Stock 05 Heritage Softail, I have a front end wobble at 40 mph only when slowing down. All other speeds the bike rides perfectly.
so here is the situation, your existing off the highway say doing 70 slowing down as you exit and get this wobble at 40. By 38-35 it’s gone. No wobble if I maintain 40 going down the road. The wobble happens only when I’m slowing down. I grease the neck bearing seems to help a little but still there.
any thoughts? Thanks in advance

 

In my experience, wobble in any make is shocks/forks/tires/bearings. Tire inflation or condition, tire alignment, forks out of sync. Neck bearing lube seems to be a good clue, change bearings? The wobble may be more pronounced at a certain speed, but something is still wrong at all speeds. Possibly a combination of factors so good to check everything. No rocket science to find cause, just a lot to look at.
Maybe start with the easy/cheapest fixes until you eliminate the problem. I've seen a real Death-Wobble, at speed, so I have zero tolerance for signs of such issues arising.
I'd like to see an update on your solution.

 

I'd include swing arm bushings to what Patriot said.

Paul

 

I rode today and let off the gas in 4th at about 50mph and let go of the handle bars and got a pretty bad wobble for the first time ever. It must have been a deceleration wobble.

 

I agree with Old Patriot, a wobble is nothing to ignore... They don't get better on their own...

Start with the easy stuff...

First check for signs of damage. Check everything that holds, moves, or is connected to the wheels for damage, like a bent wheel, bent fork, twisted triple trees, etc.

If no damage is spotted, check tire pressure, then inspect the tires for cupping.

Next I would check the spokes on both wheels... Start with a tone test. Tap each spoke to see if they are tight. If you find one or more that are loose, then check the spokes with a spoke torque wrench. There are videos that show how to tighten/torque spokes without pulling the wheel out of round. Basically you set the spoke torque wrench, get the wheel off the ground, then pick a starting spot. Go every 4th (or 3rd?) spoke and try to tighten it. Never tighten a spoke more than a 1/4 turn... Go around and around the wheel in this pattern, until the all spokes are at the proper torque spec.

While the wheel is off the ground, spin it and also try to pull it side to side to check for looseness, or a grinding feel/sound in the wheel bearings.

Once this easy stuff is done, check the steering head bearings. It's not really hard, just more involved. The fact that greasing them seemed to lessen the issue, might suggest they are too loose.. There is a fall away test procedure both in the manual and online. I would check fall away to get the neck bearings at the right tightness.

That's a good start. If that doesn't fix your issue.. report back what you found, and we can make other suggestions..

 

I had the same on my 16 Fatboy I recently acquired with only like 2500 miles when I got it little less that a year ago. Noticed it shortly after getting back from Laconia this year. Decel wobble from 50 down to 40 mph...took it to my indy. My neck bearings did need a slight tightening and my tires, while low milage, were now 6 years old and worn all wrong..as luck would have it I caught a screw in my old tire while waiting for my appointment to drop her off so it was meant to be lol...so new shoes and the bearing adjustment makes it feel like a new bike. Check the tire pressure 1st and foremost then go from there. If your tires are properly inflated and worn correctly it can easily be the neck bearings. An 07 could very well be due for a neck bearing tightening if never done before.

 

If you search the forum you find hundreds of post related to this exact subject.

There are many things that can create a wobble so you’re going to likely have to start with the easiest/cheapest cause and go through the process of elimination until you find that the wobble is gone.

When I had a decel wobble it went away after I replaced the front tire.
Was the issue the tire or was the issue that the wheel was just out of balance…….?

When I had a wobble while going through a sweeping turn it turned out to be loose spokes.
I adjusted each spoke until it “sang” and the wobble went away.

The previous comments pretty much spell out most if not all the potential causes.
Just pick one and start the process of elimination.

 

I think this is fairly common, I had the same issue at the same MPH upon decel or just kinda coasting along at that MPH, did all the checks - shocks, steering head bearings, spokes (which I found some lose ones), swing arm bushings, etc... I just put on a new rear tire (checked things over good) & found nothing, put in some ride on & went out & same minor wobble - you`d have to hunt for it to find the sweet spot where its at, so I put ride on in the front tire thinking its a balance issue?????

Test ride & now no wobble. so in my situation Im thinking it was a balance issue - but there can be one or a combination of small issue's causing it - the hard part is finding the one or all of em.

 

I remember having a wobble develop in the 60s. It turned out to be a wheel alignment & balance problem with the rear wheel/tire.
In 74 I traced a minor wobble back to hitting a pothole on my 73 Super Glide. Spoke adjustment wouldn't fix it, so had a guy straighten my rim & was then good.
Only other time, (bit of a tank-slapper) was in the 90s, and was low tire pressure in rear tire, which I thought odd since I check em very often.... found a small screw in my rear tire, so I called that one a blessing (had a rear blowout in heavy traffic once at about 40 mph.... that'll put you off your feed for awhile).

 

I had a wobble on my 11 Crossbones. Mine was at 50 mph. Checked and went thru everything as mentioned above, turned out to be my front tire. Since i replaced it never happened again.