Front end shimmy

[Jersey mike]

Ok, so today wasn't the 1st time this has happened but it's only at speeds 95+. It starts slightly then as speed increases so does the shimmy but nothing I would consider out of control.

I have a '98 tourer, riding on Metzler ME880's and a Clearview shield.

Up to 95 the bike is smooth as can be, no sign of any shimmy, I'm thinking its wind turbulence but I wanted to check and see if any others have the same experience.

Today I was cruising about 85 and some girl on on green sport bike ( she was wearing leather pants and a short leather jacket that showed the small of her back with  a butterfly tattoo) passed me very quickly so I decided to play a little and caught her at 95. I stayed with her up to +10 when she pointed toward me with her left hand, tapped her left butt cheek a couple times and waved bye bye. In an instant she was 10 car lengths away making moves passing cars like a champion chess player and then she was gone.

[Firefighter]

My IS does that at about 80 mph depending on the wind. I have replaced or adjusted everything I can think to do. Mine will go into the death wobble if I try and go faster once the oscillation starts, almost lost control once while conducting that test.

Might be tire combination.

[..]

Front tire pressure
Rear tire pressure
Sloppy front forks
Rear suspension too soft
Uneven weight distribution in saddlebags
Worn out shock bushings
Cupped tires
Weird wear on tires
Too much weight in a trunk
Do you sit  a lot above the windshield

[Tfrank59]

 all I can say is at 95 plus miles per hour, on a 1998 motorcycle,  it could be anything. it is not a racing motorcycle, and it never was, even though back in the twentieth century you probably could go a hundred miles an hour without a shimmy. my advice, although probably not what you want to hear, is keep it under 90  .  The other thing to consider is buying a Ducati or an actual racing motorcycle maybe Hayabusa. Ride safe.

[Steel cowboy]

I found this out at the ford dealer when I had new truck tires installed. The wheel balancer they have only goes up to 75 miles an hour. I would assum the car tires are balanced to about the same speed. Above that you could get a shimmy. I belive motorcycle tires are rated a bit higher, but I don't belive they are balanced to does speeds. Try balancing beads instead of weights they adjust to any speed.
But 95+mph to check out a tattoo 

[Chrisj CMA]

My experience with Valkyrie says barring damage or loose neck bearings it's most likely tire related

[vanagon40]

I had the same on a 2001 Standard when I switched my front tire to slightly more narrow than stock (I already had a slightly wider than stock rear tire). Seemed to get better when I changed front tires and went back to a 150/80-17. (Or it could have just been the specific tire.)

I did not bother me as 99.9% of the time I under 85 MPH.

[falconbrother]

I have owned two wings, two valks and six Harleys.  The wing/valk shimmy and the Harley wobble are very different.  The Harley death wobble is scary.  The wing/valk shimmy is faster and less dramatic.  

On every wing/valk that I have ever owned there was some kind of a shimmy under certain circumstances.  The most common is rolling downhill, decelerating and take your hands off of the bars.  My current Interstate will start a shimmy when I do that.  I think it's just the big heavy bike design and I don't fret over it.  On my old C model valkyrie I had it up over 120 and it was steady as a rock.  The wings would shimmy under the same circumstances as my current Interstate.  The current Interstate is rock steady out on the highway.  If I were looking for a cause of your shimmy I'd first suspect the windshield.  The Hondaline windshield on my old C model seemed to be well designed.  Some aftermarket windshields are just a hunk of plexiglass.  

The Harley death wobble is another animal all together.  It's caused by the rubber mounted engine/transmission/swingarm relationship.  Basically, it's rear wheel steer and it will get your attention and is far worse than anything I have ever experienced on any metric bike.  The Harley death wobble happened to me a couple of times and if I had not known what to do when it happened I feel like I would have crashed.  It feels almost like a tank slapping kind of hard, uncontrollable, wobble.  When it happens you just relax and ride it out.  You cannot force the handlebars to do anything, they are just responding to the rear wheel steer issue.  Back off of the throttle and pray a fox hole prayer.  Just another reason that I'm too old to own another Harley.  

If it's a tire balance issue beads might be a solution.  Years ago when I mounted a tire I would use regular weights.  It works fine.  But, balance beads are easier and in my experience they work better as long as you have enough of them in your tire.  I haven't mounted a tire on this bike but, these are big tires.  I suspect that it would require a healthy dose of beads, maybe 4 or 5 ounces.  I think I used 3.5 in the rear tire on my Electraglide.    

[Tfrank59]

Jersey Mike, while riding today I've been thinking about your post, and I'm going to stick my neck out a little bit here and ask where are you riding over 95 mph? If you're not on a race track you're one of those guys who will be a grease spot on the highway eventually and also one of those who will poison the cage drivers against all motorcyclists.  I get it that it's exhilarating to go fast, but for those speeds, like SQUIDS out there doing wheelies on the interstate at 70 mph, it's really not helping the rest of us and it will surely end in disaster for you. Just my 1.5 cents.
Tom

[DK]

If it's a tire balance issue beads might be a solution.  Years ago when I mounted a tire I would use regular weights.  It works fine.  But, balance beads are easier and in my experience they work better as long as you have enough of them in your tire.  I haven't mounted a tire on this bike but, these are big tires.  I suspect that it would require a healthy dose of beads, maybe 4 or 5 ounces.  I think I used 3.5 in the rear tire on my Electraglide.  

Do you conventially  balance your tires before adding beads?

[Jersey mike]

all I can say is at 95 plus miles per hour, on a 1998 motorcycle,  it could be anything. it is not a racing motorcycle, and it never was, even though back in the twentieth century you probably could go a hundred miles an hour without a shimmy. my advice, although probably not what you want to hear, is keep it under 90  .  The other thing to consider is buying a Ducati or an actual racing motorcycle maybe Hayabusa. Ride safe.

thanks for your thoughts, but this bike wasn't built to just cruise no matter what year it was built.

[Jersey mike]

Jersey Mike, while riding today I've been thinking about your post, and I'm going to stick my neck out a little bit here and ask where are you riding over 95 mph? If you're not on a race track you're one of those guys who will be a grease spot on the highway eventually and also one of those who will poison the cage drivers against all motorcyclists.  I get it that it's exhilarating to go fast, but for those speeds, like SQUIDS out there doing wheelies on the interstate at 70 mph, it's really not helping the rest of us and it will surely end in disaster for you. Just my 1.5 cents.
Tom

it was early in the morning about 10am on an 3 lane interstate with very light traffic. most of the road was wide open for miles. it's not my regular riding style but there are times you need to let the 'ole girl run.

[Jersey mike]

But 95+mph to check out a tattoo 

[

old habits are hard to break. besides what's the difference between that and guys posting about out running a guy on an HD?

if there was any inherent danger or traffic concerns it would not have happened.

[Jersey mike]

I have owned two wings, two valks and six Harleys.  The wing/valk shimmy and the Harley wobble are very different.  The Harley death wobble is scary.  The wing/valk shimmy is faster and less dramatic.  

On every wing/valk that I have ever owned there was some kind of a shimmy under certain circumstances.  The most common is rolling downhill, decelerating and take your hands off of the bars.  My current Interstate will start a shimmy when I do that.  I think it's just the big heavy bike design and I don't fret over it.  On my old C model valkyrie I had it up over 120 and it was steady as a rock.  The wings would shimmy under the same circumstances as my current Interstate.  The current Interstate is rock steady out on the highway.  If I were looking for a cause of your shimmy I'd first suspect the windshield.  The Hondaline windshield on my old C model seemed to be well designed.  Some aftermarket windshields are just a hunk of plexiglass.  

The Harley death wobble is another animal all together.  It's caused by the rubber mounted engine/transmission/swingarm relationship.  Basically, it's rear wheel steer and it will get your attention and is far worse than anything I have ever experienced on any metric bike.  The Harley death wobble happened to me a couple of times and if I had not known what to do when it happened I feel like I would have crashed.  It feels almost like a tank slapping kind of hard, uncontrollable, wobble.  When it happens you just relax and ride it out.  You cannot force the handlebars to do anything, they are just responding to the rear wheel steer issue.  Back off of the throttle and pray a fox hole prayer.  Just another reason that I'm too old to own another Harley.  

If it's a tire balance issue beads might be a solution.  Years ago when I mounted a tire I would use regular weights.  It works fine.  But, balance beads are easier and in my experience they work better as long as you have enough of them in your tire.  I haven't mounted a tire on this bike but, these are big tires.  I suspect that it would require a healthy dose of beads, maybe 4 or 5 ounces.  I think I used 3.5 in the rear tire on my Electraglide.    

im beginning to think it is the windshield. I switched to a 19" Clearview last year and on the highway it felt much more sturdy than the OEM did and I think the shimmy wasn't as bad as it was with the OEM and did not start as soon.

[The emperor has no clothes]

If it's a tire balance issue beads might be a solution.  Years ago when I mounted a tire I would use regular weights.  It works fine.  But, balance beads are easier and in my experience they work better as long as you have enough of them in your tire.  I haven't mounted a tire on this bike but, these are big tires.  I suspect that it would require a healthy dose of beads, maybe 4 or 5 ounces.  I think I used 3.5 in the rear tire on my Electraglide.  

Do you conventially  balance your tires before adding beads?

I've been using the Counteract Beads for a while now. Work great. 2 oz. in front and 3 oz. in rear car tire. There is no need to balance the tires beforehand.

Jersey Mike, while riding today I've been thinking about your post, and I'm going to stick my neck out a little bit here and ask where are you riding over 95 mph? If you're not on a race track you're one of those guys who will be a grease spot on the highway eventually and also one of those who will poison the cage drivers against all motorcyclists.  I get it that it's exhilarating to go fast, but for those speeds, like SQUIDS out there doing wheelies on the interstate at 70 mph, it's really not helping the rest of us and it will surely end in disaster for you. Just my 1.5 cents.
Tom

it was early in the morning about 10am on an 3 lane interstate with very light traffic. most of the road was wide open for miles. it's not my regular riding style but there are times you need to let the 'ole girl run.

I consider myself a pretty conservative rider, at least compared to my younger years. But I couldn't begin to count the amount of times I've done 95 or over. Usually 115 is it for me though. There is a difference doing it around other vehicles and doing it on an open road. But like one of our riders from the Great State of Tennessee says "Ride your Ride". Don't do anything you are not comfortable doing. These bikes were made for cruising though, 95mph is pretty smooth. 

[h13man]

Mine starts @ 105 with the SlipSteamer shield. Added lowers which alleviated it but had to take them off for summer due motor heat is a bit to much. They'll be back on in the fall for sure.

[Tfrank59]

Jersey Mike, while riding today I've been thinking about your post, and I'm going to stick my neck out a little bit here and ask where are you riding over 95 mph? If you're not on a race track you're one of those guys who will be a grease spot on the highway eventually and also one of those who will poison the cage drivers against all motorcyclists.  I get it that it's exhilarating to go fast, but for those speeds, like SQUIDS out there doing wheelies on the interstate at 70 mph, it's really not helping the rest of us and it will surely end in disaster for you. Just my 1.5 cents.
Tom

it was early in the morning about 10am on an 3 lane interstate with very light traffic. most of the road was wide open for miles. it's not my regular riding style but there are times you need to let the 'ole girl run.

OK fair enough. Maybe I'm old (not really--57 this year), just guess I'm really conservative cause for me "lettin' the old girl run" is hitting 85 for a minute or two

[The emperor has no clothes]

Jersey Mike, while riding today I've been thinking about your post, and I'm going to stick my neck out a little bit here and ask where are you riding over 95 mph? If you're not on a race track you're one of those guys who will be a grease spot on the highway eventually and also one of those who will poison the cage drivers against all motorcyclists.  I get it that it's exhilarating to go fast, but for those speeds, like SQUIDS out there doing wheelies on the interstate at 70 mph, it's really not helping the rest of us and it will surely end in disaster for you. Just my 1.5 cents.
Tom

it was early in the morning about 10am on an 3 lane interstate with very light traffic. most of the road was wide open for miles. it's not my regular riding style but there are times you need to let the 'ole girl run.

OK fair enough. Maybe I'm old (not really--57 this year), just guess I'm really conservative cause for me "lettin' the old girl run" is hitting 85 for a minute or two

There is nothing wrong with that 

[Jersey mike]

Ok so this morning after giving the bike a bath, while wiping down the front wheel I brushed up against the valve stem and it released some air. Called the shop that usually works on my bike and they told me bring it right in. I have some new valves from Jake Wilson so I brought some with me.

Before they took the bike back, I told them about what had happened with the shimmy and they would check everything out too.

They installed the new valve and rebalanced the tire and said the shocks, brakes wheel bearings and triple tree were all fine not play anywhere.

Riding home what just fine, once on the interstate I had plenty of opportunities to get the bike up to speed where the issue was and it was rock solid, very well planted to the highway and smooth.

When I checked the air pressure a few weeks ago I did need to add a few pounds, nothing major so the valve must have been bleeding off air, it was about 7 pounds down before I left this morning.

[pancho]

Now you're cookin with gas     ..........      If you don't have any mechanical or airflow buffeting problems,  these bikes will ride smoothly at well over 100 mph.

[..]

Thanks for the update.

A lesson for all of us. Check tire pressure often and get rid of the OEM stems right now.