+80 mph wobble

How is everyone been around here? I have a question that has me a little confused. I have a wobble at high speeds and can't figure out the problem. I have a new metz on front, alls-balls, progressives in front and back with new bushings, and Douglas 205 on rear. I think that I narrowed it down to my Douglas might not be balanced any more, it might need replaced (down to wear bars) or my shocks are too stiff (412 HD). I notice it more when riding solo. I need all the tips that I can get to get rid of this. Maybe beads or is it time to replace tire (I have an extra laying around). I only have about 11k on the Douglas and it is down to the bars. I am hard on tires for some reason. Thanks for any help.

First thing I would recomend is to check your tire pressure. If it is low then that could be a possibility, next I would want to check the condition of the front tire. Look at the front tire and see if the wear pattern is off from normal. This site will help you a little better since I don't have the tire in front of me to help explain it. Tire Wear

If everything on the tire checks out, jack the bike up to where the front tire is off the ground. Rotate the wheel and see if there is any wobble or noise (like a grinding or screaching noise) when you spin it. Idealy you would take the wheel off and use a dial guage indicator to determin if the wheel is trued (spoke only) or if the wheel is bent. A small bend in the wheel is easier to notice at higher speeds then at low speed.

If nothing noticable come from that you would need to take the wheel off and check the axel, an easy way to do that is to find a flat surface and gently roll it on top of it. Most manuals will tell you the procedure for that model of bike and have a list of scpecifications that it should fall under, and some actually tell you to roll it on a flat surface.

Looks like you had replaced the bearing on the stearing column if I read that correctly, so the only thing left to check if all the others are in good condition would be the wheel bearings themselves. With most wheel bearings you'll have to replace them once they go bad.

I hope this would be helpful information for you and not just me rambling on. Suspention and the rear tire wouldn't have any effect on a front end wobble and I'm only guessing that's the issue you're having. If it's not, it's more serious and I would highly recomend it head to the shop not so they can get your money, but they have the equipment and knowledge to find the issue and work on it.

i have the same problem. for me it starts at 73mph speedo reading and is quite noticable at 80mph.

i have not done anything that has been suggested to me yet since we went camping this weekend. but i think all i need is to get more beads in there. since i put the 3oz that i had, it has reduced by about 30%. it just possible it needs more wieght for balaceing.

one of things that i have been told to do is, break the bead and turn the rubber on the rim and reseat it after making sure that the rim edges are clean. the other thing is to get it statically balance and then the dyna beads.

cerooth thanks for the tips, i will look into those myself.

The same happens to me when my front tire gets down to 38 psi. I keep it at 41 and its fine.(well no wobble till I get over 100)
Gonna replace the front wheel bearings soon. Cerooth did cover most of it. 1 other thing is with the change of height in the rear tire it can throw your windshield out, which can cause problems.

Jerry

I have some beads on the way. I have an extra douglas in the shed that I am considering putting on this week. My current douglas has 11k on it, but there is only about 1/8" of thread left in the middle. It is really getting flat throughout the tread now. I think that I must be hard on tires since my first 2 rears only got about 4k before they were shot. I always keep up with the pressure. When I receive my beads, I am going to get my new douglas put on with the beads and then put the beads in the front tire myself. I also want to try 41 psi like Jedishon suggested. I am never satified with my ride when things feel a little different. I will do whatever it takes. Thanks to all. This site rocks.

My bike is doing the same thing at about 75 mph. as soon as i back off the gas its stops. I feel that if I just kept going faster that the wobble would get bigger and bigger until i lost control. Im gonna try more beads I think. I put 3 oz. in it but maybe its not enough. I do have a little cupping on my front tire. but hard to believe that it would cause that much of a wobble...

jedishon wrote:The same happens to me when my front tire gets down to 38 psi. I keep it at 41 and its fine.(well no wobble till I get over 100)
Gonna replace the front wheel bearings soon. Cerooth did cover most of it. 1 other thing is with the change of height in the rear tire it can throw your windshield out, which can cause problems.

Jerry

+1 on checking the windshield. remove your windshield or readjust and see if the wobble goes away. mine did good luck.... Griz

Just a thought! Did y'all take OFF the old weights when you put the new dynabeads in? If not, that could be your problem.

YUP I DID THAT..

Why ride at 80mph?
Lifes too short.

I hope its not the windshield coz I have a faring on mine and cant adjust it

Does everyone thats been having this problem have a wind shield on there bike?? that would answer the question about a wind shield

I have a windshield and have had the bike up to 100 with 2 up. No wobble.

I have been working on a wobble myself lately and in my research I found a post on the VTXOA under the step-by-step how toos that explains the wobble on an 1800. I think this is relavant because the main fix for the 1300 is to install the 1800 style bearings. Check it out there is some good info on how to troubleshoot depending on the type or frequency of the wobble. My bearings were set too tight and brought back the wobble but slower than before. I'm still working on mine so good luck with yours.

Dave

I was just reading another post and your wobble may be related to worn out shock bushing on your shocks. Mine were worn out at 10,000 miles. Make sense that this important part of the suspension would cause a wobble if worn out. My bushings were about $20 from Honda.

I had a wobble at 80 after replacing my front tire myself and not having it balanced. I added 1oz of Dynabeads in the front and 2oz's in the rear and the wobble is gone. The ride is smooth as glass now.

what tire are u running on the back? and do you have a windshield on ur bike?

put another oz of beads in my rear that makes 4 ozs. and put front tire at 42 psi and the wobble stopped. Now I can get past 70 to 85 then I start getting the wobble again.. Im thinking i need a new front tired......

tallbill17 wrote:put another oz of beads in my rear that makes 4 ozs. and put front tire at 42 psi and the wobble stopped. Now I can get past 70 to 85 then I start getting the wobble again.. Im thinking i need a new front tired......

Sounds like a good plan!


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


.

Had a guy with a 1300C stop by. Said he got the wobbles at 110.

Checked out all the usual stuff on the bike and he had Dynabeads already in.

Remembered something from way back and gave it a try. His rear shocks were set at 4 and I dropped 'em down to 2.

The man says that cured it. Have to take his word for it, but, he's happy.

Wren

I think the wear bars on your Douglas says it all. Can that tire. Put on a new Goodyear. Douglas tires have a reputation with separation of the plies. I have two close friends that returned thier Douglas tire to Wallymart and upgraded to another brand because of the separation problem.