Coming of a interstate at speeds above 70 and hit the off ramp downhill sweeping curve and let off the throttle to slow down you just might meet the DW. I still get a little wobble with a brace but not as bad. Be careful on off ramps.

 

I have owned both a '06 Ultra Classic and currently own a '10 Ultra Classic. I put a lot of miles on both bikes (15 - 18K per year). I am not a lazy day rider.......I do ride fast, I do often push speed in corners. I have also experienced everything discussed in this thread.

There seems to be two issues. 1) The high speed wobble in turns. 2) The death wobble (or tank slapper) situation.

It is my expericence that the new frame has nearly eliminated the corner wobble. My opinion is that the corner wobble was caused by a weak swing arm design. The rear wheel and swingarm would flex under load and allow the frame to wag it's tail in the corners at high cornering speeds. My new '10 Ultra does not do this and is a transformed bike when riding near the edge in high speed corners.

The tank slapper situation is a whole different situation. I had a bad tank slapper on my '06 Ultra when slowing down from high speed several times. Once it was very bad. It was bad enough for me to immediately trade the bike in for a '10 Ultra. It was my hope that the new frame would bring my confidence back. As it turns out, it did not.

My '10 Ultra experienced a terrible tank slapper event at nearly 100 mph down a straight and smooth freeway. The front end shook so bad I could barely hold onto the handlebars. It was a life altering event and has again stolen my confidence in my bike at high speed. The bike had low miles at the time, new tires, correct air pressure, and the steering head bearing were checked at the dealer immediately after the event and they were found to be at the correct torque.

It is my opinion that the "high speed wobble" or tankslapper event has nothing to do with the frame or swingarm since both bikes reacted the exact same way. In fact the new frame was worse and nearly threw me off the bike.

I believe the new frame and swingarm are both very rigid and doing the job. I believe the fault is in the front fork assembly. It appears the fork tubes and components are causing the wobble. You can test this is two ways without risk. First, just sit on your parked bike and shake the handlebars back and forth with some force. You will see and feel the forks flex as you do this. Also, take your bike up to 30 or 40, take your hands off the handlebars and poke either end of the handlebars with a sharp jab with the back of your hand. You will easily cause the same wobble that others are experienceing at speed. The sharp jab will send a frequency through the front end that will continue until you grab the bars firmly. I have owned may bikes.........probably nearly 30 bikes in my lifetime. I cannot remember any of these bikes having such a weak front end that a wobble can be generated at 30 mph like this.

Clearly, I drive at the edge. But clearly the bike should perform better than this. I do love my Harley but I would hope that it is safer and and better designed when the next generation is released. World class bikes do not have safety issues as this.