Bike wobbles on decel...
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Road Master
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,096
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From: Sycamore, Illinois
Bike wobbles on decel...
I have an 03 Heritage, bought the bike used and have noticed that the forks wobble when I decel in gear. Not when deacselorating hard but when it kind of equalizes torque. I can pull in the clutch and it stops. Which is what I do 99% of the time. Is something out of line or is this somewhat normal?
Club Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 18,575
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From: Norfolk, VA
RE: Bike wobbles on decel...
Pulling in the clutch to stop the wobble is removing the torque from the motor from the final drive.
Could be a few things.....simple things first. Inspect your front tire for odd looking wear patterns on the rubber. Next, check the both tire pressures.....go for 32-35psi or look on the sidewall for recommended pressures. Then make sure both wheel assys are balanced. Next check for loose steering neck bearings. Then check for loose swingarm bushings.
A worse case scenario could be worn bushings the the lower fork legs. The 'ol 900 had a severe wobble at 80-mph because of worn out lower fork leg bushings......the lower legs would flex fore and aft in opposite directions causing the front wheel to skitter left/right.
My B-T Softailwobbles at 35-mphbecause the front tire needs to be replaced....it's worn in a way that looks like poor balancing.....worn/flat spots about every 3-inches around the entire circumference of the tire.
Could be a few things.....simple things first. Inspect your front tire for odd looking wear patterns on the rubber. Next, check the both tire pressures.....go for 32-35psi or look on the sidewall for recommended pressures. Then make sure both wheel assys are balanced. Next check for loose steering neck bearings. Then check for loose swingarm bushings.
A worse case scenario could be worn bushings the the lower fork legs. The 'ol 900 had a severe wobble at 80-mph because of worn out lower fork leg bushings......the lower legs would flex fore and aft in opposite directions causing the front wheel to skitter left/right.
My B-T Softailwobbles at 35-mphbecause the front tire needs to be replaced....it's worn in a way that looks like poor balancing.....worn/flat spots about every 3-inches around the entire circumference of the tire.
Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 154
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From: Kansas City Mo. Area
RE: Bike wobbles on decel...
Mine 2006 did that at around 40-50 when costing to a stop. It was the stering head bolt needed to be adjusted and the fallaway set. It has been good since hope this helps. Tom
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Road Master
Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Sycamore, Illinois
RE: Bike wobbles on decel...
good info sporsterbob, I'll check my tire pressure tomarrow hopefully that's it, I have a feeling they might be a little low. The tires are in good shape and I grabbed a hold of my front tire and gave it a good shake and felt nothing wrong.
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Road Master
Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Sycamore, Illinois
RE: Bike wobbles on decel...
ORIGINAL: midwesttom
Mine 2006 did that at around 40-50 when costing to a stop. It was the stering head bolt needed to be adjusted and the fallaway set. It has been good since hope this helps. Tom
Mine 2006 did that at around 40-50 when costing to a stop. It was the stering head bolt needed to be adjusted and the fallaway set. It has been good since hope this helps. Tom
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2008
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From: Escondido, CA
RE: Bike wobbles on decel...
Back in the 80's I had a Yamaha that did the same thing. Turned out to be the spokes were loose. Some had actually broken by the time I realized what was up. Repaired the broken ones and tightened up the spokes on front and rear wheels and never had the problem again.
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Road Master
Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Sycamore, Illinois
RE: Bike wobbles on decel...
My bike does have spokes. Only 15000 miles, but who knows. I'll check them too, thanks bro...
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Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2007
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RE: Bike wobbles on decel...
I have on 06 I bought from the dealer. The mechanicthatdid the walkaround during deliverytold me that all Heritages do it around 30-40 MPH.
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RE: Bike wobbles on decel...
My fatboy had a wobble and I learned a lot about wobbles researching on the net. The dealer said his entire fleet of Heritage rentals has wobbles, and I read that if the spokes aren't adjusted right, and kept in adjustment after pounding pot holes and stuff therecan be a wobble. I have solid wheels so I would not accept that answer. Then he taked about a decelerationwobble, and I looked that up on the net previously and it seemed legit reason to cause wobble, but under pretty heavy decel it seemed from what I read. I did tests on my bikein nuetral and still had the wobble and didn't accept that answer either and the dealer told me (over the phone) not to drive it any longer and he would dispatch a truck to pickup the bike (which he did). My problem was something with the streering neck I think, they said they took everything apart, and put everything back together to specs (and cables were routed differently and the bars were a little lower so they really took it all apart) and I can't recreate the wobble any more. They covered everything, including the tow, under warranty, and they even detailed the bike. They said they weren't sure what (if anything) was out of spec, since they had to take it all apart to retighten everything to specs and I didn't care since it was taken care of. I'd say check out your spokes, wheel balance, and streering neck. If the spokes are whacked, the wheel isn't going to turn true anymore.
