front end wobble. help!

[fudgie]

Noticed a low speed wobble a few days ago. Not very noticable at high speed. I thought it was my front tire was wore frkm the montana winds. New tire today. Wobble still thr. It moves from left to right kinda wobble. Kit followed me today and said my rear tire moves back and forth. I need a new rear this spring and its not quite to the wear bars. Its a car tire. 40 psi. Not sure where to go from here. Might over inflated it to see if it changes anything.  All was fine at sturgis and beartooth. Noticed it tht morning.
Any ideas?

[six2go #152]

The most common reason for a low speed wobble is loose steering head bearings. Too loose, ya get the wobble, too tight and ya get a "weave" or "swimming" motion.

[fudgie]

U kno i had all the sockets laid outvto check them but couldnt without dropping my bars. So. I didnt. Ill do that in the morning. Thx six! 

[Michvalk]

Swing arm bearings. Rear wheel bearing. Head bearings. Back tire. But, I would put my money on the swingarm bearings

[fudgie]

I also lifted and twisted the bars without the tire on it. Felt tight to me. A few yrs ago my bars were loose ans i retourqed them. They were replaced 5 yrs ago.

[fudgie]

Swing arm bearings. Rear wheel bearing. Head bearings. Back tire. But, I would put my money on the swingarm bearings

How do i check the swingarm bearings?

[Valkpilot]

Noticed a low speed wobble a few days ago. Not very noticable at high speed. I thought it was my front tire was wore frkm the montana winds. New tire today. Wobble still thr. It moves from left to right kinda wobble. Kit followed me today and said my rear tire moves back and forth. I need a new rear this spring and its not quite to the wear bars. Its a car tire. 40 psi. Not sure where to go from here. Might over inflated it to see if it changes anything.  All was fine at sturgis and beartooth. Noticed it tht morning.
Any ideas?

Fudgie, I had the same thing and it turned out to be the rear tire.  My Toyo Proxes DS tire was delaminating.  Bad shock bushing can do this too.

Why not start with the easy stuff and work towards steering head and swing arm?

[fudgie]

Im gonna check the steering stem in the morning and research a new rear

[fudgie]

Had kit set on the bike and move the bars back & forth as fast as she could. Rear tire looks good with the rest of the bike. No abnormal movement. I did notice the wobble is 'worse' without the extra weight of all my camp gear, which makes me think it is rear related.
Its odd all this happened overnight. I did ride home (700+ miles) like this cause I thought it was a wore front tire. The 'wobble' is still present at 75-85 mph, I can see a little vibration in my windshield. It was fine for 2000+ miles and then the next morning noticed the wobble. I did beartooth with no wobble, leaned left for 300 miles in MT due to the winds so the front wore on that side, which is always normal for me. That morning, wobble.
Sorry for this post but I was on my phone for the previous posts and didnt want to type this all out!  Hoping for loose steering stem. 

[Mr Whiskey]

leaned left for 300 miles in MT due to the winds so the front wore on that side,

If Kit can "see" it then it IS from the swingarm back! I'd bet dollars on it!
Do you have the double row bearing conversion on the left rear?
Man, find it! Could get you kilT!
Jus' had a brother I only got to ride with once get pitched into a tree on the Dragon, gone! (rear end locked up.)
Don't take it lightly Bro, find it & fix it.
Peace, Whiskey.

[Michvalk]

You can check swingarm bearings by lifting the bike off the ground, and grab the tire, and try moving it side to side. I agree with going with the easy stuff first, like shock bushings, tire, and stuff like that.

[Thunderbolt]

Raise it on a jack and then bring the swing arm up to sort of normal tension to keep the u-joint straight with straps or such.  Spin the rear tire and you should be able to tell if the tire is delaminating or out of round.  You can check play in the rear bearings at the same time.

[Fritz The Cat]

Rear shock bushing wore out.

[fudgie]

They are the neoprene? ones from gary. Do they wear out? I glanced at the shocks and they looked fine. I'll recheck here soon.

[eric in md]

bushing sure do wear out..

[csj]

The shock bushings only wear out if they're the rubber type. The neoprene should be
a long term fix.

And, the shock bushings only show wobble at high speed. I know, I have that wobble now.

I'm watching this post closely, gonna learn something.

[fudgie]

Headed to the garage now. 

[Ricky-D]

The majority of all wobble problems are tire related.

***

[Chrisj CMA]

U kno i had all the sockets laid outvto check them but couldnt without dropping my bars. So. I didnt. Ill do that in the morning. Thx six! 

You also have to remove the upper plate of the tripple tree.  Its not hard but that nut under the center of the bars is not what you need to tighten

[fudgie]

U kno i had all the sockets laid outvto check them but couldnt without dropping my bars. So. I didnt. Ill do that in the morning. Thx six! 

You also have to remove the upper plate of the tripple tree.  Its not hard but that nut under the center of the bars is not what you need to tighten

Yup relized that!

[fudgie]

ok. Jacked the rear up and everything is solid, no play any where. Took the front apart for the steering head check. They were loose, 10-12 fp and book calls for 17 fp. 40 fp for the initial bearing seat. Took for a small ride and it is better. I would say half is gone. Came back and aired up the tire to 50 psi, 44 is max and I run it about 40 psi. No change. Let the air out, no change. So I dont think its rear tire related.
Now should I go ahead a replace the bearings or just recheck them? They were replaced with all balls about 5 yrs ago, 40k ish.

[fudgie]

Retourqued and its still there. More pronounced in left hand swerves, which is where i always lean out west. No wobble on right hand swerves. Ordering a new ct today. Mine has been discontinued but found a slightly used one on ebay. Still has the paint on it.

[CB1]

my low speed wobble was due to a worn rear tire.

[Canuck]

my low speed wobble was due to a worn rear tire.

Yep, me too.

[fudgie]

Took the rear off and everythink looks great. I rolled the tire on the sidewalk and found a bad spot. Tire almost falls over when it hits the spot. Cant see or feel the spot. New (used) K-106 should be here tommorrow. I was hoping to replace it this spring so I can research a new ct since the k-106 is discontinued but found this 'used' one on ebay. Still has the tits and paint on the tread.

[Rams]

I hope the tire is the issue fudgie.   I was gett'n worried you had been slugg'n down some shine. 

[fudgie]

I hope the tire is the issue fudgie.   I was gett'n worried you had been slugg'n down some shine. 

Shine would take the wobble away. 

[fudgie]

New rear tire, no wobble. 

[eric in md]

   good news .. now send me a few good pictures

[fudgie]

  good news .. now send me a few good pictures

lol I'll get on that! 

[Regis]

trippy that a rear tire causes front end wobble . I wonder if a burned out turn signal bulb could be causing my ever elusive front end squeak when I hit a bump ????? The world may never know ...