I have a 1998 Road glide If i turn front wheel all the way to right or left while sitting still and apply front brake and kinda rock the bike forward the forks seem to have a flexing to them. Any ideas thanks

 

I would put it in the air and start looking for something loose.

 

Flexing where? How? They will have flex

 

Wheel bearings? Triple tree bearings?

 

Flexing as when turned fork tubes are almost inline with the bike sideways front of fender facing to side lower half of forks seam to flex. Checked wheel bearings ok didnt check triple tree as seems to be bottom half.

 

The forks are only supported at the trees, so if the pinch bolts in the bottom tree are not tight, or the nuts on the top tree are not tight, there could be twisting of the legs in the trees. That might appear as 'flex'.

 

how many miles? fork bushings may be worn.

 

i will check out the triple tree upper and lower. Bike has 73000 nothing has ever been done to it so far hasnt needed anything.

 

It's quite possible there is nothing wrong with your bike, fork flex is a natural characteristic of the HD tree design. The upper and lower trees are not locked in the same plane on the stem, they can and do rotate independently on the steering stem axis. The action you described to produce the fault is almost the same way Howard explains for a person to try to experience the "flex" for themselves. CCE and Motorcycle Metal have both developed products to mitigate this undesirable characteristic of "fork flex". http://www.ccesd.us/index.php?main_p...732ece8b461976
http://www.motorcyclemetal.com/gpage5.html

 

Travel 1~2 MPH on a flat, dry, & clean surface and turn the forks 45º and watch the forks flex as the triple trees torque. Your top tree is not clamped onto your forks. They are only held into place with bolts through the top tipple tree that is a slip fit. Like This:


which looks and works nothing like this:



What would you think would happen? The only thing that keeps your bike running straight is the inertia of the heavy front wheel.

Next take a strip of LED lights and tape them to your fork tubes & sliders. Have someone take a movie of you riding down a standard road at night. Wear a diaper when watching the movie! You did 90 MPH on that thing?