handlebar wobble

Noticed when i took the bike out today if I tried to take my hands off the bars,they wobbled back and fore quite severely,Have never noticed this before,but put a top box in last week and wondering if this could be the cause,will take it off again and see what happens but has anybody else experienced this?Will report back when I try it with the box off.

 

only time I have had issues w/ front end wobble is when front tire was cupped

 

Are you carrying gold or lead bars in the top box? If not... my first guess would be front tire wear.

 

Ditto on that. The top box might be changing the front/rear weight bias and/or rear sag just enough to have a slightly worn front tire act up. It would be interesting to see if increasing the rear spring preload clears up the problem.

 

Never hurts to check the head set to be sure it is not loose.

 

or try raising the forks a tad

 

My bike shook the handlebars like crazy with the worn out tires that it came with. A new set of rubber cleared it up 100%.

 

tire pressure or worn headstock bearings.

 

Could be that,I did drop the forks to compensate when i lowered the rear,but still think it might be the top box I dont seem to remember it happening before i put it on,the tires are nearly new.also pressures are fine

 

Mine does the same thing since I bought it with 1 mile on the odometer. It now only has about 2k and I've played with the front and rear preload as well as tire pressure but it still does it.

 

Jim,

How many miles on your bike? If under 30,000 miles (48,280 Km) I would just tighten the steering head bearings.

If over 30,000 miles I would install new roller bearings.

End of story ~

 

The wobble could be attributed to the design of the bike (physics) , a chopper for instance has a longer rake and will not demonstrate the wobble as readily as a sportbike,

 

Jim, you say the tires are nearly new, but... please be specific, check for cupping and report back. Cupping will definitely result in this symptom. If you need more info on cupping, see my picture here http://vfrworld.com/forums/attachme...90407-tire-probelm-what-causes-dscn2317sm.jpg

 

Sit on the bike, grab the front brake. Try rocking forward and backward. It shouldn't move, If you feel slight movement it could be the stearing head bearings.

On a lighter note........your driving on the wrong side of the road!!!

Couldn't resist!

 

Out of curiosity, how much does a top box weigh? With all the brackets, etc.

 

only about 5lbs,but it does hang right off the back of the bike.also it must create quite a bit of wind resistance if there is no pillion passenger.

 

I'm familiar with the cupping scenario,but the tyres are fine.

 

what tires are you running?? I have heard that some tires will cause this issue on a VFR.

and jim how much did you drop the front end ?

 

more than likely a cupped tire. replace, should be the end of it. Of that does not, then there is a whole slough of things from warped brake rotor to head bearings, to the neck is egged.

try the tire first. Fixed mine.

 

agreed, but tire cupping may be the symptom of worn bearings (or something else) - I went through 2 sets of tires before I fixed the root of the problem