high speed wobble

Okay, I was in a hurry this morning....I was passing a car and as I hit 90 the bike started to wobble. I was behind a truck so I thought it might be buffeting. Came up to an s curve, hit the first at 85 and accelerating, no problem, hit the second at 90 and didn't know if I would get control of the bike again. It was wobbeling so bad I thought I had it (had a dream of going down last night, but that was on ice). Had to get down to 75 and mussle it upright. I'm running a douglas 205/65/15 at 38 psi, on a X 1300R. I bought the bike last Sept. and have 4700 miles on it. This is the first time I've had it up that fast with the 205 on it, did 110 with the dunflop. Anyone have any ideas? (no Muntz I will not give you my bike for parts for yours). I 'am going to lower the air to 33 on the way home (Twins idea) and see if that makes a difference. Will listen to everything. Thanks

Jerry

The stock shock bushings are junk from the get go. Replace them with teflon or nylon. I went through all this too and the bushings made the difference for me. Air pressure just changed the speeds at which it occured. Twin might still have the parts list of different manufacturers bushings. If you are interested I have a set of stock shocks with the nylon bushings in them that I bought they are cut and the spring painted. They look good. I have never had them mounted though but I see nothing wrong with them.

Good Luck

See you out there
Smokey

check wheel bearing , wheel alignment and steering head bearings.

I have been almost 190 mph on my car tire without issues , so iI doubt it is the tire.

Roy

smokey2255 wrote:The stock shock bushings are junk from the get go. Replace them with teflon or nylon. I went through all this too and the bushings made the difference for me. Air pressure just changed the speeds at which it occured. Twin might still have the parts list of different manufacturers bushings. If you are interested I have a set of stock shocks with the nylon bushings in them that I bought they are cut and the spring painted. They look good. I have never had them mounted though but I see nothing wrong with them.

Good Luck

See you out there
Smokey

Are they stock height or Ponys 1-1/2" lower mods. And how much?

Jerry

I had that problem and fixed it by playing with the air pressure. I ended up with 40 psi on the rear and 30 in the front. I'm running a Hancook (sp) 205/55 16 and a Dunny on the front. Good luck

don't the 1300's have a notorious steering wobble from crappy bearings or incorrect preload or something?

Smokey you were right (not that I ever doubted you). Changed the air pressure and it started shaking at 85. Got home and rechecked the bushings and they aint round no more. Got a 1/8" gap top and bottom of both shocks.

Thanks,
Jerry

let me know if that works and where you get the bushings , thanks your friend , Horse

Just orderd a set for my brothers new C model. P/n 6389k344. www.McMaster-carr.com

I went to motion industries and picked mine up. But I don't remember the part number or any of that good stuff.

See you out there
Smokey
That would be a post with nothing to say, does that make me a post ho?

smokey2255 wrote:I went to motion industries and picked mine up. But I don't remember the part number or any of that good stuff.

See you out there
Smokey
That would be a post with nothing to say, does that make me a post ho?

I would vote for mini ho.....only because you dont do it as much as Muntz.....

Jerry



P.S. did I say anything

Got the bushings put on or in whatever....pita...had to drop the exhaust again...Had to tke it off to get the 205 on, now to get the shock back on.....Crap design...Took Mrs D for about a 2 hour cruise...her fist time on the darkside....never said a word about it.....Think I'll take it up to 35 psi.....32 feels a little spongy.....anyway found ou why they sell pkgs of 5......its incase you break and or chip one on the install.....Lets just say I'm glad they do.....

Jerry

It is a PITA, but well worth the doing. Let us know when you get it up to speeds and if the problem is fixed.

See you out there
Smokey

The only wobble I've had at speed was while doing 95 into 35mph winds, thought that had more to do with it then the the stock parts. One of these days I'll have to tear my scoot down and really do some major changes to it, but I think I'll wear out my tire first.

Did ya check the knippler pin???

It was 30 this morning with no snow, so its time to ride. Dont care if I do have a cold....
1.) From a standing start, turning left or right, hitting second gear before getting the bike straight, it feels like the sidewall is buckling and it wants to jump out from under me......
2.) Getting through the curves it is fantastic, going straight it is a good smooth ride up untill about 95 where it starts shaking my teeth out. I did not try a high speed curve (above 80), with the traffic and the bad experience the last time I tried. But at 80 it felt like it wanted to get the shakes.

At this point I am assuming I am going to have to change the front bearing. Mrs D is starting to question all the time I spend working on it. She would rather have a wing, but I cant aford that, and I like the smaller lighter easier to handle X.

No I dont think I will try riding slower, just not as fun.

Uncle Jerr

I think you said before you are running 32 lbs of air. put 40 lbs of air in it and give that a try. But go ahead and order the berrings , well worth the $36.
Im running 40 in the ct and going to try 42 next time. But now its rainning and I have the bike torn apart, checking the valves.

wayne wrote:I think you said before you are running 32 lbs of air. put 40 lbs of air in it and give that a try. But go ahead and order the berrings , well worth the $36.
Im running 40 in the ct and going to try 42 next time. But now its rainning and I have the bike torn apart, checking the valves.

+1 on everything wayne said.


See you out there
Smokey

OUt of curiousity, do you have a nice STABLE bike lift? Whenever I have a speed related issue the first thign I do is put the bike up on the lift (or truck or whatever) and run it to that speed with the tire off the ground to be sure it is not a driveline/tire related issue. I've had my VTX to 100+ a couple of times on the lift, even do it when I put on a new tire just to be sure I have it balenaced good enough.


NOTE: Do be very extra careful so we don't have a thread about you getting run over by your own bike or some such tragedy if you try this.

George

George....you know that is exactly what would happen to me.....Rider run over by riderless bike......film at 11....

Uncle Jerr

Good idea, might have to build a bike stand and try it....

Started with the air pressure at 38, wobble at 90.....went to 33, wobble at 85....went to 44, report in the morning, after I get to work........

Uncle Jerr

I guess maybe you can keep messing with stuff until you get the wobble "set" to a higher speed than the bike can do

For a real simple bike stand that you can build for almost nothing check back sometime in a day or two and I'll try to post some pics of one of the bike stands I have around here. I think it cost about $20 or less to build (no welding required either) and is VERY stable.

George

44 pounds....wobble at 100.....

this isn't fun

Jerry

I still think it's your stock dunnie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could be wrong, but.......



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

.

i had the same problem with the wobble and stock dunnie. POS tires. i had a ton of improvement when i went wideside and metz. now i have new rear shocks which helped big time, especially with the wideside grabbing the road. then last night i finished her off with bearings and fork springs. i dont think i am going to experience any more wobbles in the near future.