Swingarm clearence

[Sonny]

I put a 200 rear tire on 99 standard right before the InZane ride this year.  Ever since I have had a tracking problem. Bike is simply not stable. The faster you ride it the worse it gets. Thought maybe the ware on the front tire was the problem so I put new one on.  Same problem.  I've checked every bearing everyware. No issues with any of them.

Has anyone ever measured the space between the tire and the fender/strut nut?   Is it possible to twist the swing arm ??  Between the tire and the right side nut bracket I have only 1/4" clearence.
On the left side I have almost 3/4" clearence.  And there seems to be no way to adjust anything.

Any ideas ????

[Challenger]

1/4" sounds ok, I had less than 1/8" on my 200 Metz, If your brake isn't dragging, I would say it is aligned properly, I have seen the RH spacer in the final drive unit not be seated and cause the wobble you describe, I would also check the shock bushings. Did you loosen the four nuts holding the pumpkin to the swing arm before tightening the axle nut?

[fudgie]

Left side is gonna be larger. Helps in getting the tire off.

[Ricky-D]

Sonny, there's a few things you can do in trying to determine what, the problem you are experiencing, is caused by.

First it would be beneficial to elevate the bike and turn the wheels to inspect for true running. Looking at the sidewall of the tires while turning for uneven, out of round condition may reveal the cause of the problem. This has been discussed a few times in past threads.

Since the tires being the cause of the problem is elusive you can try to eliminate one or both tires by adjusting the air pressure in one tire at a time trying to find a change in handling to point to a tire. First trying maybe a very high pressure and that failing try a very low pressure to reveal if a tire is your problem.

I would also suggest looking at the tire balancing for errors. An easy check would be to see if there is a heavy spot on either tire. Failing that it would probably be a good idea to have a tire shop balance them or at least check them for good balance.

If you can eliminate the tires from the equation it will be a good step in finding the cause of your problem.

***

[Sonny]

Here is what has transpired so far. When tire was mounted at local bike shop, it had (10) stick on weights applied. Five on each side.  I asked service if this was common with todays tires. He stated no it's not really common but it does happen more often than in the past years with new tires.
Put the tire back on and 2 days later road up to InZane. Noticed it did not handle like normal. Thought it might be just because I went from 180R/70 to a 200R/60.  Either way don't like it.
When I returned I started changing the tire pressure in 2-lb increments from 45-lbs down to 35-lbs.  No change..  Checked tire to see if it was running true as you suggested found nothing out of the ordinary. Again I removed rear tire to inspect wheel bearings and swing arm bearings.  No issues found.. Mounted tire back on bike road again, still not stable. Removed tire again and took back to bike shop explaining the issues I was having.  They broke the tire down on the wheel and went through the whole balancing process again. This time the tire came out with no wheel weights at all and stated the tire balanced out at Zero. And the white dot on the tire is now on the opposite side from the valve stem. I thought it was supposed to be located right next to it?  I'm not apposed to buying another tire. This one already has about 4,300 miles on it but before I go spend another couple hundred dollars I want to make sure this is going to fix my problem.

 

[fudgie]

My front Metz I put on a few years ago had 5 stick on weights. It felt bumpy to me. Took half of them off and felt better. Ended up taking them all off. No weights in 3 years and handles fine. I dont think I have any weights on the rear either. 

[old2soon]

If the torquing sequence is not followed correctly it will cause problems, That goes for the front and rear wheels. Look at shock bushings. Should be centered. If off center replace. This is just me but pull off wheel weights and replace with dyna beads. If the stea er dealer screwed the pooch on the torquing sequences that may be a lot of your problems. Pleases keep us informed. RIDE SAFE.

[moreira72]

I'm having the same issue!!!

Put a New 200 Metz on the rear and at speeds above 80 the handlebars start to wobble. I already changed the shock bushings but still there. I am waiting for the dampers to come in, and then i will pull the rear wheel off and do new bearings, o-rings, and thrust washer. When I installed the new tire, i do not remember if the thrust washer was there or not. Its a 99 I/S with 50K that i bought a couple months ago. Bike did not wobble at speeds over 100 with old 180 Metz before.

[Ricky-D]

Ok Sonny, it sounds like you have eliminated the rear tire as the cause of the wobble.

I would say to now look at the front tire as being the cause.

If you can eliminate the front tire being the cause there will then be other areas to look at but for now the most possible cause of your wobble will be the front tire.

A little note here is that when you are experimenting with air pressure to eliminate a tire as being the cause of the wobble, changing pressure at two pound increments will not do the job. Remember that this is being done to eliminate a tire from the equation so the only way you will be able to feel the change would be a large change in air pressure to overcome the wobble. As a suggestion I would suggest to ride the tire at a low pressure of around 20 psi and see if that stops the wobble. Remember you're not going to ride thousands of miles like this but only a few miles for testing only. On the other hand test riding with the tire extremely hard like maybe 55 or 60 psi and see if that eliminates the wobble.

You're not adjusting the pressure to achieve ride comfort level but rather to find the offending tire that is possibility causing the wobble.

If the problem is simply a tire that is out of balance Dyna Beads may be one solution. Since you are the only one to make the decisions, a good logical path to determining what the problem is, will yield the best results.

***

[Master Blaster]

Check your swingarm pivot bearings. 

[Sonny]

I have checked all hte bearings that is why I keep going back to the tire.  After all the weights were removed I installed the tire again and went for a ride. Bike did handle better but not like before.

At this point I think I'm just going to put another tire on factory size with dyna beads and see what happens.

It's getting to the point I would rahter ride my VTX and that's not good!

[GOOSE]

sonny....don't give up on the c-t idea quite yet.....what is causing you problem is going to turn out to be something really simple.  listen to these guys...look at the shock bushings/if you loosen the axle bolt/nut...go ahead and loosen the 4-nuts that hold the final drive to the swingarm, then tighten the axle, then tighten the 4-nuts back.  i've been running a c-t on both of my valks for several years now, and i love them.  don't give up quite yet.

[PAVALKER]

Did you use the same shop to balance the tire both times?  Why didn't they notice the need for so much weight and rotate the tire to begin with?  I believe the dot is supposed to be opposite the stem anyhow.... and they should have tried to fix that the first time.

Try a different balancer, could be a mechanical issue with their machine.   Or, maybe it has a broken belt in the tire and gave a false indication.  Hate  to spend the money on a new tire if it's not needed, but it very well could be, or the person installing the tire has issues.

edit.... is that a car tire or bike tire ??   Make sure the tire is fully seated on the rim, CT's sometimes don't seat well and can give a wobble indication (happened to me).