Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Wobble in handlebars. Help!

The handlebars on my '07 America wobble at various speeds. The dealership replaced my rear wheel (that was flawed). This however did not alleviate the problem. They then re-balanced the front wheel. This made the wobble more violent, and it occurs at a wider range of speeds. Also it has added a slight bounce to the ride. Has anyone else had this problem, and/or know what I can do? Thanks.

Wendys bike did something like that and a new tire cured it. Might also check steering head bearings.

I had a new front tire put on two weeks ago and mine is doing the same thing from 30 to 45 MPH. I have replaced the chain and sprockets and a new rear tire, etc.. (not due to the wobble). The wobble showed up after the new tire. In the past 2 months I have spent mucho $$$ on my ride and am just about ready to call in the dogs. I dropped it off at the dealer Saturday and told them them problem. I also told him to call me when he got to $500.00 on the bill. I am not sure what else to do, wheel bearings, maybe, front fork springs. I am not many parts from a new bike in an old frame. If they cannot get it sorted out, I am selling it and going a different direction Ducati ST3 or Tiger.

It can be caused by a combo of things.
The front tire being out of balance (the red dot on a new tire should line up with the valve stem - no red dot? Get a new tire they are screwing you with an old tire) and it should have less then an ounce of weight - if more then an ounce they do not know what they are doing.
Tube wrinkled inside the tire - only applies to toobed tires.
"New" tire is actually old and hard - splains itself - buy a cheap tire and it is probably 4 years old and feels like a brick. Online tire dealers are notorious for this. Check out Bridgestone tires for the brick feel and you will see what I mean.
Low air pressure. Do NOT use the pressure rating on the tire, use the bike manual. The same tire goes on a ton of different bikes with different uses and such. A Ninja needs way more air then ours does, and they use the same tires. I use about 36 in front, 38 in rear. I have tubeless Metzlers on a SM.
Cupped tires caused by ;low air. Replace tire.
Bad rear wheel alignment. This is crucial, check it yourself to be sure. Do not trust the little marks on the arm adjusters, count the threads with a toothpick or use a laser aligner like unclecharlie showed me. I'm buying one of them, they are cool.
Bad front bearings in steering head. Rare, but could be the issue.
Bad swingarm, really rare, but the front and back must be aligned and in harmony or vibration occurs.

Mine actually wobbles now too, but it is close to replacement and it was pretty low on air and is cupped. I put in about 5 more psi then needed and it is better, but still wobbles ever so much in the 35-40 zone. Every time I replace the tire it goes away.

Thanks for the response. The bike is only 2 months old, so I assume the tires are new as well. Though I don't see any red dots. Also I don't know how much weight is on the wheel. There are 3 weights on it. They don't say how much they are, but they are rectangles. Each is one inch long by half inch wide, and maybe an eigth inch thick. They say "Tape A Weight" on them. Any ideas?

It sounds like the front and rear are out of alignment if it is that new a bike. Have the dealer fix it, then fix it again and again. After three tries they have to replace the bike if you are not satisfied according to the lemon laws.
Maybe try another dealer with better mechanics too.

Thanks again. My problem is the dealer has said it was fixed. Though it is now worse than when I brought it to them the first time. The head of customer service for triumph says that if the dealer says its fixed, then end of story. The next closest dealer is 5 hours from me... that I know of. Triumph web site only shows me the dealer I went to as a search option.

Tell them to ride it and fix it. Do not take this response from them....If needed, threaten them with the Consumer Affairs board and the state Atty General. They will tow the line then. No way is it right if it wobbles so bad you feel unsafe, and be sure to use the phrase "It feels unsafe to ride" Be sure to get copies of all work orders and that you told them you feel it is unsafe on them.

Thank you for the advise, I will definitely give it a try.

Oh by the way, I have told them numerous times that it felt unsafe to ride. The service manager told me he thinks its safe to ride. I asked him to put that in writing... he obviously didn't like that and refused, then countered with "you can ride it with relative safty". I appreciate all of your advise and will try what you said. Thank you again.

don't count on consumer affairs or better business they have no real power I found out the hard way. That being said , if you do need to go to court over it they can testify that you filed complaints. I too would take it back to the dealer. When you do bring the bike there and tell them you won't leave until they fix it.

The ubiquitous hands - off front wobble - wierd , very weird . Pat had some very good suspects , some could be attributed to road surface , I only get a wobble maybe 30 % of the time . In light of that , it wouldn't be the bike , but who knows ? As perplexing as crop circles , area 51 and Jimmy Hoffa .

Just saw some show claiming they knew who killed and where Jimmy Hoffas body is. Some world according to show on fox.

The infamous front end wobble no one has come up with a real solution but it occured on my bike with the tyres being about 50% worn. I just put up with it (50mph + - 5mph). However I just put some m type bars on the speedie at first the handgrips level with the ground felt a little better. Rotated the handlebars up by a few degrees and the wobble was far more pronounced. rotated the bars a few degrees lower than horizontal and bingo front end feels planted on the ground no wobble unless let go of handlebars and the the wobble is back (at 50mph).
My guess is the m bars when rotated a few dgrees below horizontal put more weight on the front wheel stopping the wobble being felt.
It is not a cure but the bike handles so much better that I am leaving the setting a few degrees below horizontal.
I guess I need new tyres I have 24, 000 kms on the stock metzlers and hope the new tyres will cure the wobble full stop wait and see I guess.

Hello, my name is John and I've had a case of the wobbles for 3+ years.

Went through some possible causes;

> speedo cable broke, thought maybe a cable bit had become lodged on front axel house & caused damage (nope)

> steering head bearing had a "flat spot", when on the lift, handlebars would "settle" into straight ahead position. Replaced bearing (nope)

> put in higher weight fork oil (20w?) (nope)

> new front tire two year ago(nope)

> new front tire July 2007, Avon Venom. Wobble is gone , which makes me wonder if the previous tire replacement was done correctly??????

I realize a number of things, or combination thereof can cause this. But in my case, the front tire seemed to be the culprit.

jh

I've experienced this, on and off, since getting my bike in '03.
It is most noticable decelerating around 45-50, in gear.
Low air in the front tire makes it much worse, as does an
unbalanced load. I tend to put more stuff in the R bag.
After getting my bike back from the dealer with the rear
wheel askew, I decided to make sure it's right myself.
I had gotten the laser thingy to use when installing the belt
drive conversion(thanks for the help guys).
It works on chains as well. $80 well spent!
Anyway, when alinging the belt, I adjusted the R side until
the belt was snug, then measured the space between the end of
the swingarm and the adjuster. I matched the L side, and checked
it with the laser tool. It was dead nuts on. No guessing.

I test rode it for around 100 miles before doing a 600 mile
weekend to the NH Rally and back. So far so good!

Geoff got one after CT Tech Day1, and I'm sure Bill, and Pat
are gonna get 'em too.

Uncle Charlie

BTW, I'm glowing knowing I was able to recomend something to
Dinqua, after all I've learned from him.

"use a laser aligner like unclecharlie showed me".
Hey Unclecharlie tell me how to use the laser too.
Please
Old Blue

Weebles wobble , but they don't fall down . Only 22.4 % will understand .