Balance issues or ?
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 76
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From: Michigan
Balance issues or ?
I have a 2016 Road Glide Ultra. It has 50k miles on it and I have always done my own maintenance. I left Michigan for Texas last Saturday (I am on the road now) and wanted to get the 50k maintenance items done before I left. Two recommended items are fairly involved and require special tools so I opted for a local HD dealer to do them. In all I had the steering head bearings replaced, the front forks rebuilt, the front wheel bearings replaced, new front brake pads installed and a new Dunlop American Elite front tire installed. By doing all this front end work at once I saved on labor costs. The back story is that for the last 2-3 years the bike would often dive left at a stop. Not violently but just wanted to go to the left. It was also getting more difficult for me to do low speed parking lot maneuvers. I am 72 years old, in good health but I just figured it was old age balance issues. Well, after this front end work it is like driving a different bike! No more diving and low speed maneuvering is good again too! I figure it was probably mainly the steering head bearings that were the culprit but possibly the fork rebuild and wheel bearing replacement had an effect too. Anyway I thought I would put this out there for others to consider as your bike approaches 50k miles. I did not think the steering head bearings (and fall away adjustment) could have such a dramatic effect on low speed handling!
-Ken
-Ken
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 1,783
Likes: 938
From: Ohio
I have a 2016 Road Glide Ultra. It has 50k miles on it and I have always done my own maintenance. I left Michigan for Texas last Saturday (I am on the road now) and wanted to get the 50k maintenance items done before I left. Two recommended items are fairly involved and require special tools so I opted for a local HD dealer to do them. In all I had the steering head bearings replaced, the front forks rebuilt, the front wheel bearings replaced, new front brake pads installed and a new Dunlop American Elite front tire installed. By doing all this front end work at once I saved on labor costs. The back story is that for the last 2-3 years the bike would often dive left at a stop. Not violently but just wanted to go to the left. It was also getting more difficult for me to do low speed parking lot maneuvers. I am 72 years old, in good health but I just figured it was old age balance issues. Well, after this front end work it is like driving a different bike! No more diving and low speed maneuvering is good again too! I figure it was probably mainly the steering head bearings that were the culprit but possibly the fork rebuild and wheel bearing replacement had an effect too. Anyway I thought I would put this out there for others to consider as your bike approaches 50k miles. I did not think the steering head bearings (and fall away adjustment) could have such a dramatic effect on low speed handling!
-Ken
-Ken
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