Wobbly Front End

[treehugger]

No guys, not a cold weeather problem in the trouser department

I have had a bit of a wobble - more low speed 30 to 40 then 80 plus - on bends. Did the usual and checked tyre pressures. Checked tyres (or so I thought). Checked wheel bearings (slight play so changed).
Took bike out and thought it was better.
Took bike to work today and nearly had to change underwear - it handled like a bag of sh*t.
Had a good look at tyre and found an interesting wear pattern in the tread which could explain why it feels like a buckled wheel on corners. New tyre on order!!!
I now remember the guy I bought it off telling me that he changed teh wheel bearings when he had teh front tyre changed. Is this common? Have any of you felt similar wobbly fronts

[Chad]

check your head races (bearings) if you got a centerstand put bike up on it lift front wheel off the ground and check for play also slowly move bars left to right full lock if it feels like its stepping round instead of smoothly flowing then they are fooked

it could be your problem as i had the same symtoms on my @ before i changed my head races

[BlindPugh]

Front tyres seem to wear out blocks unevenly - depending on tyre tread pattern. Usually I notice this most when changing the rear tyre and thinking the front has loads of wear left - which it has but it feels horrible. Check your headraces and the wheel rim for out of true - "ping" all the spokes and they should all sound pretty much the same.
Wheel bearings should a long time/mileage 20-30K miles unless you have been very enthusiastic with the jet washer on the wheel hubs!

HTH

[GSPD750]

Front tyres seem to wear out blocks unevenly - - "ping" all the spokes and they should all sound pretty much the same.
HTH

Yup, check those spokes. All it takes is for a few loose ones to throw everything out of whack.

[croydon@twin]

The descriptions sounds just like my old VFR when the head race bearings had gone But if the tyre is worn oddly then it's worth checking that out first.

Good luck.

Tony

[Roadcat]

I had an XT which had similar problems many moons ago. Eventually took the entire front wheel to a specialised wheel rebuilder. Turned out the spokes on one side were over-tight (or prehaps the other side was too loose?) Didn't cost me much at all - the equivalent of about £4, but that was in South Africa and about 12 years ago.

[BobA]

Hmmmm, me thinks two things...

1. All tyres wear unevenly because of the camber of the road. This could be worse if there's anything out of whack like a fork leg.
Did the wheel or tyre go back on the same way it came off?? (My memory isn't working at the moment, so can't remember if a wheel can be turned??) Also, is the tyre fitted rotating in the correct direction?


2. Wheel Balance. A good trick is to get the front end up in the air (on the centrestand if you have one) and spin the front wheel. When it stops rotating, mark the lowest point with chalk or a crayon. Spin it again. Mark the lowest point. Do it a few times, and take note if it keeps stopping in the same place. If it does, you've got an unbalanced wheel (assuming your disks aren't warped as well). You can have a dabble at balancing it yourself (if you can get some weights from you friendly neighbourhood tyre fitter) or get a pro to do it.


Hope that helps


Bob

[BobA]

RE: 1

The wheel can only go on one way because of the speedo drive. But has the tyre been off the rim and turned at all in the past??

[BobA]

Oh and 3.

I'd suspect the headraces, but from experience, if these are bad, you will feel juddering under straightline braking as well, so give that a check.

Bob

[ladder106]

My first thought is to check the steering head bearings. They can be adjusted too tightly or, on higer milage bikes, have a very slight indentation in the races. This causes "index steering" and in both cases the self centering affect of the bikes trail geometry (what lets you ride without hands on the bars)is negated for a bit until the binding is overcome. The front wheel then moves too far over to compensate and then the manuever happens in the other direction etc.

The other thing that I didn't see mentioned in any of the other posts is your rear suspension "sag". If your rear spring is tired, preloaded improperly or wrong for your riding weight, the rear of the bike will sag down enough to affect the front geometry. An extreem case would be a chopper or cruiser bike with an extended front end. If you use the AT mainly on the roads I'd look for about 20--25 percent rear sag (with you on the bike, feet on pegs, dressed as you ride). If used off road a bit more...about 30 per cent or so can be better but this is a compromise depending on how you want the bike to turn.

My TA used about 50 percent of its rear travel when I sat on the bike when I first got it. The front end pushed on dirt and gravel and was very "vague" on the road. A new spring at set for 25 per cent sag improved it dramatically.

Lots of articles on the web about motorcycle suspension....but look at the rear of the bike too

Ray Stedronsky
Davis, CA