High Speed Wobble...When?
I normally have the steering head adjusted (tightened) as part of regular maintenance. This is the cause of the wobble at certain speeds. I have seen this several times and the worse was around 70 mph. It does not change. You either need it tightened or you don't.
The rear sway is another issue completely. I find that using a low gear instead of brakes in a curve as well as using steering input without leaning into a turn will allow the bike to lean over more and makes it more stable on a curve. This is only to the point of scraping the floorboards at which point it is recommended to either slow down or lean. However this does not seem to impact stability where the bike already has enough lean angle.
A lot of people are overloading their bikes and stacking weight up high which makes it worse.
If you have never scraped a floorboard going around a sharp turn your not driving fast or your leaning over. I put a bell on the right floorboard bracket so I know when I have reached the maximum lean. You can hear the bell ringing. The left turns are not as tight so they are less of an issue. Maybe I will get two bells. My right one is wore down pretty bad.
05 FLHR 89,000 miles. Photobucket.com/OneHorseRally
Rode 14000 this year. Appalacian mountains and Laconia Motorcycle Rally. The second trip was Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Harley Museum, Hwy 2 out to Glacier and down. Over to Sturgis for the Rally. Both trips origiating on the Gulf Coast. Pictures from these trips will be uploaded soon. No albums from 2011 on OneHorseRally yet.
The rear sway is another issue completely. I find that using a low gear instead of brakes in a curve as well as using steering input without leaning into a turn will allow the bike to lean over more and makes it more stable on a curve. This is only to the point of scraping the floorboards at which point it is recommended to either slow down or lean. However this does not seem to impact stability where the bike already has enough lean angle.
A lot of people are overloading their bikes and stacking weight up high which makes it worse.
If you have never scraped a floorboard going around a sharp turn your not driving fast or your leaning over. I put a bell on the right floorboard bracket so I know when I have reached the maximum lean. You can hear the bell ringing. The left turns are not as tight so they are less of an issue. Maybe I will get two bells. My right one is wore down pretty bad.
05 FLHR 89,000 miles. Photobucket.com/OneHorseRally
Rode 14000 this year. Appalacian mountains and Laconia Motorcycle Rally. The second trip was Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Harley Museum, Hwy 2 out to Glacier and down. Over to Sturgis for the Rally. Both trips origiating on the Gulf Coast. Pictures from these trips will be uploaded soon. No albums from 2011 on OneHorseRally yet.
Last edited by ironheaddave; Dec 17, 2011 at 12:36 PM.
Tourer
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 259
Likes: 1
From: Kingston, Ontario
Does anyone know what years this is a problem. I have an 85 FLT and have not experenced this but am still considering a stabilizer if it will improve handling in wet weather and with high winds. I also seem to use a lot less air presure in the rear (8-12lbs) then a lot of others, as I get older the stiffer suspension makes me stiffer.
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,898
From: Bedford UK
Does anyone know what years this is a problem. I have an 85 FLT and have not experenced this but am still considering a stabilizer if it will improve handling in wet weather and with high winds. I also seem to use a lot less air presure in the rear (8-12lbs) then a lot of others, as I get older the stiffer suspension makes me stiffer.
Your FLT was one of the first rubber-mount touring models IIRC, from which all others were developed and uses the same system. So it also has the unsupported rear mounts that a stabilizer can provide an improvement on.
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 343
Likes: 0
the weight of the bike to one side is really helping or exaggerating whatever
causes the oscillations to begin with.
My opinion is there are a couple different issues that may help or contribute
to the problem. Wind and the batwing, tires, steering head issue, and of
course the frame design and bushings.
As a earlier post pointed out not to hard to see wind induced oscillations
by just taking hands of the bars.
Additionally, although less common you can get wobbles just going
straight and much slower than 70-80. I personally had it once at around
50mph. So one size doesn't fit all.
Many people never see the issue so riding style certainly plays a part too.
87 mph winds headed east to the meteor crater I40.. Running 80mph to stay on the road. No wobbleTour pack and bags loaded. Running at 45 angle. I was sittinging up pretty.much but shifted toward the low side in the seat.
Tourer
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 259
Likes: 1
From: Kingston, Ontario
No add-ons are going to help handing if you use low tyre pressures! Get yourself some decent shocks and run your tyres at the correct pressures. You will suffer handling problems due to a soft tyre in the conditions you mention.
Your FLT was one of the first rubber-mount touring models IIRC, from which all others were developed and uses the same system. So it also has the unsupported rear mounts that a stabilizer can provide an improvement on.
Your FLT was one of the first rubber-mount touring models IIRC, from which all others were developed and uses the same system. So it also has the unsupported rear mounts that a stabilizer can provide an improvement on.
Thanks that answers the question, I will be looking at stabilization for the insurance.
Guess I should have mentioned that is shock presure not tire.
Cheers
Shock pressure is Mainly for leveling.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,246
Likes: 19
From: Cypress, TX
Shock air pressure is to adjust the preload to the shock. Very similar to cranking down the the spring on a conventional shock. While it will cause a loaded bike to not sag as much it does stiffen the ride. There is a happy medium in preload. Too little and your shock will be soft and mushy and the bike will wallow in turns. Too much and it will be stiff and uncomfortable and will feel like it is bouncing through bumps. Air is a very convenient way to adjust preload but is not very good for performance.
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Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,898
From: Bedford UK
Shock air pressure is to adjust the preload to the shock. Very similar to cranking down the the spring on a conventional shock. While it will cause a loaded bike to not sag as much it does stiffen the ride. There is a happy medium in preload. Too little and your shock will be soft and mushy and the bike will wallow in turns. Too much and it will be stiff and uncomfortable and will feel like it is bouncing through bumps. Air is a very convenient way to adjust preload but is not very good for performance.
As Howard at HDF sponsor Motorcycle Metal taught me, springs hold up the weight of the bike and riders, while the internal damping keeps the ride and bumps under control. With fully adjustable Ohlins, courtesy Howard, the ride height can be correctly adjusted with the springs, and the damping fine tuned, to achieve nirvana.
Last edited by grbrown; Jan 6, 2012 at 12:39 PM.
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