Front End Wobble

[GlennTuc]

I'm kicking around the idea of getting a BMW or GW, and while doing some research, I have come across several comments about front end problems with the GW (besides the ones on this site). There have been several people make comments about front end wobble at speeds between 35 and 50 MPH. One of my fellow co-workers has an 07 GW with front end wobble that he can't get rid of. He's changed tires a couple times and has took his complaint to the dealer to no avail. Didn't know this to be a common problem with the GW. Do any of ya have the front end wobble on your GWs?

 

Glenn

[Tom]

I dont have it but The GW has poor head brgs..Get Info on "All Balls",$39.95 Alot sats that pretty much clears it up.

[OldBear]

Mine tracks as smooth and straight as you could ask. I have heard of the "all balls" set up, and I've also heard that you can have problems if your tire pressure is low....Frankly, I love my Wing!

[Guest my14car]

I have 2010 theres a little wobble from 10 mph and down once in a while. This is common as the stock springs they put in the wing are not the best. If you have a wobble from 35 to 50 there is a serious problem in the front end.This needs some attention maybe a weak spring bend rim or the tire is not balanced right and even air pressure.

 

Need to try a different shop and find a front end specialist. Also if the bike is still under warranty i would find a dealer to fix it need to be agressive with these guys as they just try to pass it off to other problems.

 

Also with a wobble you are mentioning i would not feel safe or even be riding that bike until its fix.

 

A lot guys are doing a front end upgrade to better and stronger springs after a couple of years which i plan to do with mine. But as far as that the wing is a great bike and there have been no recalls or problems with the front forks.

 

Good Luck

[1joeranger]

Anyone tried Dyna beads? That removed my wobble on my RSTD! Not interested in a fight here, just curious if any had the same solution?!

[kevin-vic-b.c.]

Anyone tried Dyna beads? That removed my wobble on my RSTD! Not interested in a fight here, just curious if any had the same solution?!

 

Here is a link to the fight: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=44709&highlight=Dyna+beads

 

front row seats are best.

 

[raceman62race]

I've got an 06 Wing with roughly 18,000 miles on it. I bought it used and it had a slight slow speed wobble. I changed front tires and that took care of it. Smooth as silk now!

[dmoff1698]

Have an 08 with 20K. No problems here.

Edited January 3, 2011 by dmoff1698

[Eck]

You can resolve the GW in the steering head by installing "all balls"..

The stock head bearings are worthless..

[Herb In Texas]

I had a slight wobble at 35-45 mph but only when decelerating with no hands on the bars. That said mine is gone now. It wasn't head bearings although I have bought them. it wasn't fork springs although I have bought them. See my other post on front end work. the cure for mine has been talked about on this forum manye times but not on the wing tech tab. My cure was the same as it is for many Venture riders even though front end wobble isn't a trait of the Venture. This item was used on the Venture to increase tire life and drivability in general. This miraculas thing is, wiat for it, one more second, An Avon tire! Oh and I have given up no hand riding. Cause me pain in the rib cage just above my kidney on the right side. Dawn has a wicked right hook, specialy if ya aint lookin.

[FreezyRider]

Bought my 03 wing last May. Had a ferocious front end wobble around 35-40 mph whether you were increasing speed or decreasing speed.

I spent many hours on the gl1800riders forum researching this issue and was about to buy the All Balls bearings. However, one post from an old-time mechanic (highly respected guy in the GW world) advised to not do what most do who switch to the All Balls....and that is to torque them higher than Honda specs in order to get rid of the wobble. He says you aren't curing the problem, only masking it. He also made the bold claim that he has fixed dozens of front end wobble problems on the 1800 without changing bearings. He properly torques the existing stock bearings if they don't feel rough or sloppy, then installs a new front tire. If that doesn't fix it, he adds Dyna-Beads to both tires. And in nearly every instance the wobble is gone.

Well, I decided to invest the $15 in Dyna Beads and give it a try. Not much to lose if they don't work, right?

Wobble instantly gone. I am literally amazed how smooth the old girl is now. I have ridden for over a mile without touching the handle bars (only did it as a test, lonely road with virtually no traffic). Prior to the beads, if I took my hands off the bars at 60 mph it would start to shake within seconds. Only tried that once!!

 

Try the beads. Or don't, it's your bike and your money.

[Eck]

one post from an old-time mechanic (highly respected guy in the GW world) advised to not do what most do who switch to the All Balls....and that is to torque them higher than Honda specs in order to get rid of the wobble. He says you aren't curing the problem, only masking it.

Not trying to get into an argument or big disagreement with you, (or the old timer) here, but your comment makes me wonder just how long over tightened bearings can last..

I do not agree with over tightening the bearings or going above and beyond what the spec calls for, UNLESS, the spec has been determined to be a mis-print in the manual. This is not mentioned in the old timers post and was not mentioned as a mis-print in your post.

 

I am on the same GW site you mentioned and I too have spent many many hours reading about the wobble and "all ball" bearings, and out of the many many posts to install them to cure the wobble, there is only ONE ol timer who says not too..

 

In my case, I chose to go with the majority of people/ opinions to install them and I must say the all bearings DO work.

I have them installed on my GW and I have never had the nasty wobble everyone speaks of....

 

After riding with "ALL Ball Bearings and with out the wobble for nearly 1.3 years, I decided this past August to install Avon Cobra tires. At that time I also had Dyna beads installed..The new Avon Cobra's were squirrely at first, but after about 100 or so miles I got used to them and I will never use anything else on my GW from now on. The Dyna beads however, are, in my opinion, debatable on being a pure waste of money..

 

 

[FreezyRider]

I won't argue either, Eck...especially with you. You're too nice a guy to argue with. All I know for sure is that before the dynabeads I had a wicked wobble. After adding the beads, smooth as silk. Two of my riding buddies can confirm this as they rode my bike both before and after.

Really curious how different products seem to perform differently for different people, isn't it?

 

 

one post from an old-time mechanic (highly respected guy in the GW world) advised to not do what most do who switch to the All Balls....and that is to torque them higher than Honda specs in order to get rid of the wobble. He says you aren't curing the problem, only masking it.

Not trying to get into an argument or big disagreement with you, (or the old timer) here, but your comment makes me wonder just how long over tightened bearings can last..

I do not agree with over tightening the bearings or going above and beyond what the spec calls for, UNLESS, the spec has been determined to be a mis-print in the manual. This is not mentioned in the old timers post and was not mentioned as a mis-print in your post.

 

I am on the same GW site you mentioned and I too have spent many many hours reading about the wobble and "all ball" bearings, and out of the many many posts to install them to cure the wobble, there is only ONE ol timer who says not too..

 

In my case, I chose to go with the majority of people/ opinions to install them and I must say the all bearings DO work.

I have them installed on my GW and I have never had the nasty wobble everyone speaks of....

 

After riding with "ALL Ball Bearings and with out the wobble for nearly 1.3 years, I decided this past August to install Avon Cobra tires. At that time I also had Dyna beads installed..The new Avon Cobra's were squirrely at first, but after about 100 or so miles I got used to them and I will never use anything else on my GW from now on. The Dyna beads however, are, in my opinion, debatable on being a pure waste of money..

 

 

[Eck]

I won't argue either, Eck...especially with you. You're too nice a guy to argue with.

Now I can argue with you on that..but thanks for the comment...

 

All I know for sure is that before the dynabeads I had a wicked wobble. After adding the beads, smooth as silk. Two of my riding buddies can confirm this as they rode my bike both before and after.

It sounds like you actually had an out of balance tire that caused your wobble, and the Dyna beads did what they were supposed to..balanced your tire thus eliminating your wobble.. In my case, I think my old tire was in good balance, and I had a new Avon installed with Dyna beads, and I really didn't notice the "significant difference" as I was told I would. The Dyna beads must be working on mine, because I do not feel any type of thumping or wobble on my GW..but I just may go back with weights next time to see if I can feel a difference.

Really curious how different products seem to perform differently for different people, isn't it?

Your right here.... I'm willing to bet that your toilet paper works better then mine..

[FreezyRider]

Really curious how different products seem to perform differently for different people, isn't it?

Your right here.... I'm willing to bet that your toilet paper works better then mine..

 

Well, I think you might lose that bet!!!

I am tempted to ask for details on your "issues".......nah. Don't wanna go there!!

[1joeranger]

Probably John Wayne paper!

[Guest my14car]

Have been on some other sites seems the dyna beads help with most wobbles. I will be getting my dyna beads this week. Will report back after i put some miles on them. Anything to make a smoother better ride with better tire wear is worth if.

[willieiso118]

Anyone tried Dyna beads? That removed my wobble on my RSTD! Not interested in a fight here, just curious if any had the same solution?!

 

Running Dyna beads in my Wing, and i'm pretty much sold that they are helping the ride, balance. Still running E3's and so far, as aggressively as i ride i'm seeing good tire performance.... Only time will tell...

[Eck]

Have been on some other sites seems the dyna beads help with most wobbles.

 

Installing a fork brace will also help eliminate the wobble.

 

I also recommend installing the fork tube guards with the fork brace to prevent bugs, and road trash from damaging the tubes...

[dynodon]

As much as I like spending money on my bikes, the handlebar shake on my '86 VR was stopped cold for the sum of ZERO bucks by just tightening the steering head nut about one flat or less. Just stuck a screwdriver in and whacked it with a hammer a couple times.

 

On my '04 GoldWing, it has a wobble side to side and I made it a little better by loosening the "all Balls" bearings on the steering head, till I started to get handlebar shake at low speeds.

 

Tried the new Kuryakyn Fork brace and Dyna Beads and they had ZERO effect on either problem.

 

So don't rely on those things to solve the wobble, try properly adjusting the bearing tension.

 

Usually for handlebar shake, tighten a tiny bit at a time till it goes away.

[Rick Butler]

You know Guys,

 

I've been dealing with this front end wobble starting with my 86 Venture Royale in 1987. And I was lucky that one of my friends owned a Yamaha shop in Cleveland, TN and he clued me into what would resolve the headshake that had Yamaha scratching their heads on. And that was overtightening the tapered head bearings just a bit beyond the factory specs. And this solution has worked for every Venture I have owned and have worked on.....and that's been a bunch.

 

And I have been following this issue on the GL1800 ever since one of my friends bought one of the first ones in 2001 where he was dealing with wobbles and cupping front tires. But in 2007 I read a MCN article written by Dave Searle about the GL1800 Suspension Makeover that Traxxion Dynamics has come up where they addressed all of the issues with the GL1800 front suspension. And it really comes down to a wimpy set of front forks with a cushy set of springs with a spring rate of about .70kg/mm leaving most with a burdened remaining travel of 2.5" (of a initial 5.5" of travel). And why Honda chose to change the tapered head bearings from the GL1500 to ball bearings (like you have on your bicycle) on the GL1800, which you can't really overtighten without possible damage. This is why most experts to this problem suggest removing the ball bearing head bearings and replace them with a set of tapered bearings from All Balls (which can be overtighted with no issues if done right).

 

I won't go on with everything that was presented in this solution from Traxxion, so I have attached it so you GL1800 owners can read it and make your own determination on what you want to do. But in summary, they suggest that the best thing you can do for your front suspension is to:

 

1. Install the All Balls tapered bearings

2. Replace the fork springs with a heavier set with a spring rate of 1.2kg/mm

3. Install a Kuryakyn fork brace

 

The ultimate would be to send your forks to Traxxion Dynamics and have them rebuild them with their components which disable the antidive unit (which isn't needed with the right weight springs). This a $2,000 solution but I think you could do the same thing with a set of RaceTech Gold Valves along with new constant rate springs for around the 3rd of that cost. But even after you fix the front, you still need to address the rear suspension to end up with a complete solution.

 

Oh, and I tell you with complete certainty that tire cupping is a suspension dampening issue and not a balance problem. Since I have been riding on the track on my Honda CBR600, I have learned a bunch about proper suspension set up. The last thing you want to have happen when rolling off the throttle coming down from a 140mph straight into a 80mph corner is to have a head shake.....or having a rear end doing funny things coming out of a corner while pinning it going into the straight. But we have a completely adjustable suspension on these small sport bikes.

 

Good topic and I hope I helped,

 

Rick

[felix]

I'm kicking around the idea of getting a BMW or GW, and while doing some research, I have come across several comments about front end problems with the GW (besides the ones on this site). There have been several people make comments about front end wobble at speeds between 35 and 50 MPH. One of my fellow co-workers has an 07 GW with front end wobble that he can't get rid of. He's changed tires a couple times and has took his complaint to the dealer to no avail. Didn't know this to be a common problem with the GW. Do any of ya have the front end wobble on your GWs?

 

Glenn

Have him put in new tapered stearing head bearings upper and lower, problem gone. Make sure yhere is proper tire pressure

[Guest my14car]

Had the dyna beads put in my tires 2 weeks now much better ride my wobble is gone also running 41psi on the front and rear nice improvement. Ordering some for my pickup next.

[felix]

Had not heard of dtna beads, I run 41 lbs as well. I have 88000 miles have not had a wobble since replacing the bearings

[zooer]

I think they are called "all-ball" or something like that, who makes the tapered head bearing like Felix said. That has seemed to be the true cure for the wobble in the 1800's that have had the problem.