Front end shake...should I worry?

Mike #1334

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On a recent trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway, at about 50mph or so I took both hands off the bars to stretch. As the bike decelerated the front end began to shake violently, to the point where if I kept my hands off the bars something bad would happen. I was in 5 th gear but don't think that had anything to do with it. The front tire is In good condition. I tried wiggling the front tire and it didn't seem loose. There are no ther handling issues. Any ideas? Is this normal?
 

DirtFlier

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Most motorcycles, especially Hondas, will do that if you take BOTH hands off the grips. No where does it state that a motorcycle should continue smoothly down the road with hands off the grips.
 

Woodaddict

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If you have your original BT022's on there, they are prone to cupp or wear the little rubber pads backwards causing wheel to shake real bad. I even tried same thing, take my hands off grips, from 55mph and lower would shake real bad. Also this cupping causes tire to make noise when cornering, must be trapping air. After I replaced with BT023, this problem went away. The next front tire I will be trying a Michelin PR3.
ps there has been other posts under tires/wheels about this, look them over
 
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I've noticed that with mine, too. I used to be able to set the throttle lock and not touch the handlebars for 20 miles with my Vulcan 750, but at certain speeds the NT will do the wobble-dance. Not sure why that is.....
 
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There's also the fact that front steering stem preload is a factor in damping this kind of thing. I had this issue with my ST's when the bearing load was not set properly.
 

Warren

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I seldom take both hands off the bars but when I have my NT has went straight with no wobbling. I don't think what you are describing is normal.
 
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Mine also shook a bit with the OEM tires. Neither the Avon Storms or the PR3's have a shake at all. Hands off, dead straight.
 

Rob

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my stock tires on the NT started doing that at 8k miles or so. was due to improper inflation. when i replaced them with PR3's the issue went away and the front end would not wobble when both hands were taken off the bars. not saying improper inflation is your issue, i just know it was for me. mechanic came out, took one look and ran his hand across the tire and said that's what it was.
 
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With OEM and PR3's I've noticed a small wobble with both hands off, but not always. Seems like less shake with the newer PR3's. No shake or wobble with just one hand on a handlebar grip, making me think it's designed to have some weight on the handlebars. Huh!

The wobble gets violent with no hands on the handlebars and standing on the seat. ......that was a joke. It smooths right out.....no, no, no, please don't try that.
 

Phil Tarman

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On my two Concours, I got the front end wobble under deccelleration. At first it would happen between 35-30mph, but as time went on, it started at around 50mph. Both times, tightening the steering head bearings stopped it and it never came back.

My NT has never had the wobble, even though I've got a set of tapered steering head bearings on the work bench and they'll be installed in a couple of weeks. I can feel a "clunk" from the front end when I stop very rapidly.

The tapered bearings are supposed to last longer and hopefully will eliminate the clunk. If not, my mechanic and I will both be scratching our heads.
 
OP
OP

Mike #1334

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Thanks for all the responses. Before my trip I replaced the OEM BT022 rear tire with BT023. The front tire looked fine from a tread perspective but maybe I missed something; I decided to to replace it. I have 8K miles on the clock. Guess I was just pushing it. I'll replace the front tire and see if that fixes it.
 
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Thanks for all the responses. Before my trip I replaced the OEM BT022 rear tire with BT023. The front tire looked fine from a tread perspective but maybe I missed something; I decided to to replace it. I have 8K miles on the clock. Guess I was just pushing it. I'll replace the front tire and see if that fixes it.
A few things to consider.

The front steering head is a bit of a hinge (the only hinge besides the rear swing arm). Any oscillation will manifest itself in that location. That means a problem with the REAR of the bike (swing arm/tire) can have just as much impact on front end oscillation (wooble) as the front tire. So don't neglect looking at the rear tire.

The steering head bearings (when properly torqued) will provide SOME dampening of oscillation. So that is also a good thing to check.

Replacing the steering head bearings with tapered bearings is also a popular way to MASK front end oscillation. They allow you to put a bit more torque on them over the ball-type bearings. Although tapered bearings can be torqued higher than ball-type bearings, they also will reduce steering feel to a small degree (this may or may not be enough to bother you). A steering dampener is a better tool to reduce head shake but they are expensive and not widely available for all types of motorcycles so tapered bearings are a popular option. I replaced the head bearings on my Wing with tapered bearings to help MASK the slight front end oscillation that Wings are notorious for when the tires begin to get worn (the available steering dampener was $600 while the bearings were $40. The difference in steering feeling isn't very noticeable on a 1000lb bike).

A loose rear swing arm pivot point can also result in front end oscillation.

So check the tires for correct inflation. I've had motorcycles before that would exhibit slight head shake on corner entry when the front tire wasn't at the MAX cold psi.

If proper pressures then inspect for uneven wear. What is uneven wear? Check that the leading edge of the tread blocks is the same height/depth as the trailing edge of the block on either side of the sipe. Check all the tread blocks on the side and in the center of the tire. If the leading edge of the block is a different height from the trailing edge across the sipe, then you have "uneven" tire wear and that could be the cause of your oscillation. This cupping can often be felt via slight vibrations while riding or even "howling" noises when leaned into a corner.
 
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tawilke46

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Good explanation Rob. Thanks.
Will give us all a better idea of what to look for if we experience the "shakes".
 
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