Street Bob Wobble!! HELP
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 5,120
Likes: 17
From: Indiana
Damn that's low, definitely could be the problem.
ok, quick update.... My brother has been out of town, so waiting for him to get back to get the bike into the shop (it is his bike, and his warranty account).
Anyway, I just checked the tire pressure
20 in the front and 29 in the rear... holy hell....
put 36/40 in it front/rear... going to take it for a spin and see what happens. Hopefully I will be back to post in a few minutes.
Anyway, I just checked the tire pressure
20 in the front and 29 in the rear... holy hell....
put 36/40 in it front/rear... going to take it for a spin and see what happens. Hopefully I will be back to post in a few minutes.
Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 683
Likes: 3
From: Florida
Wish I would've seen this before I dropped the cash for my raked trees...
http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/rakeandtrail.html
You shouldn't have a problem with 3's and especially with longer tubes.
http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/rakeandtrail.html
You shouldn't have a problem with 3's and especially with longer tubes.
Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 717
Likes: 3
From: Cincinnati
If he was wearing something like a jacket or a loose vest or even a long sleeved shirt that was baggy, the wind will catch that and blow him around, that will transfer into the bars and affect the way the bike handles..i notice this now more than ever with apes on my ride. Also, I bet he has a freaking death grip on the bars. I find it funny that one guy rides it it wobbles like mad, the next guy rides it and it sticks to the road like glue..something other than the bike is the problem.
That ranks right up there with the stupidest responses of all time.
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 403
Likes: 0
Make sure they check the bearings and do a fall away test when you take it in. In the meantime check both tires for condition and air. Also wheel balance can cause some problems like this, so the wheels balance needs checked. It would be a good idea to look at the stretch condition of the front motor mount (isolator). I had to replace mine as it was so stretched out from the preload design. I shimmed the preload out of the new one. I have less vibration now above 50 mph.
You can easily do a fall away test yourself if you have bike lift. With the bike straight up and the front tire off the concrete, put a chair in front of the front tire.
Place a small wood dowel or pencil on the chair and lay anything that weighs 5 lbs on it to hold it steady. Remove your clutch cable, and then find the center of fall away by taping your front tire until it falls freely around on each side. The center of fall away may not be with the tire straight forward. But once you find the center of fall away then the fall away total (of both ways ) should not be over 4" or it's too loose.
Shovelhed I did not know that about raked trees. I guess that sets up different geometry than just raking the frame which I always noticed the salt flat test bikes had more rake. So I figured a longer rake gave more stability.
I was thinking of getting a 3 degree raked tree set with 4" over tubes. Wonder if they would be a problem too ?
You can easily do a fall away test yourself if you have bike lift. With the bike straight up and the front tire off the concrete, put a chair in front of the front tire.
Place a small wood dowel or pencil on the chair and lay anything that weighs 5 lbs on it to hold it steady. Remove your clutch cable, and then find the center of fall away by taping your front tire until it falls freely around on each side. The center of fall away may not be with the tire straight forward. But once you find the center of fall away then the fall away total (of both ways ) should not be over 4" or it's too loose.
Shovelhed I did not know that about raked trees. I guess that sets up different geometry than just raking the frame which I always noticed the salt flat test bikes had more rake. So I figured a longer rake gave more stability.
I was thinking of getting a 3 degree raked tree set with 4" over tubes. Wonder if they would be a problem too ?
The bearing has to be a little tighter and the slow speed handle will suffer a bit, but worth it to me... Thought I'd share my learning experience with raked trees on a stock frame.
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 284
Likes: 2
From: Johnston County, NC
I have the same wobble issue. I have had my 2011 SB in twice for this issue and even called the MoCo. All they offered is that they see no issue at 65MPH so there is no problem. They offered to let me have a new bike but they want another $1000 cash added to the deal. This has put a major damper on my new Harley experience. I have considered trying to look into the lemon law but I recently moved out of state. Not sure how that works.
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Tourer
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 403
Likes: 0
It's simple to check/adjust. Raise the front wheel off the ground. If your handle bars just flop left or right quickly, the neck bearing is too loose. The bearing shouldn't be so tight it barely moves left or right either. Use a ratchet and loosen or tighten as needed.
Stage II
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Mississippi
Hey guys,
I'm new to the forum. I'm having some of the same issues mentioned. I recently bought an "07 Bob. I recently had the 10,000 mile service done. I was having some wobble issues in curves around 70 and on straight aways at 85 plus. I had the rubber bushing in the bars replaced with the poly ones and that has taken a lot of the wobble away. However, I'm still wobbling at 90 and above. It feels almost like the front tire is out of true but I know that isn't the issue because I specificly had the shop check the spokes. All was well. What are the chances that my front springs are to soft? I have noticed a good deal more bounce in the front end than I had on my '06 Sportster. (I had stiffer springs put in it because is was bottoming out way to easy.) Would that cause the road impervections to translate thought the front end at speeds? It seems fisable to me but I just wanted to see what y'all think.
Nomad
I'm new to the forum. I'm having some of the same issues mentioned. I recently bought an "07 Bob. I recently had the 10,000 mile service done. I was having some wobble issues in curves around 70 and on straight aways at 85 plus. I had the rubber bushing in the bars replaced with the poly ones and that has taken a lot of the wobble away. However, I'm still wobbling at 90 and above. It feels almost like the front tire is out of true but I know that isn't the issue because I specificly had the shop check the spokes. All was well. What are the chances that my front springs are to soft? I have noticed a good deal more bounce in the front end than I had on my '06 Sportster. (I had stiffer springs put in it because is was bottoming out way to easy.) Would that cause the road impervections to translate thought the front end at speeds? It seems fisable to me but I just wanted to see what y'all think.
Nomad