Death Wobble
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,897
From: Bedford UK
Remember to run in your new tyre for a couple of hundred miles and to check pressure, before attempting your high speed run! My brother slid off once on a favourite bend, celebrating having his new rear tyre fitted, so be warned.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 4,999
Likes: 55
From: Bay Area
Death Wobble
dont forget to look at your swing arm bushings and your motor mounts. They are all related and presuming your mileages are up there it may be crucial to a correct alignment. HD bushings are junk after about 30k miles anyway.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 6,523
Likes: 10,914
From: ohio
the wobble was very well documented in the pre 09 frames with a number of aftermarket suppliers offering various remedies.
the culprit, IMHO, which has been a constant, in pre 09 frames are the cleve bushings in the swingarm and the flex from the rubber biscuits. replace the bushings with bearings and supplement the rubber biscuits with an insert and movement, or rear steer, is greatly, if not 99% eliminated.
on post 09 frames, the actual stiffness overcomes the majority of these design choices, but can still benefit from component upgrades in the same areas.
my 04 at around 90K miles would give a rear wiggle in long sweepers. bushing replacement with bearings eliminated that feeling.
on my 10 and 12, i have pushed to fairly strong triple digit speeds and have never felt a wiggle or rear steer. perhaps i wil, but to date this has not occurred primilary i believe due to improved frame stiffness.
my .02
the culprit, IMHO, which has been a constant, in pre 09 frames are the cleve bushings in the swingarm and the flex from the rubber biscuits. replace the bushings with bearings and supplement the rubber biscuits with an insert and movement, or rear steer, is greatly, if not 99% eliminated.
on post 09 frames, the actual stiffness overcomes the majority of these design choices, but can still benefit from component upgrades in the same areas.
my 04 at around 90K miles would give a rear wiggle in long sweepers. bushing replacement with bearings eliminated that feeling.
on my 10 and 12, i have pushed to fairly strong triple digit speeds and have never felt a wiggle or rear steer. perhaps i wil, but to date this has not occurred primilary i believe due to improved frame stiffness.
my .02
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,897
From: Bedford UK
It applies to the earlier rubber-mount Touring models, from 1980 onwards. Buells and Sportsters with rubber-mount engines have a superior system. Some older rigid-mount bikes had handling problems, unrelated to what we're talking about here. Current rubber-mount Touring bikes are not perfect and can display handling problems, down to the design H-D has employed. For more info read my thread linked at post #64 above.
Road Master
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 68
From: Hawaii
I lost a good friend this year due to "death wobble". But, he was on a 2018 BMW 800 GSA and went into a tank-slapper at 65 mph. Granted, he was loaded for a trip around the world, so it could have been a CG/overloading issue.
Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,484
Likes: 82
From: Mountain View, California
damned sorry to hear about your friend. Motorcycles kill, plain and simple, and we can "yeah but" this accident all day long. May he rest in peace and may his family find peace with their loss.
Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,484
Likes: 82
From: Mountain View, California
Had slow but substantial weave in high-speed sweepers from day one of picking up my 2000 Glide. Installed Progressive shocks all around and a Bagger Brace and it's tracked like it's on rails since.
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Connecticut.
x 2 on the rip
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 727
Likes: 31
From: Fenton, MO
Coming into this thread rather late, but had it happen to me yesterday on my '10 Ultra on a sweeping curve. Speed was 85+
First time it happened on this bike, but also happened on my old '05 Ultra at about the same speed.
My theory (and I realize there could be several causes), is tire mismatch.
When I replaced the tires on the '05, I never had it happen again.
Right now I am in the process of waiting for a new rear tire install on the '10. This leaves me with a Michelin Commander II on the front (new), and a rather worn Harley Dunlop on the back.
I shall repeat that stretch of road when I get the new tire to confirm.
JJ
First time it happened on this bike, but also happened on my old '05 Ultra at about the same speed.
My theory (and I realize there could be several causes), is tire mismatch.
When I replaced the tires on the '05, I never had it happen again.
Right now I am in the process of waiting for a new rear tire install on the '10. This leaves me with a Michelin Commander II on the front (new), and a rather worn Harley Dunlop on the back.
I shall repeat that stretch of road when I get the new tire to confirm.
JJ