Speed wobble anyone?

squarebore

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I had the bike loaded for bear today and noticed when decel from about 70kmh with hands off bars that it started to wobble. Never noticed before. The bike was very back heavy with nine days camping gear and extra fuel. Has anyone else had this?



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woods

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May want to check for loose or broken spokes. Maybe low tire pressure?
Just a thought.
Good luck and enjoy the trip
 

Checkswrecks

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Load can do it, especially decelerating from speed. So could loose steering head bearings or a few other things. But the most common have to do with front tire wear and air pressure. I'd try increasing pressure and re-running it without the load before anything else.
 

EricV

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Checkswrecks said:
Load can do it, especially decelerating from speed. So could loose steering head bearings or a few other things. But the most common have to do with front tire wear and air pressure. I'd try increasing pressure and re-running it without the load before anything else.
This pretty much explains it. Easy solution, stop taking both hands off the bars. :D If you're going to run loads like that on a regular basis, consider a stiffer rear spring. As Checkswrecks said, there are other possibilities, but most often it's front tire wear. Load and tire pressures contributes to the effect, making minor tire wear induce this wobble, but it'a mostly confined to decel at that 50 mph down thru 40mph speed range, (80 to 65 kph). Not uncommon with what's felt at very low speeds with more worn, (cupped), front tire too.
 

Koinz

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Is it only when loaded? I had a tourance that did that on my Vstrom, noticed it immediately after installing the tire and it did it in all conditions. Loaded or not. You could try repositioning the tire on the rim and rebalancing.
 

Bushyar15

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Loaded too heavy in the rear.. Takes weight off the front wheel so its more susceptible to being moved around by road imperfections and the like… Make sure you add more pre-load….
 

jbrown

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My old VFR had a pretty good headshake decelerating through 45 MPH without holding the bars. The overwhelming internet info on that was 1) They ('95 VFRs) all do it, and 2) (as Eric suggests) Don't do that!

The only times I've ridden with both hands off the bars is to test that very situation. Some bikes do it, other don't seem to. I haven't checked my S10, and it wouldn't bother me a bit if it did start wobbling when I let go of the bars. That doesn't seem like a good thing to do (let go with both hands), considering all the other things that can go wrong while riding (with or without a big load). But that's only me. You guys do what you want. :)
 

shredmeister

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No offense to anyone but, some replies crack me up. Such technical analysis'. It's the weight on the back. Had this happen on my previous bike loaded for Moto camping. I'm sure it goes away when bike is unloaded, mine did. Best reply, keep hands on the bars to keep this from happening. Of course, if you can get some weight forward it will help.
 
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shredmeister said:
No offense to anyone but, some replies crack me up. Such technical analysis'. It's the weight on the back. Had this happen on my previous bike loaded for Moto camping. I'm sure it goes away when bike is unloaded, mine did. Best reply, keep hands on the bars to keep this from happening. Of course, if you can get some weight forward it will help.
You're all wrong, I think if you just moved the kitchen sink forward 1.75" your problems would be solved. ::025::
 

528Hz

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1. check the steering head.
2. check your tires for uneven wear.

loaded or not, bars should be steady.
 

shrekonwheels

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squarebore said:
I had the bike loaded for bear today and noticed when decel from about 70kmh with hands off bars that it started to wobble. Never noticed before. The bike was very back heavy with nine days camping gear and extra fuel. Has anyone else had this?



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what windshield is that?
 
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