Death wobble
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,808
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From: Green Country Oklahoma
I had to deal with it in 08 on the way to Sturgis road snake on I 80 and I thought this was it but some how gain back under control and survived, It turned out to be bad goose neck bearings that made it worse but since then road snakes scare the crap out of me.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2006
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Never had it on a Harley yet, but did once on my 77 goldwing a few years back.
We were hotting rodding it on the rollercoaster road near the Weir's.
I had let off the throttle totally after a hard acceleration, and hit a dip on a slight corner, and the bars started to wobble violently back and forth, no way could I stop it using my arms.
My first instinct (bad one probably) was to give it some throttle and snap the bike back out of it, that only made it much worse. Luckily, I was able to slow the bike down enough to regain control. It was very close to being a tank slapper, scared the **** out of me at the time. I added a fork brace to the bike, and have not had it happen again thankfully. I think it was a combination of things, as a previous poster has said, when the bike unloaded, along with a dip, caused it to wobble like it did.
We were hotting rodding it on the rollercoaster road near the Weir's.
I had let off the throttle totally after a hard acceleration, and hit a dip on a slight corner, and the bars started to wobble violently back and forth, no way could I stop it using my arms.
My first instinct (bad one probably) was to give it some throttle and snap the bike back out of it, that only made it much worse. Luckily, I was able to slow the bike down enough to regain control. It was very close to being a tank slapper, scared the **** out of me at the time. I added a fork brace to the bike, and have not had it happen again thankfully. I think it was a combination of things, as a previous poster has said, when the bike unloaded, along with a dip, caused it to wobble like it did.
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Joined: Feb 2010
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From: dutchess county,ny
Listen not questioning your statement,but was it a wobble?Older frames on these touring bikes tend to flex,or want to walk out of turns when you are coming in hot.Sometimes when it happens people tend to tighten up and try to fight it.Can be real dangerous at speed to panic get off the gas or brake in it.Happened to me some time ago,till i learned what not to do.
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Joined: Jan 2009
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This is one of the reasons I usually ride alone. I set the pace & take curves based on my riding skills and comfort zone.
A number of years ago I was riding my '78 Goldwing on straight highway at 75 mph when a black Labrador ran out of a grassy ditch right in front of me. I T-boned him & the bike went into a 'death wobble' & didn't stop until I'd slowed to 15 mph. I got pulled over, cleaned out my pants & checked over the bike. No bent rim, forks were straight & no other damage. The dog didn't fare so well, though. I put over 50,000 miles on the Wing after that with no problems.
I haven't had any problems with my '07 Ultra but my buddy has an '08 RG that gave him the fits with wobble until the dealership replaced the neck bearings, tires, & front rotors. Don't know which component was causing the problem but no more wobble.
A number of years ago I was riding my '78 Goldwing on straight highway at 75 mph when a black Labrador ran out of a grassy ditch right in front of me. I T-boned him & the bike went into a 'death wobble' & didn't stop until I'd slowed to 15 mph. I got pulled over, cleaned out my pants & checked over the bike. No bent rim, forks were straight & no other damage. The dog didn't fare so well, though. I put over 50,000 miles on the Wing after that with no problems.
I haven't had any problems with my '07 Ultra but my buddy has an '08 RG that gave him the fits with wobble until the dealership replaced the neck bearings, tires, & front rotors. Don't know which component was causing the problem but no more wobble.
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Cruiser
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 134
Likes: 1
From: Oregon
Death Wobble
Listen not questioning your statement,but was it a wobble?Older frames on these touring bikes tend to flex,or want to walk out of turns when you are coming in hot.Sometimes when it happens people tend to tighten up and try to fight it.Can be real dangerous at speed to panic get off the gas or brake in it.Happened to me some time ago,till i learned what not to do.
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 99
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From: Lost Angles, CA
Oh please. My experience has been that you can generally go half again over the posted speed of most turns and you'll be just fine. Taking a 50 at 50 is slow motion.
Road Master
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 886
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From: Virginia
True, but if you don't set up your corner correctly before entering it, 50mph can cause trouble, let alone 70mph.
Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 182
Likes: 6
From: New York
I havent had any wobble issues with my RK but at my age I really ride very conservatively. Some years back myself and a buddy were riding brand new CB750F's , layin down well over 100 mph on RT231 a well known go fast drag strip hwy in NY. We came up a small rise onto an over pass and got pushed left by a strong gust of wind that started that nasty wobble on both our bikes. I assumed I was going down and I remember thinking the iron guardrail of the overpass was gonna do me in and just wanted to stay up long enough to get past the overpass where the crash would be a bit more surviveable. So..... my first instinct was to just take pressure off the bars and hope the bike would somehow correct itself and it worked. It semi-stabilized, I dropped it down a gear , felt control come back, gave it some throttle and things came back to normal. Buddy had the same exact response and it worked for him also. We pulled over for awhile to cool down, talked what happened and how lucky we were to keep the rubber side down. Both agreed that at the worst point of all this we remember being about an inch away from hitting into each other. That would have been a real bloody tangled cluster fock.
This could have been as bad as the time when I got slammmed by a volunteer fireman in a rush to a 911 call while I was sitting still at a red light but thats a story for another day. ☺
This could have been as bad as the time when I got slammmed by a volunteer fireman in a rush to a 911 call while I was sitting still at a red light but thats a story for another day. ☺
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Joined: Jan 2008
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From: SoCal
Thank you!
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,364
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From: So Cal The Golden State
The death wobble scares the hell out of me. It hasn't happened yet, but the fact that it might is not cool. I keep my tires in check, but I do have to check out my shock pressure. Haven't bottomed out but I gotta check. Then I'm going for one of the many stabilizers that are on the market. I'm lookin at the True-Track one myself. I know there are cheaper out there. But this is the one I think I'm settling on. Just my 2 cents.