darkside tire or bearing preload

i did the trifecta last week, the progressives all around, bearings. the bike handles like a dream at highway sppeeds but sometimes, (yes just sometimes) when going slow (under 30) it feels like i am getting a weaving sensation. i can t remember if i had this prior to the bearings and shocks. my question is do you think it is the bearings are too loose or tight? or is it the darkside tire tracking once and a while? i am confused and want to know what is going on. what tire pressure is best for the douglas 205? i am running about 37# now. i did the scale test for the bearings and with the unbalanced weight of the front end, i dont think i am getting an accurate reading. thanks.

Hudi, Not sure whats going on with yours....I've tried different pressures and the best for me so far has been 44. I believe Twin is running 32 or 33. I'm sure he will check in and let you know for sure. The best I can say is to keep trying differenf presures until you find one that feels good to you and fits your riding style. I'm not sure what the max pressure is for the tire, but I dont think I would go to the upper 40's with it. Others might have different opinions though. For the wobble....dont know.... sorry.
I'll be reading to see what others say....

Jerry

Hudi
I have added a link to a good read on front end wobble and weaves.

http://will.mylanders.com/outdoors/motorcycle/notes/read.pl?file=144

After reading this and a few other posts and articles, I would say you are just a tad, very small tad too tight. My recomendation on this is, if you can stand it, ride it like it is for a bit. It will most likely loosen up a bit with a few hundred miles. I have about 3,000 miles on my all balls mod and I am putting mine back on the stand today to retighten them. they have loosened up considerably.
Good luck
See you out there
Smokey

Pay attention to the road too. When I first got my tire on, I'd get a periodic wobble. I determined that it was the road texture. Dallas puts some texture to the cement in the form of waving lines. At certain speeds, the tire will pick up on these (harmonics) and "wobble". You can speed up or slow down and the problem goes away. Now when I feel the wobble, I look down and sure enough.

I also would leave it there and ride it for a while.
You cant see the ruts in the road when you are riding. But if you pull over to the side of the road and get low enough and you can see the ruts, I have done this and sometimes the ruts you can see from the top, can be 2 to 3in. deep. Ride it.

Hudi wrote:i did the trifecta last week, the progressives all around, bearings. the bike handles like a dream at highway sppeeds but sometimes, (yes just sometimes) when going slow (under 30) it feels like i am getting a weaving sensation. i can t remember if i had this prior to the bearings and shocks. my question is do you think it is the bearings are too loose or tight? or is it the darkside tire tracking once and a while? i am confused and want to know what is going on. what tire pressure is best for the douglas 205? i am running about 37# now. i did the scale test for the bearings and with the unbalanced weight of the front end, i dont think i am getting an accurate reading. thanks.

Hudi,

I don't have any "all the time" weaving sensation with my Douglas 205, so far! If I do feel it and I am going slow and it is almost always in traffic and heavily traveled roads and then I feel a little. I have just assumed it was the roads and let the hide go with the hair! I can ride slow around a parking lot and don't feel anything, so I just assume it's the road and don't worry about it.

Is it in a smooth paved parking lot that you feel it also? Is it concrete road or asphalt roads? Country or city roads? Does it do it ALL the time, no matter what?

Oh, yea! I am running between 33 and 35 psi on my Douglas! I still have the stock head bearings, stock wheel bearings and stock shocks still on my C!


..................bobby


.

thanks everyone. i am going back to the drawing board this afternoon and am going to loosen up the bearings a little to see if that works. i just want everything to feel just right or i am not satisfied. i torqued the adjustment nut to 20#, think i am going to back off to about 15#. think game never seems to end. always tweeking something. hopefully i can get it to were i just ride it instead of tweeking. it always seems to ride and handle better with each mod so yea gotta do, what ya gotta do sometimes. all these mods are new to me so maybe if i ever have to do them again, i will be a little more educated. later

When I did mine it was set at 18 to 20, I went by feel and they have over 35,000 on them now and I havent touched them.

Twin, you only running 33 to 35lbs.? I may drop to 35 just to see how it handles. Im running 40 and thats what I put in it to start and it handles great. Maybe I have a softer side wall. I noticed when I was looking at tires, there is alot of diff. in the side wall on all the 205s. I think with the softer one, it is better to run a little more press. You wouldnt want to roll the tire of the rim in a corrner.

Sorry for stealing thread, Hudi.
I gotta be carefull these guy will kick me out of the Darkside club, Its been close a few times.

wayne wrote:When I did mine it was set at 18 to 20, I went by feel and they have over 35,000 on them now and I havent touched them.

Twin, you only running 33 to 35lbs.? I may drop to 35 just to see how it handles. Im running 40 and thats what I put in it to start and it handles great. Maybe I have a softer side wall. I noticed when I was looking at tires, there is alot of diff. in the side wall on all the 205s. I think with the softer one, it is better to run a little more press. You wouldnt want to roll the tire of the rim in a corrner.

Sorry for stealing thread, Hudi.
I gotta be carefull these guy will kick me out of the Darkside club, Its been close a few times.

My tire is a "snow and rain tire"... So, I think it requires the lower air pressure to work! Try it and see what you think! I know guys tell me to go up, but I put what they tire required on the sidewall and been riding it every since! Works for me!

Let us know what you find out?????????????? Sorry Hudi!!!!!!!!..... Back to the regularly schedule topic.

...............bobby


.

wayne wrote:When I did mine it was set at 18 to 20, I went by feel and they have over 35,000 on them now and I havent touched them.

Twin, you only running 33 to 35lbs.? I may drop to 35 just to see how it handles. Im running 40 and thats what I put in it to start and it handles great. Maybe I have a softer side wall. I noticed when I was looking at tires, there is alot of diff. in the side wall on all the 205s. I think with the softer one, it is better to run a little more press. You wouldnt want to roll the tire of the rim in a corrner.

Sorry for stealing thread, Hudi.
I gotta be carefull these guy will kick me out of the Darkside club, Its been close a few times.

Wayne you are safe, if we were gonna kick peeps out for thread hijacking and general dumbassedness, Muntz and Jerry would be in trouble.

See you out there
Smokey

smokey2255 wrote:

wayne wrote:When I did mine it was set at 18 to 20, I went by feel and they have over 35,000 on them now and I havent touched them.

Twin, you only running 33 to 35lbs.? I may drop to 35 just to see how it handles. Im running 40 and thats what I put in it to start and it handles great. Maybe I have a softer side wall. I noticed when I was looking at tires, there is alot of diff. in the side wall on all the 205s. I think with the softer one, it is better to run a little more press. You wouldnt want to roll the tire of the rim in a corrner.

Sorry for stealing thread, Hudi.
I gotta be carefull these guy will kick me out of the Darkside club, Its been close a few times.

Wayne you are safe, if we were gonna kick peeps out for thread hijacking and general dumbassedness, Muntz and Jerry would be in trouble.

See you out there
Smokey

Bwwwhahahaha Wayne....you are safe as in your mothers womb.

j/k Muntz and Unca' Jerr


.............bobby

.

smokey2255 wrote:

wayne wrote:When I did mine it was set at 18 to 20, I went by feel and they have over 35,000 on them now and I havent touched them.

Twin, you only running 33 to 35lbs.? I may drop to 35 just to see how it handles. Im running 40 and thats what I put in it to start and it handles great. Maybe I have a softer side wall. I noticed when I was looking at tires, there is alot of diff. in the side wall on all the 205s. I think with the softer one, it is better to run a little more press. You wouldnt want to roll the tire of the rim in a corrner.

Sorry for stealing thread, Hudi.
I gotta be carefull these guy will kick me out of the Darkside club, Its been close a few times.

Wayne you are safe, if we were gonna kick peeps out for thread hijacking and general dumbassedness, Muntz and Jerry would be in trouble.

See you out there
Smokey

I resemble that remark.....did you hear about.....opps almost stole another one...

Jerry

twin1300 wrote:

wayne wrote:When I did mine it was set at 18 to 20, I went by feel and they have over 35,000 on them now and I havent touched them.

Twin, you only running 33 to 35lbs.? I may drop to 35 just to see how it handles. Im running 40 and thats what I put in it to start and it handles great. Maybe I have a softer side wall. I noticed when I was looking at tires, there is alot of diff. in the side wall on all the 205s. I think with the softer one, it is better to run a little more press. You wouldnt want to roll the tire of the rim in a corrner.

Sorry for stealing thread, Hudi.
I gotta be carefull these guy will kick me out of the Darkside club, Its been close a few times.

My tire is a "snow and rain tire"... So, I think it requires the lower air pressure to work! Try it and see what you think! I know guys tell me to go up, but I put what they tire required on the sidewall and been riding it every since! Works for me!

Let us know what you find out?????????????? Sorry Hudi!!!!!!!!..... Back to the regularly schedule topic.

...............bobby


.

All mine has is for max. load, and its 51lbs. and I know it will never see max. load.
I dont think Ive ever had a recomend tire press. on the tire. And it rides so good there, I dont want to mess with it.

well took it apart again and went from 20# to 15# and everything seems to ride great now. i cant believe the difference in handling. here is the order of all my handling and comfort mods till now. grips, risers, blah blah blah, wideside 205 douglas, wow! then the mustang seats, wow! then the progressive shocks and springs, wow! then the all balls, wow! it is so amazing how it handles in twisties and at any speed. thanks everyone for their inputs on getting me where i am today. the old lady said that the new suspension and bearings is the best mod so far by far. and i put about $4k in it so far. she knows her shat.

Alright......stop it! I got too much stuff to do now.....two into one pipes, cut my seat down, mount my hard bags,....etc. NOW, all this stuff! I can see now they don't make enough hours in the day.....


Good write up Hudi.


.....................bobby

.

I cant beleave that twin hasnt done the head bearrings yet. That is more important that anything.
Twin you wont beleave the diff. You think it hadles good now , just wait untill you do it. This is the most important Mod. I had so many problems with the frontend from day one when I got the bike, back in May of 02, I couldnt wait to rip it apart and change them, as soon as I found out I ordered them, did it about a week or so after Bruce aka coolrunnings, here in Or did it.

wayne wrote:I cant believe that twin hasn't done the head bearings yet. That is more important that anything.
Twin you wont believe the diff. You think it handles good now , just wait until you do it. This is the most important Mod. I had so many problems with the front end from day one when I got the bike, back in May of 02, I couldn't wait to rip it apart and change them, as soon as I found out I ordered them, did it about a week or so after Bruce aka coolrunnings, here in Or did it.

No, wayne I haven't! Just never thought about it. But I picked up a shimmy about 4 weeks ago and it is ever so slight when I take my hands off the handle bars. It doesn't go to the tank slapper, but I don't let it get bad enough before I put my hands back on the bars. I know it's not the car tire because I have never had any problems till like I said about 4-5 weeks ago! I used to ride hands off all the time, but I think it's the head bearings too!


................bobby


.

My first 2 sets of OEM bearring only lasted about 8 to 10k miles and they were shot, they had pits in them, I didnt want to be replaceine them every 10k miles.
How many miles you got on her?

wayne wrote:My first 2 sets of OEM bearring only lasted about 8 to 10k miles and they were shot, they had pits in them, I didnt want to be replaceine them every 10k miles.
How many miles you got on her?

22,000 + hard miles and in the elements every day.....it's a commuter!!!!!!!!!


.............bobby


.

smokey2255 wrote:

wayne wrote:When I did mine it was set at 18 to 20, I went by feel and they have over 35,000 on them now and I havent touched them.

Twin, you only running 33 to 35lbs.? I may drop to 35 just to see how it handles. Im running 40 and thats what I put in it to start and it handles great. Maybe I have a softer side wall. I noticed when I was looking at tires, there is alot of diff. in the side wall on all the 205s. I think with the softer one, it is better to run a little more press. You wouldnt want to roll the tire of the rim in a corrner.

Sorry for stealing thread, Hudi.
I gotta be carefull these guy will kick me out of the Darkside club, Its been close a few times.

Wayne you are safe, if we were gonna kick peeps out for thread hijacking and general dumbassedness, Muntz and Jerry would be in trouble.

See you out there
Smokey

I dont ever recall any hijacking or dumbassedness.
Maybe its just me, but then again I'm about a half a bubble off.