Hi, long time rider, first harley, 06 Road king, bought November 04 put maybe 1100 miles on it, ride almost everyday, work, gym, fun, errands everywhere, street and highway. Bought used, at 33 k miles, 21" front, skinny 18" rear, 18" apes. Super smooth ride, louder than the Devil getting kicked in the nuts. However when I'm on the highway and I start creeping past 65 - 68 I "feel" a bit of a slight shakiness or vibration, almost reminiscent of a "Death wobble" and back off a bit. I have caught myself hitting 75 - 80 and that vibration causes me to check the speedo and I back off.

This is my first 21" front and 18 apes, had 16" apes on my Nomad 1600 before and never had this feeling. Do you more experienced riders have any input? Or am I just imagining things? Oh and I'm 6 foot 263 solid, so wind don't bother me too much. Thanks for any and all advice.

 

PandaBear, welcome to the forum, enter at your own risk.


I'm guessing 1 of 4 things going on here:
Tree is out of alignment twisting forks.
Faring is out of alignment.
Something going on w/ front wheel &/or tire.
Bikes been dumped & frame is twisted.


Let"s see what everybody else has to say on this one.

 

That bike left York with 16 inch wheels. Is this happening in a straight line? If it's in a sweeper ,all bets are off.

Check the tires for; Correct rotation (side of tire has rotational arrow) and balance. check riser bushings. Check steering head bearing adjustment. Don't bother checking the fairing..hehe

Happy Motoring!

 

Thanks for the input, once this V day BS is over I'm gonna check all of the above lol, if I can't find anything, guess it's time to pony up and pay for a full diagnostic and alignment check. Will keep you updated

 

Also check the front motor mount, they have a habit of shearing in half on those years.

 

Could be one or several of these things. I would check in this order:


1. Tire pressure/condition
2. Loose spokes/bent wheel
3. Steering head bearings need adjustment (fall away)
4. Tire balance
5. Wheel bearing

 

My bud almost sold his RKC because the dealer put his front tire on backwards.

 

I rode a stock '03 RK for years. It had a terrible wobble while taking downhill sweeping turns at 80 with the throttle closed. The '09 and up FL frame fixed the wobble problem.

 

Habit of shearing in half? LOL
I guess it could break if the mount rubber deteriorated to the point that the motor was jumping around so bad it looked like it was going to fly out of the frame and the owner was too stupid to fix it. The OEM mounts do suck but I've had the same polyurethane mount on my bike for the past 7 years and it still is in great shape.

 

My '08 Deluxe did something similar, though for me it started around 40 mph, and then smoothed back out around 60, if I recall correctly. If I took my hands off the bars, I could watch them oscillate back and forth. Kinda unnerving.

I bought it used - first time back to the dealer, they lubed the steering head and checked that fall away was in spec, and sent me on my way. No better.

Brought it back, they tightened the steering head to the tight side of the spec, and changed the front tire to a new one (took 'em till the second visit to decide it had some 'cupped' wear). All better after that - so maybe steering head, tire condition, or front wheel balance...

Good luck...