wobbling qusetion!!

hey guys, I live in the south bay area of CA. and some days its hella windy out here. even on the not so windy days, when im on the freeway doing about 70mph. i get freaked out because the bike wobbles side to side. and the bars start shaking. lol not good. is this just what these bikes do because there so light? or is there something i can do with the suspension to help reduce it.....I want a steering stabilizer but i cant afford one right now. would a stabilizer really help out this issue?

thanks for the input...

Evan

I am sure the stabilizer would help out, but don't have experience with one. My bike gets blown back and forth on the highway by wind or passing vehicles. But, I never get head shake on the road unless I am playing around and being silly.

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm sayin! Just scary lol but no not like tank slap. Had that a few times on my last sport bike. Maybe that's why I'm kinda nervous about it lol

Few things I can think of here.

1) you sure your tires are aligned properly? rear tire isn't crooked a tiny bit?
2) tires balanced
3) steering head bearings in good shape
4) are your tires a matching set - or is front a different brand/profile than rear
5) what tire pressure you running
6) What kind of wind resistance things you got on bike? Big mickey mouse mirrors? hand guards? larger front wind screen?
7) Stock front fender? Not trimmed?
8) are you gripping handlebars in a death grip?

So these bikes are not necessarily made for freeway riding.

Maybe it's a sign to stick to twistier, less traveled, and funner roads.

I know the bike will do this if the rear is lowered and the front is not..

So, if the back is lowered, you may have to lower the front a bit..

motokid wrote:

Maybe it's a sign to stick to twistier, less traveled, and funner roads.

Yep. My bike is a city bike but I just did my first long road trip on Tuesday. 220 miles. 140 miles of interstate and 80 of curvy mountain roads

Got blown around plenty on the interstate but no wobbles. If you are really wobbling, check out motokid's suggestions.

Peterbuilt wrote:

I know the bike will do this if the rear is lowered and the front is not..

So, if the back is lowered, you may have to lower the front a bit..

Yep...I forgot about that one.

Good call.

motokid wrote:

Few things I can think of here.

1) you sure your tires are aligned properly? rear tire isn't crooked a tiny bit?
2) tires balanced
3) steering head bearings in good shape
4) are your tires a matching set - or is front a different brand/profile than rear
5) what tire pressure you running
6) What kind of wind resistance things you got on bike? Big mickey mouse mirrors? hand guards? larger front wind screen?
7) Stock front fender? Not trimmed?
8) are you gripping handlebars in a death grip?

So these bikes are not necessarily made for freeway riding.

Maybe it's a sign to stick to twistier, less traveled, and funner roads.

Ill double check the rear tire with a tape measure, because i know the little marks on the blocks are aligned. but ill dbl check...
yes the tires are balanced.
My head bearings are great. no play
but my tires arnt a matching set....... I have the avon distanza up front, and the battleax BT016R in the rear, bought the bike like this......
running about 25 psi front and rear
no after market things like hand guards yet or a wind screen , took the stock mirrors off, running bar end mirrors for now

I have the stock front fender, but its chopped

maybe its the tire....idk, ill just double check everything, make sure everything is tight and straight. and just RIDE!

Thanks for all the great ideas...

motokid wrote:

Peterbuilt wrote:

I know the bike will do this if the rear is lowered and the front is not..

So, if the back is lowered, you may have to lower the front a bit..

Yep...I forgot about that one.

Good call.

nope not lowered at all, no yamalink and the front forks havnt been lowered at all.

when i bought the bike i adjusted the rear sag for my weight but thats about it...and i softened up the front because the previous owner had them cranked all the way up

I was playing around with it lastnight on the freeway, and this is what I came up with....

so riding at about 75mph with nothing around you, everything is okay....hardly any shake, just gets blown around a bit....

when right behind another car traveling the same speed.....DONT DO IT lol
thats when it gets schetchy!

The wind created from the car in front of me was blowing the little wrx all over the road and at 75mph. gets kinda creepy. so note to self. try and stay away from riding directly behind cars on the freeway...

Mine does this now I put hand guards and a windscreen on.

When I get to the freeway, I sit all the way forward, weight on the front, and this helps a lot.

Okay, I'm planing on getting hand guards. Do the guards help keep your hands a little warmer? Block the wind a little?

motardmixion wrote:

Okay, I'm planing on getting hand guards. Do the guards help keep your hands a little warmer? Block the wind a little?

In reality...no.

Just for the record here, my 2012 WRR has a similar front end "twitch" at speeds above 110 kph, mostly only if a bit windy or from wind buffet from other vehicles etc..... for me it seems like a fairly "normal" thing to expect from a relatively light weight 250 D/S, although i am hoping that this will improve slightly once i fit better quality DOT Knobbies & tweak the suspension height a little - but it's not really a major concern as it never really gets to a point of feeling dangerous as such.


Maybe also worth noting that my bike will get a similar slight head shake / twitch on the 5th to 6th upshift when accelerating hard under full throttle - and as i have the G2 Quick turn throttle tube it's not due to excessive "arm flap" on the throttle hand either ! lol.


Cheers guys.

motardmixion wrote:

Do the guards help keep your hands a little warmer? Block the wind a little?

I'm gonna say yes - a little.

With the right guards, yes they help. And if its raining, they help also, depends on how high your guards are though.