Usually the wobble will happen after 1000 miles more or less of tire ware. I know when I first bought my bike the steadiness of the FJR was something I was impressed with. I came off a Harley after riding it for ten years and it only did it when the tires were badly worn... harder tires though. Softer tires wear much quicker and much differently. The tires are the cause in my opinion. But it aint a bad thang….! I am no longer worried, or trying to figure it out. Because riding with both hands it is steady as a rock…..

 

[terrebandit]

Mine wobbles more than most. It wobbles on a slow accel and on decel, especially between about 35 and 55 mph. I've checked everything I know. I have BT 021 up front which is a stock tire. It has about 4K miles on it and I already have I some slight cupping on the tire. I'm thinking thats my problem but not sure.

 

[mcatrophy]

Mine wobbles more than most. It wobbles on a slow accel and on decel, especially between about 35 and 55 mph. I've checked everything I know. I have BT 021 up front which is a stock tire. It has about 4K miles on it and I already have I some slight cupping on the tire. I'm thinking thats my problem but not sure.

That could well be your problem.

When my last front BT 021 was 4000 miles old, it gave a very insecure feel even on a straight road, I described it here.

FWIW, I've gone to an Avon Storm ST. Feels really good (but not done many miles yet). I always run with 41 to 42 PSI in the front (42 to 43 in the back).

 

[user 213]

You guys are killing me. :rofl:

A. This isn't your little sister's Schwinn. Stop taking your hands off the bar like you're going 10 mph.

B. A Dunlop Qualifier? That's enough, you don't need to say anything more. That's a SPORT tire. However it feels to you now, in 3k it won't matter because that tire will be toast or nearly so. Might as well go by a FZ-6 is that's all the riding you do.

C. BT-021 - It's been very well documented that the front 021s suck completely and wear poorly, cupping and uneven. Yes, it will wag the bars, especially in decel during the 55-35 mph more pronounced. The tire sucks.

D. If you must post about whiny crap like this, at least do a complete job the first time. Tire brand/type, psi in both tires, mileage on tire currently, load on the bike, two up or solo and how long you've had the bike in miles ridden.

BTW, if you take your hands off the bars long enough, you'll crash too. Is that a problem with the bike? Ding, ding, ding! No, it's a problem with the rider.

 

[terrebandit]

Mine wobbles more than most. It wobbles on a slow accel and on decel, especially between about 35 and 55 mph. I've checked everything I know. I have BT 021 up front which is a stock tire. It has about 4K miles on it and I already have I some slight cupping on the tire. I'm thinking thats my problem but not sure.

That could well be your problem.

When my last front BT 021 was 4000 miles old, it gave a very insecure feel even on a straight road, I described it here.

FWIW, I've gone to an Avon Storm ST. Feels really good (but not done many miles yet). I always run with 41 to 42 PSI in the front (42 to 43 in the back).

Thanks for the input.

 

[Intech]

You guys are killing me. :rofl:
A. This isn't your little sister's Schwinn. Stop taking your hands off the bar like you're going 10 mph.

B. A Dunlop Qualifier? That's enough, you don't need to say anything more. That's a SPORT tire. However it feels to you now, in 3k it won't matter because that tire will be toast or nearly so. Might as well go by a FZ-6 is that's all the riding you do.

C. BT-021 - It's been very well documented that the front 021s suck completely and wear poorly, cupping and uneven. Yes, it will wag the bars, especially in decel during the 55-35 mph more pronounced. The tire sucks.

D. If you must post about whiny crap like this, at least do a complete job the first time. Tire brand/type, psi in both tires, mileage on tire currently, load on the bike, two up or solo and how long you've had the bike in miles ridden.

BTW, if you take your hands off the bars long enough, you'll crash too. Is that a problem with the bike? Ding, ding, ding! No, it's a problem with the rider.

Dang! And it wasn't even Friday yet!

I agree, though. Over 3K on a BT 021? It ought to be past the wear bars. Keep putting shit tires on the bike and you will continue to complain. I got over 8k on the Metzlers and have over 2k on PR2's and they rack so far.

 

[terrebandit]

Mine wobbles more than most. It wobbles on a slow accel and on decel, especially between about 35 and 55 mph. I've checked everything I know. I have BT 021 up front which is a stock tire. It has about 4K miles on it and I already have I some slight cupping on the tire. I'm thinking thats my problem but not sure.

Wanted to give an update. Changed out both tires and the wobble is noticably reduced but not gone. Now it seems to do it just on decel, but I've had other bikes do this as well. I also adjusted the forks in the triple tree. Made the top cap of the fork flush with the top of the tree. I guess the next step is new head bearings but they only have 5K miles on them. There is no play in the steering head so I think they are adjusted properly. I run 42 psi in the rear and 39 up front, like the manual says.

Dave