Wobble in Front End upon Deceleration
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 455
Likes: 1
From: Deep River ON
Head bearing would be my explanation also with tire coming a distant 2nd. Wobble as you describe is not normal on a bagger, or any other bike for that matter. It is a safety issue and should be fixed.
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,221
Likes: 4
From: Annemasse (border of Geneva-Switzerland) facing Mt-Blanc.
- bike on lift with rear wheel touching the ground, front fork/wheel relaxed
- one person stays on the bike and presses the brake to block the rear wheel
- the other person grabs the front fork near the axle of the wheel for longest leverage (the front wheel doesn't need to be removed)
The evaluation of the play is done by pulling and pushing the fork in line with the frame: there should be very little or no play on the radial load bearing.
In case of loose neck bearings (my case) we need to tighten the fork bearings several times to make sure the bearing races are well seated. Once blocked these bearings need to be released by a 1/4 turn and not more. The neck bearings are not submitted to rotation and cannot deform by overheating. There is very little risk of race damage (marks) when overtightened, but damage may occur when there is slack in the assembly and opposed bearings can vibrate during contact. If stiffer angular positions are found, the fork needs be dismounted and inspected by a technician; there could simply be dirt on the races or damage due to poor contact.
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 709
Likes: 1
From: Maine
Road glide wobble
This is a problem that popped up when they changed the front tire size on the 2010 and 2011 fixed fairing road glides. It is not the same issue that other HD owners are posting that they have. It only happens when you take your hands off the bars on decel in a certain mph range. The earlier road glides do not do this with the larger tire. Some techs are over tightening the steering head fall away to mask this problem. With everything to spec these Road glides with the smaller tire are doing this. I would say that just the wind pressure on the fork mounted street glide fairing is enough to not let this hands off wobble start. Mine will not start the wobble with one finger on the bars. My local dealership is dealing with multiple complaints of the hands off wobble on the fixed fairing bikes that they put the smaller tire on. I've been researching this for a while and it is pointing to the tire size and compound change from what i am hearing. One friend of mine had the wobble since new and now that his front tire is worn down to almost no tread the wobble is gone.
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 795
Likes: 1
From: Douglasville, Ga
My Ultra Limited did the same. Solution was no wheel weights on front (don't know if it was from setup, they came off or what). Dealer put on weights and balanced tire and have not had a problem since
Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,406
Likes: 5
From: Sunnyvale, Ca.
QUESTION: Did the dealer romove front and rear rims and Re-Balance ?
My dealer did at 5,500 miles and found the Tire run out was over 30 oz., I got a new tire - problem solved
( yes with new 408F )
Items to check:
1.) Front 32 psi / Rear 42psi - Tire pressure - +/- 2 psi Cold
I check mine prior to every ride
2.) Rear Axle - make sure it is in aliment - the brake side will some times
move away from the swing arm jam weld and you will have a gap.
3.) Presure in Air Shocks - play with this - if running on low side - pump it
up - 5 psi at a time. I found at my weight if I run at 15 psi or lower the
front end does get "light"....
4.) Belt - make sure the belt is at required spec.
5.) I run a Red Line CV-2 Grease in all my bearing area's - Head Bearing
My dealer did at 5,500 miles and found the Tire run out was over 30 oz., I got a new tire - problem solved
( yes with new 408F )Items to check:
1.) Front 32 psi / Rear 42psi - Tire pressure - +/- 2 psi Cold
I check mine prior to every ride
2.) Rear Axle - make sure it is in aliment - the brake side will some times
move away from the swing arm jam weld and you will have a gap.
3.) Presure in Air Shocks - play with this - if running on low side - pump it
up - 5 psi at a time. I found at my weight if I run at 15 psi or lower the
front end does get "light"....
4.) Belt - make sure the belt is at required spec.
5.) I run a Red Line CV-2 Grease in all my bearing area's - Head Bearing
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
