I have been noticing a very slight intermittent wobble in my steering when I am going in and coming out of turns. It seems to be mostly left turns. I have not noticed any issues at higher speeds and it rides steady as a rock at highway speeds. I put it on the lift yesterday to replace the brake pads and check things out and I am thinking about a couple of things that may be causing this...

My brake pads had about 7500 miles on them and were worn down further than I am comfortable with (not metal-to-metal, but close). I replaced them yesterday and noticed that the old ones had a very slight but noticeably uneven wear. I really don't know if this is normal for motorcycles with 4 piston calipers or not.

While I had it on the lift, I checked out things pretty good...the fall-away looks good, nothing indicating a steering or wheel bearing wear issue. Tire air pressure and balance is good although I did notice that my front tire is pretty worn and even though it is not down to the wear-bars yet, it is looking like it is time to replace it...I will order one this week.

I rebuilt the front tubes about 5K miles back and put in 10 weight oil and added about 3/4 inch of pre-load. It is not bottoming out but I am concerned that it is still sagging too much and as much as I do not look forward to going into the front tubes again, I am seriously considering installing restricters like Ricor Intiminators to stiffen up the ride.

Tire? Tubes? Bearings? Something else? Please wade in with your thoughts and experiences...any ideas and other things to check will be greatly appreciated.

 

If you have spoke wheels check the spokes and make sure there not loose.

 

Thanks for the reply but no spokes, mags...

2001 FXD w/46.5K miles

 

Do you have dunlaps on the bike? My nephews FXD had a slight cupping on the front tire that caused ut to be unsteady in turns.

You said you adjusted the preload...what are you running at total in the front?
Do you have the stock shocks on it? What number are you running on?

Intimidators do not stiffen up the ride, they just make the front end more compliant.

 

Thanks, rooti. The tires are Dunlop HD401s. The front is a pretty old tire and is showing some cupping, and is close to the wear indicator so it definitely needs to be replaced. The rear tire is fairly new and still has a thousand or so miles left on it but I might just go ahead and change them both.

I have not replaced the rear shocks so I assume they are original. I am seeing just at 3/4 inch front and rear sag with no bottoming out but I do get a pretty significant brake dive when I brake hard. The brake dive is what I have been trying to deal with and the intiminators are supposed to address that issue from what I understand.

 

Is it possible that the wobble is coming from the back and you are feeling it up front?

 

Steering head lube and fall away adjustment, replace front tire. If you went through a set of brake pads in 7500 miles raises questions. 15K-30K miles on Dyna's and Softails would be the norm. After tire replace and steering head bearing adjustment, ride it and go from there.

 

I'm betting on the front tire...it doesn't take much cupping for it to feel really weird in the turns. Dyna's seem to like 1.5 sag in the front so your front end must be pretty stiff.

If you do ricors do the traxxion springs as well but be warned, to get the great results you have to be willing to dial in the sag for your weight and it usually takes a few times to get it right. Suspension is no plug and play.

 

Thanks!

I used cheap organic pads last time...learning curve. The last bike I owned had drum brakes... Trying EBC sintered pads this time. The old pads were not worn out, just more worn than I like at 7500 miles.

I could not find anything wrong with the steering head and the fall away was BTB. Lubing and adjusting the steering head bearings is something I could look at. I just went through the front tubes last spring and the brake dive is the only thing I am noticing there. For the wobble I am leaning more toward the front tire. I will change it and go to the steering bearings from there.

 

That sounds like a good cost effective plan.