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09 Road Glide head shake

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eyemansfm

Member
I just bought an 09 Road Glide FLTR. I love the bike, feels like an 800 lb sport bike compared to my 03 RK. The other day I was out for a ride, just playing
around I took my hands off the bars at about 55 mph, everything was nice and straight and smooth but as the bike decelerated, at about 45 -50 mph, I started to get a moderate wiggle in the bars. It never got real bad and when I got down below 35 it went away. My 03 stays straight as an arrow when I
do this. Any one else had this experience? I can feel it slightly at that speed even with one hand lightly on the bar. Doesn't seem right, I'll be sure to mention it to the dealer at the 1000 mile service,but there response will probably be "don't take your hands off the bars". Any thoughts?
 
Bike only has 400 miles on it. I'll check the air pressure, I haven't talked to the dealer about this problem. I just anticipate that they will tell me not to take my hands off the bars. I was thinking loose neck bearing too!
 
My 09 Road Glide and my neighbor's 09 Road Glide are both about 8 months old and they have about 4,000 miles on each of them. Neither of us had or have the wiggle you described. I would check your tire pressure as others have recommended. If that doesn't solve the wiggle, then I'd get it into the dealer right now rather than waiting until the 1,000 mile servicing. Make sure you mention to the dealer that you also feel the wiggle when you have only one hand on the bars. Otherwise, the dealer may discount your complaint on the ground that you shouldn't be taking both hands off the bars while riding.
 
Shoot, you don't have to tell him anything about how many hands or feet you ride with on the bars. Simply tell them there is a wiggle at whatever speeds you have discovered and whether you are accelerating or decelerating or both. Tell them you know it's not right since others with the same model and similar mileage are not experiencing this wiggle. Then stand back and let them explain what they will do for you.
 
Headshake? Check the front air pressure first, and tire tread remaining for traction in the front means more friction losses at speed, dampening vibration before it starts. In fact anything that absorbs vibration or introduces frictional losses (steering bearing preload, check fork fall away). :s

Control cable/wiring and finally rider should, arm and hand contact will lessen and absorb shimmy further. You could also put in a shock absorbing device in the bar (called a Bar Snake) or bar end weights to help dampen the oscillation frequency. Finally add a fork brace to detune the resonance further and stiffen up the front end. :D
 
I've had that same problem before on other brands. Specifically a '93 R100R BMW and a (If I may) '05 ST1300 Honda. Replacement of the front tire fixed it both times. Wobble on deceleration. A tank slapper if you will. Gets worse as the bike slows from 45 mph on down. Let the dealer do his thing with the bearings, tire pressure adjustments etc. Maybe you'll get lucky. Make the dealer keep the bike till it's fixed. Then if the dealer fails to fix it and says something stupid like "keep your hands on the bars" buy a tire yourself and sue the dealer in small claims court for the invoice amount. '09's have those new technology dual compound tires. I bought my '08 just to avoid them.
flhrrider :cheers
 
flhrrider said:
'09's have those new technology dual compound tires. I bought my '08 just to avoid them.
flhrrider :cheers
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Why would you want to avoid them? Your supposed to get much better mileage out of em? So far (1200mi) I love em.

My 09 RG does not do this either when I take my hands off the bars but I have noticed I have to lean more to the left to hold her straight. I just figured it was because of the tranny and such being on that side, anyone else experience this too?
 
Yeah I have to agree with ya here smitty, we took my wifes custom painted dyna for a service last year and when we went to pick it up they told us that they had scratched the rear fender accidentally. They pointed it out and I almost laughed I mean you really had to look hard to find it under the fender braces, it was barely a nick. They offered to replace it and we both said not to worry about it. They actully threw my grips on a few weeks ago at no charge because the lead service guy remembered me from the dyna. I have had nothing but excellent customer service from my dealer here in rochester, NH.
 
NHROADGLIDER said:
Why would you want to avoid them? Your supposed to get much better mileage out of em? So far (1200mi) I love em.

My 09 RG does not do this either when I take my hands off the bars but I have noticed I have to lean more to the left to hold her straight. I just figured it was because of the tranny and such being on that side, anyone else experience this too?
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Check your saddlebags, too. If you have more weight in one side it will affect your hands off, straight line tracking.
 
I probably shouldn't have said anything about what the dealer might say. I have had nothing but excellent experiences with my dealer.
I have done a little research about the "head shake" problem and have found
a few complaints on other sites. Most have been fixed by tightening neck bearings, apparently some have come through from the moco factory with bearing tightness out of spec.. doesn't say much for quality control!
Thanks for the input, as usual always good feedback from this sight!
 
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