High Speed Wobble - 2008 Touring

I have experienced it a couple of times. I think there are several forces at work. First you have a big plastic barn door attached to the front forks. Then you have those big hard saddlebags out back.

Couple those aerodynamic disadvantages with tire wear, inflation, suspension wear and settings, road condition, and speed and pretty soon you can see how a bad combination could easily develop.

Its not a pleasant feeling, but unlike big tank slappers on older bikes this one seems easily mitigated by just slowing down.
 
Your all Missing something Important Here

If you are getting any movement in your steering at high speed ... For God Sake Guys!!

Get Your Steering Head stock (US. Triple Tree) Bearings checked and re- torqued.. You can do it yourself Page 14.16 in the manual.

Adjuster Nut Torque setting is 40 nm (29.5 lbs/ft) Cap nut is 65nm (48lbs/ft)

On a 2008 the bearing Pre Load has deminished due to normal bearing wear.

It happened to me once and got my attention the second time I felt it
I re-torqued the bearings, Fixed it, wasn't ready to die yet...

Hope this grabs you attention too

Attention Grabber 2
One other thing the R3 motor forms the lower part of the Main Frame, Noticed ???
Make sure the Engine mount bolts are tight or it will be a Pendulum..
A Big One!

Additional Attention Grabber 3
One last important issue.. Keep your Tyre Presures spot on (They Leak) and depending on your choice of Tyre.. I have found some tyres track the road suface joints and cracks.

Riding Style
The R3 is a heavy lump.. I personally let it do what ever it want and keep it in check, fighting it is Hard Work..
JM2CW Hope this Helps, Ride Safe!
 


These guys have good valid ideas and reasons I would check everthing they said. You should feel the wobble above 150 it creates sphincter facter of 10. Also when leaving the road above 150 and landing wrong can induce it. Car tire can increase it do to low pressure and wallering oll over the road but cannot be blamed for it as it happens with Motorcylce tires on it also. I have had it a speeds that would just feak the normal guy out the most important thing is to keep your cool pull back on both handle grips like you want to bend the bars in half. slowly sit up so you chest become a parachute while applieing increasing pressure on the rear brake SLow increased pressure so not lock the beech up.

Now if you are going to gamble as I do and run at speeds above whats posted you should connsider adding a steering damper to aid in control of this. Just my 10 cents worth. I say 10 cents because this is our lifes and they are worth more then a two cent statement
 
When I started reading OP post I thought I had posted this thread. lol

My 2010 Roadster without a windshield but has the fly screen wobbles at 110 mph. I used to be able to go beyond 125 without problems with a car tire. I have a car tire on the back now but it wobbles at 110 and I have to back off. I use dyna beads in the front tire so I contacted dyna bead company asking them am I running the right amount of beads or should I go back to standard lead weights. The response was somewhat confusing but they said

" The wobble you have explained does not have anything to do with the balance of tire. If it was a up and down "hop" then yes you need more beads. Most likely it is a mechanical issue you are looking at. The reason why you wouldn't have noticed this with wheel weights is because the Dyna Beads will just balance your tires, whereas wheel weights will tend to cover up anything else that could be going on with your vehicle. I would give the bike a good look over, make sure everything is tightened up, make sure the wheel isn't out of round or egg shaped. We've found that even something as simple as a loose mirror can cause some serious vibration. Hope this helps."


I personally don't think that a windshield has anything to do with since my bike doesn't have a windshield. Now the car tire may very likely be the problem but I do remember going beyond 110 with the car tire..... but why did it start all of sudden?

I just installed a new Metz on the front and while I had the frontend up I noticed that my steering is very easy to move left and right. There is NO friction whatsover. The sport bike I used to have had a Ohlins steering stabilizer built on the front. I wished I had one on this bike. I will go over my bike and check my torque specs as mentioned above.
 
Densell remarked that his bearing load had decreased due to normal bearing wear.

Could this be the most common cause of the "weave?"

That is, OK when new, progressively comes in after a bit of mileage.....
 
I'm doing some mods on my bike tomorrow, I will be checking the headstock bearing and engine bolts, and will report back.
 
I had a wobble at all speeds but only if I let go of the bars. Just the lightest grasp was enough to stop it. Bike would also dive to the left if I let go. Changing front tyre only made a tiny improvement and only for a short while. Tightened head stock bearing and voila, it's fixed.
 
Headstock bearings

Tripps & Canberra
What is the procedure for tightening that headstock bearing?
Just tighten the big bolt between the risers ?
I better check mine too.
 
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