wobble
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Intermediate
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From: Namp,Id
Wheels
My 06 does the same thing too, its not to bad now, but it used really clinch my but cheeks right around 85 mph . The interesting thing I noticed is between 80-85 mph the front end felt like it was on the edge to going into a tank slapper. Get up around 90 mph and it smoothed out. Do you have spoke rims? First thing I did is tighten my spokes. There were quit a few that had that thud sound. Also I was running my tires around 35 psi. Now I keep them around 40-42 psi and its much better now.
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From: earth
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Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2012
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From: Namp,Id
Wobble
Tell us where you think the wobble is originating on the bike. You never specified front or rear. That would help a lot with suggestions. Does it do it more on decel than accel? Does it do it in straights only? Are your shock bolts tightened to specs? Have you had your steering head bearings checked? How about your swing arm bearings? Have you checked your wheel bearings? See, there are these and many more that could contribute. So it's good to know a little more about which end of the bike seems to be wobbling.
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Intermediate
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From: Namp,Id
Wobble
No it dose it in straights and corners and it doesn't get worse when I decelerate
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From: Virginia
Its a bad swingarm design that causes some of these 2008 or earlier touring harleys to "wobble" in high speed sweepers. Good advice to keep tire pressure, shock pressures, fork dampening all working right. You'll still get that wobble in the right situation, just less often. Try a true-track type solution to keep the frame rigid and square with the swingarm. I had a older street glide that I got rid off that would still do it after I tried al of the above and since I wasnt going to slow down, it had to go.
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From: Namp,Id
wobble
So today I put 100 miles on my ultra out on back roads mostly black top up to 90 95 mph no wobble at all got on the interstate new grooved concrete and there it was is that strange or what
thank you for all the feed back
thank you for all the feed back
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From: Bedford UK
This a regular topic, so you might like to use Search for 'wobble'. Warning - get a long drink as you could be reading for a while!
Make sure your bike is in tip-top shape, tyres good (not badly worn or low on tread), wheel alignment etc, you've already checked the front end. There are two possible sources of wobble. One is the swingarm bearings. If they are cleve blocks, swap them for solid bushings, available from several suppliers.
If you have the later steel bushings and they are fine, next thing is your rear rubber mounts. These have poor support, to stop them squashing sideways a little. Every Buell and the rubber mount Sportsters all use the same setup, but have a rear stabilizer. There are a dozen or more products that claim to cure the problem, but my preference is True-Track. I have their kits on my Dyna and Glide, so along with my Sporty and Buell, all my bikes have a similar setup, with three stabilizers!
Make sure your bike is in tip-top shape, tyres good (not badly worn or low on tread), wheel alignment etc, you've already checked the front end. There are two possible sources of wobble. One is the swingarm bearings. If they are cleve blocks, swap them for solid bushings, available from several suppliers.
If you have the later steel bushings and they are fine, next thing is your rear rubber mounts. These have poor support, to stop them squashing sideways a little. Every Buell and the rubber mount Sportsters all use the same setup, but have a rear stabilizer. There are a dozen or more products that claim to cure the problem, but my preference is True-Track. I have their kits on my Dyna and Glide, so along with my Sporty and Buell, all my bikes have a similar setup, with three stabilizers!
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From: earth
The magic word is "grooved" concrete. Tires track grooves, and that force stresses chassis/swingarmthe to the point of flexion, making the bike feel like a snake wiggling underneath you. Some tires are more resistant to tracking like the E3s, but all the components previously mentioned can contribute to your wobble. You have validated that most of the items check out good so I would lean toward your old style cleve block swingarm bushings as the most likely source of of your wobble, and I would address that before adding any stabilizer type product.
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From: Namp,Id
so what would you repalce the old bushings with?
The magic word is "grooved" concrete. Tires track grooves, and that force stresses chassis/swingarmthe to the point of flexion, making the bike feel like a snake wiggling underneath you. Some tires are more resistant to tracking like the E3s, but all the components previously mentioned can contribute to your wobble. You have validated that most of the items check out good so I would lean toward your old style cleve block swingarm bushings as the most likely source of of your wobble, and I would address that before adding any stabilizer type product.