Recently, one of the posts discussed handlebar wobble at varying speeds and how to fix it. One fix, tightening individual spokes on the rim, seemed to be the one everyone suggested. I made slight adjustments to several of my Heritage's spokes and it seemed to fix the problem, however it only served to shift the problem to a different speed. My wobble moved from 45 to 35 mph. In error I had posted that the spoke tweak fixed my problem before realizing it had shifted.
Since then, I have found the true fix to my wobble. I simply tightened the steering head bolt. After unscrewing the chrome nut cover on the top of the steering head, I now had access to the steering head bolt. Before tightening, you have to loosen the hex head pinch bolt which bolts in sideways and is just below/behind the steering head bolt. After everything was tightened, things are running smooth again.
After doing some research on the spoke tightening, BE CAREFUL! If you get a little too happy with the wrench you could put your rim out of alignment causing all sorts of wobbles and shimmies. Fortunately, my tweaks were small and didn't mess up the works. To fix a botched spoke tightening, you will need to remove your tire from the rim and then true the rim. Counting illistrations, it takes 4 pages in my manual to walk you through the process... Ouch!!! If you elect to tighten spokes, Be cautious...
Thanks for the revisited post... I was a little concerned as my Fatboy has the same problem, but I have solid wheels and no spokes, so that wasn't a fix for me. I have tightened the steering bolt, as well as checked the rear wheel to make sure that it is true. I also tightened the drive belt a little, and no wobbles for me anymore. I think that the steering bolt was the culprit. Thanks again.
You are correct I just got my bike back from the dealer and they tightened the stering bolt and she feels good now. I snugged a few spokes as well but I'm not messing with them any more. I am back on the road and the weather is hot in Missouri. Thanks Tom
Wobbling can come from an unbalanced REAR tire.
Try looking at that...
On my last japper, I had terrible, life threatening wobbles at 95 mph. The dealer tried everything that made sense, and then we looked at the rear tire.
It ended up being an out of balance rear tire. It wasn't out of balance by much, but it had a dramatic effect. I never had a problem with that bike since.
Ok here goes I have a 1987 FLSTC about a year and a half ago I had a new rear tire put on. I was thenout of town for a couple of months and came back took the front wheel off and had a new tire installed on it and re installed it on the bike. I was then sent out of town a gain for a couple of months so there was very little riding going on. When I did finally get back to riding I endured a freaky high speed wobble at about 75 to 80 mph it scared the hell out of me. Now I have riden this bike at 110 mph around the Lowes motor Speedway in Charlotte NC with no problem before. I was running a set of Fat boy style wheels so spokes arent a problem. I was thinking maybe front wheel bearing. So I changed them. 75 + mph still a wobble. Well I thought maybe I screwed something up. and just lived with it for a bit doing average around town riding. Well I have since installed new HD ThunderStars bearings and all installed by HD at a local shop. Still a wobble. They suggested neck bearings, which I changed. still a wobble. They said fall away which by the way is less than 2" hell I even tightened it up so much that it was difficult to steer still a wobble. I backed off the neck bearings a bit to make it steer easier. Now all in all it handles better as long as Im below 70 above that still a wobble. I took the front wheel and tire back to HD they put it on the ballancing machine and said it was fine. Could the back tire be the culprit? Or is there something else I should look for?
Wobble Revisited...
