Opt with the dealer service, but do take off the aftermarket stabilizer to avoid "muddying the waters".
High Speed Wobble
- Thread starter Vibratinharley
- Start date
Vibratinharley
Junior Member
Old Post - Update
HD Dealership has had bike for wobble concern and also knocking noise coming from primary ( I think Compensating Sprocket) they say bike don't wobble and "Owner" of dealership rode bike and said bike is straightest riding 08 he has ridden. Oh and noise in primary is " they all do it" and I am just supposed to ignore it. My 90 with 40,000 miles on it never made noise.
ANyway, this wobble is not in my head ( or maybe it is) but I cant deal with it so I am just gonna sell bike. I have $30,000 invested in this hunk of iron ( and plastic) ** maybe no iron, but anyway, I listed it for $17,000 and hope somebody wants a really nice bike with all new tires and goodies for way less than I have into it. It's gotta go .... I wish I never sold my 90 FLHS .....:wall:wall:wall:wall
HD Dealership has had bike for wobble concern and also knocking noise coming from primary ( I think Compensating Sprocket) they say bike don't wobble and "Owner" of dealership rode bike and said bike is straightest riding 08 he has ridden. Oh and noise in primary is " they all do it" and I am just supposed to ignore it. My 90 with 40,000 miles on it never made noise.
ANyway, this wobble is not in my head ( or maybe it is) but I cant deal with it so I am just gonna sell bike. I have $30,000 invested in this hunk of iron ( and plastic) ** maybe no iron, but anyway, I listed it for $17,000 and hope somebody wants a really nice bike with all new tires and goodies for way less than I have into it. It's gotta go .... I wish I never sold my 90 FLHS .....:wall:wall:wall:wall
Breeze3at
Experienced Member
Vibratinharley; See if I got this right. Bike wobbled going around slight curve
with stabilizer installed. You removed stabalizer and took it to dealer without riding it yourself with the stabilizer removed under the same conditions? If the frame and front end are new, but it is the same stabalizer that was involved in the accident,, wouldn't that be suspect? Maybe reinstalled wrong or damaged in accident?
Also not likely, but possible that the road/curve your were on had a pavement issue, gouge etc. Try for repeatability under same conditions.
I'd hate to see you have to take a bath on your bike, not a good time to be the seller, esp. since season is ending in many areas.
Sorry for dupl. post, I hit the wrong key somewhere.
with stabilizer installed. You removed stabalizer and took it to dealer without riding it yourself with the stabilizer removed under the same conditions? If the frame and front end are new, but it is the same stabalizer that was involved in the accident,, wouldn't that be suspect? Maybe reinstalled wrong or damaged in accident?
Also not likely, but possible that the road/curve your were on had a pavement issue, gouge etc. Try for repeatability under same conditions.
I'd hate to see you have to take a bath on your bike, not a good time to be the seller, esp. since season is ending in many areas.
Sorry for dupl. post, I hit the wrong key somewhere.
Last edited:
Deuceman144
Member
That's a tough one,,, on the one hand HD will finger point and after months of wrangling you may not get 100% satisfaction. On the other, to suffer the $$ loss and sell the bike hurts and it will only solve your issue, ie, it passes the buck onto someone else and given it's a real safety issue involved I don't know that I'd want that on my karma. Legally you might not be responsible, but, hey, if you sell the bike and the buyer comes off and gets seriously hurt or worse (a real possibility at that speed) phew,,, that's not a good thing nor would I want that on my conscience.
I think the first step would be to take it back (slowly!) to the dealer who fixed it and at least give them the chance to put the matter right. Getting MoCo involved as early as possible would be a good idea too. Go straight to the top though, don't bother with the chain of command; write to Willie G at R&D. You do hear about this issue a lot, so, hey, we can put a man on the moon, certainly we can fix a speed wobble. After all, if it happens to others - it's in their best interest to fix it. Get him enrolled in the matter and who knows what could happen.
Good luck
I think the first step would be to take it back (slowly!) to the dealer who fixed it and at least give them the chance to put the matter right. Getting MoCo involved as early as possible would be a good idea too. Go straight to the top though, don't bother with the chain of command; write to Willie G at R&D. You do hear about this issue a lot, so, hey, we can put a man on the moon, certainly we can fix a speed wobble. After all, if it happens to others - it's in their best interest to fix it. Get him enrolled in the matter and who knows what could happen.
Good luck
This could be something as simple as neck bearing torque, or incorrect fall away. Or it could be a bad swing arm bushing, or incorrect swing arm torque. Have you done the basic tire alignment check?
Instead of just selling it, why not take it to another dealer and have them give it the once over? It may cost a few bucks, but that may be a better option than taking a $10,000 loss.
Instead of just selling it, why not take it to another dealer and have them give it the once over? It may cost a few bucks, but that may be a better option than taking a $10,000 loss.
I had the same kind of situation after an accident. I decided to keep the PM mags, (really nice mags that cost me a pretty penny) they had to be straightened due to the accident. I was assured that they were 100%, but noticed a wobble at 70+ mph I had them check everything again and again. It ended up being the mags weren't true and after changing them my ride was perfect once again.
Just a thought. If the dealer that fixed your problem feels there is nothing wrong and they claim the bike is safe, have them take the bike in on trade and let them sell it and have any safety concerns on their concious. Don't forget, The Squeky Wheel gets the Grease!
Just a thought. If the dealer that fixed your problem feels there is nothing wrong and they claim the bike is safe, have them take the bike in on trade and let them sell it and have any safety concerns on their concious. Don't forget, The Squeky Wheel gets the Grease!
SpringerSteve98
Active Member
I don't like the stock dunlops they put on the bikes. I always got wobble in corners with the D series rear tire. I switched to E3's or Metzlers and always felt more solid in the corners.
Vibratinharley
Junior Member
BYE BYE ULTRA... i MISS YOU.. NOT! I sold the great handling (dealer said so) Ultra and I bought a 1993 Sportster ( just so I have a bike to play with and work on) and I replaced the 2008 with a 2004 BMW K1200LT... Now I have a safe technologically advanced touring bike for me and significant other and I have a nice around town sporty for ME. I am happy and glad the 08 Ultra is gone and I bought two bikes for what I got for the Ultra and have money left over. The guy that bought the ultra is very happy and loves the way the bike looks and handles ( he is 100+ lbs lighter than me). THE END
VH, glad you are happy, and stayed with the HD familiy. BTW, welcome to the "pedestrian" Sporty world...plenty of good riding there, and quite frankly it is very versatile as is, nice and easy to ride, really nice to have less iron to haul around for the 70% riding most of us actually do...!
I also think the best thing to do is let the dealer fix it, but some thoughts come to mind was the tire replaced after the accident possibly a bad tire issue or maybe wheel balance and the last thought I had was maybe the front and rear tire are not in perfect alignment, an older biker once told me you could check front to rear wheel alignment easily by standing the bike straight and using a 8 ft flourescant tube run it up against the front and rear tires and it should run perfectly in line along side each tire never tried it but it seemed to make sense to me. Good Luck 
elao
elao