Wobble in 2009 and later Touring Bikes?

[glider]

Wow. Do we have a missing decimal point with some extra zero's in there?

Hopefully that "swing" and not side play

 

[tkeswede]

I had a 2000 electra glide that had some of the wobble, then bought a 09 and have no wobble so far. It is important that the air pressure in tires be correct as stated by Glider and other. I try to check mine at least once a week.

 

[gmurdock]

Hopefully that "swing" and not side play

I guess you would call it swing. Up on lift you could move tire 2 to 3 inches from right to left at tire not bearing. Asked how the bearings could go so bad in less than 1500 miles from 20000 check up & of course dealer said it happens. Came back from an easy ride & stopped at dealer ask them to take the bike for a safety check knew something was wrong. First service tech said it was heck bearing, but never imangened it was that bad of wheel bearings? Now I check front & rear each weekend before going for a real ride. Only live 4 miles from work so don't ride too much during week. Weekends usually get in around 2 to 3 hundred miles with friends.

 

[dbmg]

No where does JimmyDee state what brand type of tire or wheel he is running or what size is on the bike. I will agree with others that with all the weight on the front wheel, a expert tire installer would not have continued to mount tire and wheel on bike, let alone letting you ride it. I believe the true track system is to alleviate the frame flex in corners at higher speeds and will not change your complaint. That concern I am very familiar with for my 2008 Electra does it and does not concern me for it only happens when really hustling through corners. So if everything is O.E. except for the tires, I would install O.E. type tires, properly balance and roll.... For as it is you have a major safety concern.

 

[craig Lee]

So, I've been monitoring this for a couple days and was hesitant to present our situation. Again, this forum is for everyone's learning experiance, especially mine. The thread mentioned with 7 weights on the front tire did not mention the weight of each. There might be several types of weights and their amounts. I do not know. After reading this, I just had a rear tire put on 7 days ago and was curious so had to check. Mine is a '08 SG with 50,400 miles and I have (10) 1/40z or 7 gm weights on the rear with a stock 16" rim with the Dunlop MUB8516 tire. The front has the Renegade 18" Aspen Elite with the Dunlop 408 with (5) of the 1/4oz or 7 gm weights. After reading the 1st couple threads and realizing the amount of weights I had, I took the bike out doing 90+ on the freeway and 80+ in a good turn and can honestly say the bike feels great with no shimmer, wobble, etc.. I rode several different speeds (fast and slow) hands free and straight as an arrow.
Mz Bling's '06 XL1200 with 51,000+ miles has the stock 16" with dunlop on rear with (7) 1/4oz or 7gm weights and we switched the stock 21" to a stock 19" on the front with a Dunlop and she has (4) 1/4oz or 7 gm weights on the front. She mentioned her bike has never felt better.
Food for thought and would like to know the amount of each of those 7 weights on his front tire and the guru's will obviously fill us in on the different type of weights, etc. Maybe should be a new thread?
As always, thanks for listening,
Craig

 

[Hoople]

I just had a rear tire put on 7 days ago and was curious so had to check. Mine is a '08 SG with 50,400 miles and I have (10) 1/40z or 7 gm weights on the rear with a stock 16" rim with the Dunlop MUB8516 tire. The front has the Renegade 18" Aspen Elite with the Dunlop 408 with (5) of the 1/4oz or 7 gm weights. After reading the 1st couple threads and realizing the amount of weights I had, I took the bike out doing 90+ on the freeway and 80+ in a good turn and can honestly say the bike feels great with no shimmer, wobble, etc.. I rode several different speeds (fast and slow) hands free and straight as an arrow.

When the OP said he had 7 wheel weights on the rim, I did not realize he meant they were all still stuck together. That would not be considered 7 weights. It's (1) weight that weights 1.75 oz. I'm thinking he had 7 independent weights at different positions on the tire in an attempt to dynamically balance a tire. There is a world of difference between a dynamic and static balance procedure. Sorry my mistake...

Little bit of confusion here with stick on weights. Having 10 UN-CUT 1/4 oz weights would be considered to be (1) 2.5 oz weight and not 10 1/4 oz weights. In your case what you really should have is (2) 1.25 oz weights,,,one on each side of the tire making a TOTAL weight of 2.5 oz.
Doing that would reduce the chances of creating a "dynamic" imbalance while trying to reduce a "static" imbalance.

Unless the weights are SPOKE weights, you should divide the weight required in two and place one on EACH SIDE of the rim, because placing all the weight on one side of the rim can create a dynamic imbalance. Spoke weights are already in the center-line of the rim so you can't (don't need) to divide them in half.

Sorry for miss-understanding what the OP meant about having 7 weights on his rim. Seven 1/4 weights IN ONE SPOT is just 1.75 oz of imbalance which is not too too bad. Still a little high for a front tire and probably could be reduced with matching red dot of tire to the rim first, but none the less,, not too too bad.
1.75 oz for a REAR tire (3 on one side, 4 on other) is OK.

 

[JimmyDee]

The wheels are stock and the Dunlop tires are what came from the factory. The weights that I am refering to appear to be 1/2" sq. and there is 7 squares all connected in a row---until last night. When I was trying to position the wheel so I could see if there was a stamp indicating the weight of each square, three of the weights were very loose to the point of coming off without much trouble. So the wheel now has 4 weights glued to the rim. Going to take it out today and see what the difference is.

I believe that it is my fault that I side tracked my own thread with the vibration comment, but my main issue is the unsettling feeling I get when changing lanes or going around a curve and it feels like the rear is going to break loose at any moment. This is my 7 Harley and I have never experenced it on any other bike.

 

[Hoople]

Jimmy, I understand now. I have to retract what I said in entry point 5 of this thread because I was thinking 7 separate weights. No big deal with what you have, but I would have split it putting 3 on one side and 4 on other. No biggie.

Back to the real issue at hand. Lets backup a bit. Your bike has the factory Dunlops and cast wheels (not laced) correct. You said these are the tires that came with it from the factory. To me that seems to imply that you purchased the bike New and you are the original owner. If that is true I must ask you if this problem developed over time because I imagine it was not like this when New. (not "new" to you but "New" as in zero miles on the odometer)

So if you are the original owner, did it just gradually drift in performance to what you now have?

 

[HDDon]

I know there has been much speculation on the cause of the "unsettling " feeling this bike produces, and I ask before about the type and age of the tires. It will be interesting to know if this problem manefested itself over time or if it's been there all along. With the age of the tires I would not relie on them to be safe as sidewalls and tread could have age problems. What year did they have the tread seperation problem?

 

[R_W_B]

Tires should always have a good spin balance job done on them when they are mounted to eliminate wobbles, vibrations and the extend tire life.

Hmmm not to discount your experience oh Master, (see you've upgraded your avatar, no more monkeying around:lolrolling)
but I read that static balancers where actually better since the spin balancer won't turn past 30mph if that. Further I read that the only balancer you will see in race pits (at speeds over a 150mph) are static balancers.

Please iluminate the backwards wheel.

And to the OP, I will say that Glider and Hoople are the best you could have on solving your problem. Exellent analytical knowledge between the two of them.