Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Front end shake

The front end shake on my bike is gone.The new front tire was the answer.

I just put a new Metz 880 on mine a Friday before last. The front end shake is gone on mine as well, and the new tires might as well be made of velcro they hold the road so well.

I changed the original front Metzler lazertec with 9,500kms on it,for a Bridgestone battle ax.It's great so far.

I get a pretty good shake when I take my hands off the bars... probably the stock front tire.

I can leave my hands off my bars as long as I have the momentum to keep moving forward, around corners and all and the front is steady as can be. Stock front tire still and stock bearings.

I have a set of D404's on mine and have put a little over a 1000 miles on them in the past few weeks. I have developed a front end shake between 40 and 45 miles an hour. Other than between those speeds there is no shake. Any ideas?

don't go between 40-45mph

That's what was happening to mine before the new tire.Maybe the old one was cupped or something,it seemed to have plenty of tread left on it.

Maybe the front tire.How many miles on it?Mine looked fine and had plenty of tread but at 75-80 kph I had the same shake until I bought a new tire.Also could need a wheel balance,or it could be wheel bearings,steering head bearings,front/back wheel alignment.I checked all of that on mine but it was all ok.

It's a brand new tire...about 1000 miles on it. Wheels were just balanced too when they were put on by my dealer. It just started after about a 1000 miles.

I've only got about 500 miles[800kms] on mine so it looks like I'll need to get a few hundred more up before can say mine's fixed I have no idea why yours would be shaking.It couldn't/shouldn't be a faulty tire?Very unlikely.People say Dunlop wear out fast ,but 1,000miles would be ridiculous.

Hummmm?
I put D404s on at 13,000miles to replace the stock B'stones.
The front was badly cupped, and I had a wicked decel shake.
At 3,000 miles, the bike is steady as a rock, and the tires
show no noticeable wear. They also feel very good in the wet.

I watched while the tires were mounted and balanced. The
first tech to try couldn't get the front right. I said that's
no good, and the 2nd tech pulled the weights, and started
over. He finally got it right. If I wasn't standing there,
my front would still wobble. But, what do I know?

The moral of my story is this:
I don't trust anyone to work on my bike.

Uncle Charlie

With 4200 miles on original Metz's, I get a little headshake at 40-45 mph decel only, BUT, with two up - no shake at all. I've varied the tire pressures, and shock preload, but that jury is still out. So I will keep trying small increments of pressure changes and see how that goes. Seems headshake is almost getting to be the new (oil) thread.

Funny,the common point seems to be that most who get this shake,seem to get it at about 45mph decel.Mine was at 75-80kph or about 45+ mph on decel.But not all speedys/Americas get the shakes.I wonder what percentage do?Maybe our bikes chew front tires more than most?I can't figure it out.
Mine is handling great at the moment.Hope it stays that way.

i have the 40-45 shake on a Lasertech and only a few thousand miles. i'm going to try to get it ballanced again at another dealer-- then maybe another tire if that doesn't work.

any recommendations on a front tire?

cat

I went through several front tires of different brands thinking the tire was causing the wobble. Every time, a new tire would seem to fix it for around 1000 miles, then it started again. It turned out to be the steering head bearings. Since upgrading to tapered bearings it's still rock steady at any speed after roughly 10,000 miles. I can't say that's what's wrong with yours, but if i was a betting man...

I have same problem,,,deceling 45-40,,,take my hands off and she shakes,,,,

Hey mrt202,,,did ya try re-torquing steering head first?

Got a bearing/cup number.

2007 america

Re-torquing would probably make a difference but upgrading to tapered gave me peace of mind. I forget the part #s but they're in the tech vault.

I took Wendy's stock tire off her bike when it started doing that and the new tire fixed it. It's been several thousand miles and still smooth so sometimes it is just the tire.

Mine's been fixed since I replaced the front tire too.The other stuff,checking neck bearings,wheel balance etc.is all good [and necessary] but the new tire seems to be the common fix.

I guess I should have stated that all the regular stuff is a good idea. Checking the head bearings is never a bad idea nor would balance or the like be a bad idea but I know in my case it was the tire.

I had the head shake at 45 too untill I adjusted the track of the rear tire. It went away untill just recently. Not all the time though, just every once in awhile. I have the orignal mets on the front with 12,000 miles on it and it is cupping noticably now. I just bought a new Venom-X, which looks alot like the tread patteron of the rear, so I have an appointment the week after next to get my 12,000 mile service done and I'll put it on then. I'm hopeing that will take care of it.