Steering Wobble

Stars&Bars

Stars&Bars

Two Stroke
My Bonnie has developed a front wobble lately that it didn'y have before. I never had the wobble with the stock Lazartecs or the Marathons until I opened up my exhast with the rebar. I see where the bike now pulls harder up to speed but this wobble starts about at 90mph and no matter how hard I try to hold on to the bars, I can't hold it straight until getting off the throtle, then it stops wobbling as quickly as it starts.
Since this just started I'm looking at what I've done lately but since I've been recovering from right foot surgery for the last eight weeks and aside from sneaking her out while everyone is gone I havent ridden very much at all.
Could I have aired the tire up to high? I'll have to use a different guage and re-check them but was wondering if anyone else had suddely developed a case of the wobbles and what fixed it?
 
evil knievel

evil knievel

Scooter
wobble

My bonnie has done it a few times around 150kms and worse when you go faster. Some times it wont happen at all ??? It still has the stock Metzlers and they are in really good shape. My dad had the wheels balanced...but they were dead on??? They checked the rims and bearings and found nothing. They tried adjusting the stearing neck bearings but he said on these bikes you cant. Its the desighn of it. He found it very strange that you cant adjust the preload on the front bearing. He jacked up the bike and tested for "drag" I think he said,.....and the wheel just flopped over to the left and right. Too loose he said. So I just ride it that way.No biggie.
 
R

R.Hawks

Two Stroke
evil knievel said:
They tried adjusting the stearing neck bearings but he said on these bikes you cant. Its the desighn of it. He found it very strange that you cant adjust the preload on the front bearing. He jacked up the bike and tested for "drag" I think he said,.....and the wheel just flopped over to the left and right. Too loose he said. So I just ride it that way.No biggie.
Click to expand...

The preload can be set if you have the right tools. Check the service manual.
 
Sal Paradise

Sal Paradise

Hooligan
I've been thinking about the high speed wobble, which seems pretty much cured on my T100 right now. After checking on the obvious things such as wheel balance, etc. I think you have to look at the bike as a whole.

What I mean is, I just realized while reading this thread that I had my saddlebags on and off during my high speed wobble problems. I am now going to check my head bearing preload and I also feel my rear brake disk has a pulse to it so I will take the brake apart. I think the Bonnie has a tendency to pick up and amplify the HSW at about 90 mph at WOT and therefore we have to get after whatever the causes are on any specific bike. Any one factor might cause it. Right now I have to think about the head bearing because at high speed/ throttle the front end is really light and there just may not be enough friction to stop whatever wobbles develop, either from wind or wheels.

To the OP, you wrote - I've been recovering from right foot surgery for the last eight weeks and aside from sneaking her out while everyone is gone I havent ridden very much at all.

Maybe you developed a flat spot in the tire from being parked?
 
Last edited:
Kirkus51

Kirkus51

Hooligan
I'm guessing you might have something on the bike you've added, like a flyscreen or bags, etc. even a rack or T-BAG. There's kits out there to put a steering damper on the bike, even saw a knob type somewhere, but with that one you have to do some drilling. It might be something real minor like the brake and speedo cable routing on your front wheel.

and.... it's not like I do 90 on a regular basis so all I can do is speculate. Hope you do that kind of speed where it's safe.
 
Rhodie

Rhodie

Street Tracker
Noticed the same from around 85mph upwards.
It not a wobble more like an oscillation/figure-of-eight handlebar weave.
As other have said have checked-out the obvious - with no discernable results.
Just a bore when slabbing it and want to make up the miles fast.
 
Stars&Bars

Stars&Bars

Two Stroke
Ya know, my wobble is more like an osillation too come to think about it and I really haven't changed anything. I do have a Parabellum windscreen and saddlebags but then again I added those right away after buying my 2009 T100 style BLACK. I know, that model isn't supposed to exist but tell that to my bonnie!
All I can say is before uncorking those muffs it really wasn't an issue as it took so long to get up to the ton, but now I can and want to be able to rip on up there when I feel safe to do it. I tell ya, it really did catch me off guard the first time I did it! After bearing into trying to correct it, and not being the least bit successful, I backed out of it. Next semi warm day I'll give it another try with my tire pressure set at 32 psi and see how she behaves, pressure was at 34 at the time.
This seems to be an issue that many of our fellow riders have felt and there has to be a fix that doesn't require us to purchase a damper especially on a bike with a heritage of being able to hit a hundred mph.
I hope my wife don't start snooping around on the forum and find out my vices, she thinks I'm all propped up in my chair waiting on her to come home. heeheehee! :cheers:
 
Rhodie

Rhodie

Street Tracker
Stars&Bars said:
Next semi warm day I'll give it another try with my tire pressure set at 32 psi and see how she behaves, pressure was at 34 at the time.
This seems to be an issue that many of our fellow riders have felt and there has to be a fix that doesn't require us to purchase a damper especially on a bike with a heritage of being able to hit a hundred mph. :cheers:
Click to expand...

Have tried contacting these guys at Scotts as one of their dampners would imo be the DBs but they don't appear to answer their emails! :crazy:
http://www.scottsperformance.com/Stabilizer_Models.php?Make=Triumph
Tho they don't have Bonnies/Thrux/Scrams listed I'm wondering if they have a generic design that could be adapted.
If anybody Stateside would care to give them a call [P: 818 248-6747] I'm sure there would be others as well as myself who would be much obliged.

BTW adjusting the tire pressure did help marginally.

Cheers
Rhodie
 
B

bluedes

Scooter
my stearing head bearings packed it in at 54000klms ..replaced them with tapered bearings,,very happy, no wobbles,the front stays on line through the entire corner
 
Rhodie

Rhodie

Street Tracker
Following my last post I managed to get through to Eric at Scotts, and a more helpfull person I have yet to meet.
The issue of affixing the Scotts damper to the Bonnie/Scram/Thrux models is that there is no space to weld to the frame due to the tank.
They looked into this in '06.
It would require a tank redesign or chop & re-weld of the OE tank creating space for a fixing point on the frame.
 
phil

phil

Street Tracker
I found with my fairing I don't have any wobbles at all, even up to 90mph...crap; the wife just asked me something now I lost my train of though.... o.k I found that I have tryed different wingsheilds and there was some wobble at higher speeds and the road conditions made a difference to. cheers mate.
 
F

Florida T-100

Scooter
Rhodie said:
Following my last post I managed to get through to Eric at Scotts, and a more helpfull person I have yet to meet.
The issue of affixing the Scotts damper to the Bonnie/Scram/Thrux models is that there is no space to weld to the frame due to the tank.
They looked into this in '06.
It would require a tank redesign or chop & re-weld of the OE tank creating space for a fixing point on the frame.
Click to expand...
That's disappointing news. Man, after reading all the great reviews of it on a wide range of bikes (superbikes to dirt bikes), I was hoping to install one on my Bonnie-- sure seems far superior to the old school dampers and yet the price is not unreasonable. They even have one to fit an MV Augusta. The build quality is incredible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top