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wobbling when no hands on handlebar

30K views 121 replies 35 participants last post by  lucho_nqn 
#1 ·
All was good till I have got the annual service done at dealership for my T120

Now a day later I see it's wobbling when removed my hands from the handlebar...

I know I shouldn't remove my hands from handlebar..

Is that an indication of some major issue around the corner?

Thanks
Capt
 
#9 ·
caveat: this is purely out of experience on my 2016 ST.

assuming that the tyres are correctly inflated

first thing to do would be to check that the rear tire is mounted properly and chain etc. is aligned (easiest way i figured is to see if the rear tyre has an even contact patch i.e. its wearing out evenly on both sides moving out of the centre of the tyre)

second thing would be to check if the top bolt that is used to mount the engine dresser bar is torqued correctly to 80 Nm and not higher to 100 Nm or so in addition to what the member saddlebag suggested above regarding the steering stem

third thing to do would be to find a straight, even and relatively unoccupied road. take the bike to the offending speed i.e 40 - 50 mph (80 - 110 kmph) and let go of the handle bars for slightly longer and see if the wobble is developing into a full on tank slapper or if its just rocking a bit and then correcting itself.
 
#5 ·
If you have a lot of miles on your front tire, the tire itself could be the cause. I just went through this on my Honda 919 where the front end "no hands" wobble got worse and worse to the point that I could feel it even with my hands on the bars. It was worst between 40 and 60 mph. The front tire had something like 9000 miles on it but still had plenty of tread left. However, I mounted a new tire of the same size and brand and the wobble was gone. No wobble at any speed.

It's an annoying problem but it is not uncommon in motorcycles or in some cars and trucks.
 
#6 ·
If you have a lot of miles on your front tire, the tire itself could be the cause.
Or even if you don't just normal wear can be enough to cause it at various speeds. Fork mounted windscreens can also induce wobble.
The only thing I can think of that may be dealer related might be if he over torqued the steering stem. But I don't think they diddle with them until 10k miles and if you have that many miles on the tire, a little hands free wobble is almost a certainty.
 
#7 ·
One thing everyone should do when having someone other than yourself service a bike, go over every little detail to make sure it's right.
As soon as you get the bike back to the house, or in the parking lot go over everyone of the fasteners.
These guys can overlook a bolt, wrong torque etc. I would check the axle nut and pinch bolts to make sure they are secure. Air pressure as well.

I spoke to a chap who told me he had not checked air pressure on his Thunderbird in three years, I just walked away.
 
#10 ·
Capt, how many miles on that front tire?

Like others mentioned above, I have had this happen before and it was the front tire at the end of its life even though there appeared to be a lot of rubber left on the tire.
 
#11 ·
I have around 3900 miles.. wasn't suspecting the tire cause it was all good till I dropped my bike at dealership for servicing. Noticed it immediately after picking her up..

Will check with the dealer today and see what's going on...


Thanks all for the replies, will update once I go to dealer and figure out what's causing the issue.

Thanks
Capt
 
#12 ·
I have just over 6200 miles on the odometer of my Street Twin, and I noticed this phenomenon recently as well between 50 and 55 mph, to the point of becoming annoying.

I assume tire wear must have something to do with it (similarly to car tires, they may require balancing as wear progresses), but I also plan to check with the dealer, before jumping to conclusions. Not much left on the front tire anyways, in case it needs to be changed.
 
#14 ·
After the service!!!

What did they change that affects tyre stability? And of course it should have been picked up not made worse at a service.

Pressure. Alignment (chain adjustment). Balance. Or the guy took it for a road test hit a kerb and buckled your front wheel.

Pressure changes the size and shape of the contact patch. Drags its sides the softer it gets.

Alignment change means a different part is in contact with the road. Was the middle but now its not.

Balance needs to be equal both sides. My front only ever had weights mounted in the middle so unlikely to be perfect from factory.

Check all the way round each side of the rim close to the tyre. You will spot a flat section in what should be a constant radius. Any flat being where the tyre hit something that completely squashed the tyre sidewall and damaged the rim.
 
#17 ·
As previously mentioned by Sharealike, if the real wheel alignment was altered by an imprecisely performed chain adjustment, it would induce a wobble as described.
Something to check.
 
#23 ·
#26 ·
Capt, the times this has happened to me, it did not come on slowly, I noticed it for the first time suddenly. I don't have a good explanation for this "sudden" notice. I still think it's your front tire that you just happened to notice it after the service.
 
#29 ·
No because it collects in a lump. Takes a good wheel out of balance with the lump of weight. And it alters the behaviour of tread its collected behind so the tyre footprint varies when the lump reaches the road. Not what you want on a wet day.

Another example where just like mirrors and screens the after market parts sales guys are selling you something to "improve your bike worse" as my wise father used to say.
 
#36 ·
The last question to ask the OP is whether the dealer (or you) made any changes to the handlebars, such as different bars, different mirrors, anything which might have added or subtracted mass from the bar area. The front wheel and support, and pivot system can be quite sensitive to the mass and stiffness of the overall mechanism. Just a last thought although the likely suspect would be the front tire.
 
#37 ·
Annual service done
Fuel pump harness recall and heat grip recall services got done during this

Is that have to do anything with this?
Me: after the service, as mentioned earlier, changed stock mirrors to bar end mirrors.

Will try to remove the bar mirrors and see if that has to do anything with this and update. Waiting for no-rain day to do it
 
#40 ·
Would you say that Ride-On or Slime in your tubes affects handling and wobbling?

I was advised that it had a self-balancing effect, and I did not find it a noticeably different ride between before and after pumping in the goo (and that was rather much of it).

I only noticed wobbling after the fact. But then I did not try before. I ride a '16 T120 since the beginning of the year, and have ~5500km on it.
 
#41 ·
Not all puncture related goop is created equal. I've heard loads of bad stuff about using Slime. Can't say first hand as I've never used it.
I have been using Ride On for a few years now and love it. Rode out of the dealer after installing both tires with it. They usually ride it after working on it and when I get it it already feels great. This day however, it was cold and wet out and I got it right after they put the tires on.
Going up the road, the tire imbalance was clearly evident. Like riding over a bumpy road which this was not. About a mile or so up the road, the Ride-On had spread thru the tires and the ride was like glass. And it stays that way. Even after spending weeks at a time sitting in my garage during winter.
Got it in the tubes of my Thruxton now too and its tires are also perfectly balanced sans unsightly wheel weights.
A problem with wheel weight is that they are set up for the tire when it's new. As soon as it wears, the balance changes. Think of all the rubber left by a simple skid. The nice thing about Ride-On is the tires stay perfectly balanced as they wear.
 
#42 ·
Thanks for this reassuring opinion, Saddlebag. What I have on is Ride On too. May have helped me limp back to shore on a recent occasion. With experience of what to expect and how to deal with a case, I'd then keep using this.
 
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