Wobble/occilation at 70/75mph+, am i expecting too much from old bike?

[Rinty]

airhead wobble

Kevin:

The Germans didn't call them gummikuhe's (rubber cows) for nothing.

On my '82 RS, the squirm didn't come out until I had a braced swingarm installed. Before that, I had my local airhead genius do all the usual frame and suspension mods, and he replaced and adjusted the steering head bearings.

Have the steering head bearings checked by an airhead specialist, and have him inspect the frame and suspension at the same time. If the bike still squirms after that, you can decide on whether to upgrade the swingarm.

You have to fiddle with airhead frames, but you eventually get there.

Rinty

 

[captbilly]

my R65 did a high speed wobble like that whenever I set the tires at the originally recommended pressures. By increasing tire pressure closer to the maximum recommended on the Metzlers, the problem went away. Even if this works for you I would still make the other checks.

 

[KHEEREMA129911]

Eureka!

Well I HOPE I just figured out the problem.

A) My steering bearings are actually a little tight, not loose. with the front wheel off the ground, the handlebars will not slide to the stop. I'm having a problem getting the top nut off the upper clamp, that sucker won't budge. But, I don't think this was the major contributor to the symptoms...

B) My wheel bearings in the rear wheel are toast. the entire axle was loose too, i could spin the nut with my fingers. even after tightening the axle, the wheel is way loose. I noticed last weekend 2 up riding with g-friend some funky things happenning with a noise that i thought was coming from the engine, but maybe it was the bearings.

picking up the bearings at the dealer today 66$ for two, ouch...

 

[RandyB]

"While you're in there" you might want to lube input splines, repack operating rod etc. Then (and this really helped the wobble on my GS), take great care to ensure the swingarm is perfectly centered. No point on doing all that work and neglecting that. I was surprised how much it helped.

I hope you get it fixed.

 

[KHEEREMA129911]

**** i just read the article on wheel bearings on duane ashermans site and all this crap about preload and inner spacer widths is scaring the **** out of me.

i'm assuming it is the bearings but what i read says they hardly ever fail.

somethings not right back there, even with the axle nut torqued i can still move the wheel at least 1/2 inch side to side. i can't believe i was riding 65mph+ with that