Front end wobble returned; this time I went down

[TxRIIIRider]

I agree with Ugarte.

Your head stock bearings must be loose. I took my front end off at 12K miles because of a wobble. The headstock retaining nuts were spinning free and the front end moved up and down about 1/8 inch!

Who ever put my bike together couldn't have torqued them down correctly. I took the opportunity to clean and re-grease the head stock bearings, and put it all back together, making sure the head stock bearing retaining nut and it's lock nut were good and secure. Haven't had an issue with that since..

These two nuts, located under the top triple clamp, are basically all that hold your front end on. If they are loose, bad things happen.

 

[mexican]

After reading through the previous thread, I'm thinking the headstock bearings are too loose. Mine is doing a shake if I take my hands off the bars, and I'm betting that's the cause.

Again, so sorry about your off, and I hope you mend quickly. And hope you're insured.

Something I picked up from Cycle World, I believe: Jack up front end, and it should take somewhere near 1 lb pressure to move the front end side to side. Does this sound near correct? Faulty old memory banks.

Now you guys have me all scared!!!
mine is doing it too when i take my hands off the bars, im taking it to the dealer to fix the clutch switch, might as well have them fix that too!!

 

[ewswartze]

Sorry to hear about your spill - glad to hear you had the gear on and it helped to minimize the injury.

 

[Evil Mitch]

Sorry to hear do you know what caused the wobble is your front tyre unevenly worn

His bike was red

 

[Evil Mitch]

I was doing about 75mph on I-75 north out of Chattanooga Monday, when my front end wobble reappeared. A real tank slapper this time! Broke my collar bone, 3 ribs, 5 bones in my foot. The Grace of God and my gear kept me safe from a worse fate. The R3T is toast. ATGATT!!!
Sorry to hear of your spill mate hope you recover quickly and insurance is kind to you

 

[Hardy]

Holy Sh**
sorry for that mate. I hope you heal quick.

coming back to the issue of wobbling. I learned in my dealers workshop that a maximum greasing of the top end of the bearings is helping a lot.

all the best

 

[CWCobra]

Word of advice to all:
Don't assume a wobble has been rectified; BE SURE.
It can reappear at the worst possible time.

One of the risks we assume when we swing our leg over a bike is the risk of equipment failure. I will forever live with the regret I now have for not dealing with my wobble in a more aggressive, assertive way. Symtoms seemed to disappear, so i said, "huh, must be fixed". Boy was I wrong. It very easily could have killed me. Not many high side at 75 + mph and live. I was STOOO-PID! Don't be like me!

And remember: ATGATT!

 

[Binnsy]

Word of advice to all:
Don't assume a wobble has been rectified; BE SURE.
It can reappear at the worst possible time.

One of the risks we assume when we swing our leg over a bike is the risk of equipment failure. I will forever live with the regret I now have for not dealing with my wobble in a more aggressive, assertive way. Symtoms seemed to disappear, so i said, "huh, must be fixed". Boy was I wrong. It very easily could have killed me. Not many high side at 75 + mph and live. I was STOOO-PID! Don't be like me!

And remember: ATGATT!

Glad you came out of it relatively OK. I must admit to living with faults and apparent minor issues rather than go through all the trouble to find the cause. I do this all the time, until it breaks and the fault becomes obvious. I may be more vigilant after hearing your story!

 

[The Kiwi]

The Grace of God and my gear kept me safe from a worse fate. The R3T is toast. ATGATT!!!

Amen to that!!

 

[cowboyuptex]

I’m presently trying to work through a wobble problem on my resent purchase of an 08 r3 touring with 8000 miles and am becoming ever more frustrated with the dealer telling me “well don’t take your hands off “. I had a roadster for the last 4 years perfectly smooth, until the Rockies jumped out in front of me! Now I have nothing but struggled with the dealer over fixing this wobble!