Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Got the Shakes

Well guys, I've got to hand it to you. The swap to buckhorns is exactly what my poor ol' aching rotator cuffs needed. It is so comfortable. Only took me 3+ hrs thursday
night (I am learning.) and then bleeding the brake Friday...Great tip on tying off the brake lever.
The cables ARE tight without tank removal/ reroute.
I have to have the bars rolled somewhat forward to avoid binding the throttle. One important question....I am getting a wicked "shimmy" if I let go of both grips ( i.e. to zip my jacket ); Is this the "vibration" that is a result of not having bar end weights? It is like an increasingly widening oscillation. I don't feel that any of the cables are "pulling" one way or another. Any thoughts?
BTW, I took some pictures and hope to get them up next week.
I know how much you guys like pictures in your literature..That's a joke, son.

The lack of bar weights could cause that. Also, you may want to make sure the front rim is running true. If you have a bike lift, you can cobble together a guage from a pencil and a couple of long tiewraps on the fork leg and turn the rim to see if it is straight.

Identical experience here, buckhorn bars etc. shaking
In my case, I add a possible damaged front tire bearing seal due to a speedometer failure and the chance metal bits are/were in there. Biker Thug is onto this. But the lack of bar end weights may be the cause or at least contributing.

In any case I hope to get to the dealer in the next few weeks for a new front tire. A slight amount of pressure on the grips and all is fine, but you don't want to say "Hey Ma, look no hands!!!" My work schedule is gonzo right now. I'll report back when I have time to figure it out.

A slight amount of pressure on the grips and all is fine, but you don't want to say "Hey Ma, look no hands!!!" ....

That's it exactly, the least amount of pressure and the vibe is not noticeable.

Greybeard,
Can't quite picture the guage you built. DO have a lift I built. Can't imagine having hit anything hard enough to de-true the rim. Had no trouble with running true after putting on gaiters, only noticed after changing bars this weekend. Guess I'll try end weights, if I can get approval from my better half. Are longer cables available for clutch, throttle,and front brake line that are not Stainless and/or cost big bucks. The "sweep" of the stock
cables are not aesthetically pleasing this tight.

Hi Dave,

What GB is talking about is attaching (tie-wraps, tape) a pencil at a right angle to the fork so the point of the pencil is very close to the rim's outer edge. When you spin the wheel slowly, you will be able to see if the rim is true by how much the gap between the pencil and the rim varies.

I cannot answer what would be an acceptable level of runout.

btw, while you have the front end off the ground, check for balance. Spin the tire and let it settle. Mark the lowest spot and spin it again. If it comes to rest in the same spot, that area is heavy and the wheel/tire is out of balance.

Quote:

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The "sweep" of the stock cables are not aesthetically pleasing this tight

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Too tight of an arc could cause premature cable failure

I think it's Barnet (the clutch one, not the HD dealer) that makes custom length cables.

Use the tiewraps to tie the pencil to the forks, crossint the wraps over the pencil in an X to hold it securely while being able to move the pencil in and out and slide the whole thing up and down the fork by hand. align the pencil as close as possible to the rim and then slowly turn the wheel while watching the alignment with the pencil. I'm not sure what the spec is for these bikes, but usually 3/32 is the absolute max for runout and out of round.

While you're there, lock the fork and give the whell a shake to make sure the bearings aren't loose and also make sure there isn't a gritty feel while turning the wheel.

I should have paid more attention to which bike you have. If it's an America, take a screwdriver or small wrench and tap each spoke while there is no weight on the wheel to make sure they all sound about the same. There can be some varience because the spoke tension is used to true a slightly off rim, but a very high pitched 'ping' indicates a very tight spoke and a low pitch or dull clunk is a spoke that is too loose or about to break.

Thanks guys,
I get it, good ideas about the possibilities for my problem and the various tests, too.
Certainly don't want premature anything. Do you know of supplier for cables that are standard but longer (if that makes any sense). I know the stainless are really slick but too expensive at this point. I've got to find a new way to say,"Babe, I need....".

If you didn't have the problem before, it is either due to the buckhorns not having end weights or that is exacerbating an existing problem....
If you don't want to spring for bar end weights, you can add lead shot to the bar ends through the holes underneath and seal it off with some RTV.

I got my ss cables from Mike at Bella Corse. He may be able to get longer plain cables also. Brent (newspeedmaster.com)may have a source as well. He got a longer Spiegel ss front brake line for me.
Whatever you end up doing, let us know what works and what doesn't. That helps us all...

Will do.

If you don't have your wiring inside the bars, one of these will no doubt help. http://www.barsnake.com/

Just cobbled up some bar end weights out of a couple of large bolts I found. 3" long, 3/4 " dia., 3-4 oz.s, milled ball on the end. I split a piece of rubber hose lengthwise and taped it to the sides of the bolt, put some o-rings between the ball end and the wrapped thread and crammed them in.
Looks great. When I had the bike up on the lift, I tried to spin front wheel to see if it was off balanced but, it only spun a couple of rotations before stopping. I can hear it binding somewhere. I'm pretty darn sure it isn't the axle. No play at all. Could it be the caliper binding somehow?
Haven't lost the shakes by adding the weights, but it is a bit less pronounced. Perhaps it's caused by whatever is binding.... I've got some trouble shooting to do. Try to get pics up this weekend. Low profile seat coming today!!!

Barsnake won't work with the buckhorns. Too many dents and bends in the bars.

As to the front wheel "binding", I have posted this so many times I feel like a broken record.....

Take your caliper off. Check it for debris, sludge, dust, etc. You could have a warped rotor, check for that using Greybeard's "pencil-style" dial indicator. But it is just as likely your front caliper needs a good douching.
The front caliper (both caliper's actually) is exposed to the elements and the world at large. Besides the build up of brake dust, I have found a small stone, a piece of twig, and the remnants of one of those large black and yellow bumblebees wedged in my front caliper. All of these things can cause the pads to remain in contact with the rotor, and that slight drag can cause vibrations. It don't take much to send a message up into the bars. Check it out and clean it up.

Thanks Don,
Got rid of a lot of the shudder when I topped up the tire pressure. Only shakes at certain speeds now like 45 -49 mph.
There may be other ranges I haven't found yet. Will definitely check for gunk. Already used the pencil set up and rotor is true.
As an aside... I've been taking pictures for the last couple of months of all the changes I've made and last night opened the goldurn camera and of course NO FILM!!
I feel like such a .......

Ummm.. could it be a digital camera?

Nyuck nyuck nyuck
A friend's got a digital camera at work and this afternoon we're going to try to get a couple of shots.
Had to run out for smokes an hour ago and from 20's thru 60 mph only vibration/shudder was 42 - 49. Other than those speeds it ran true. Man, I love this machine.

Vibration at a narrow speed range could be a dynamic balance problem. Static balance is when the wheel is in balance all around. Dynamic balance is side to side all around. If you have a perfectly balanced wheel and add 1 Oz on the right, and another opposite but on the left, the static balance will remain perfect, but the wheel will tend to wobble a little, especially at certain speeds when it resonates with the rest of the suspension. To check this, you have to go to a tire shop that does "spin" balancing.

Yeah what Greybeard said. I had that problem, right around 45 or 50mph, turns out I had a dented rim. Found it by jacking up the front, spinning the wheel and watching the rim against a background (2x4 laying next to it on the ground for instance). Litte blip in the rim. New rim, no wobble.

Well folks,
IT was a sticky piston on the caliper. Rotor runs true.
Rim runs true. Wheel does not settle in one spot whilst giving it a spin on the lift. Spins freely without scraping noise. Thanks for all your input.