Handlebar shake

[mrbreeze]

My front end wants to shake if I take my hands the grips. This morning I hit a small pothole and the bars started shaking and I had both hands on the grips. Tire pressure is good. I got a fork brace from Garry. I think will have it professionally installed . Should I have bearings changed at the same time? Bike has 18,000 miles on it. Is there anything else I should do?

[recumbentbob]

Sounds to me like your steering stem bearings need to be tightened.
At 18,000 miles i would say they need to be greased and torqued.

[ringadingh]

Its a common issue with a lot of these bikes. Usually a new tire helps for a while, when I replaced the steering neck bearings it didn't help at all.

[mike07nad]

Originally Posted by mrbreeze

My front end wants to shake if I take my hands the grips. This morning I hit a small pothole and the bars started shaking and I had both hands on the grips. Tire pressure is good. I got a fork brace from Garry. I think will have it professionally installed . Should I have bearings changed at the same time? Bike has 18,000 miles on it. Is there anything else I should do?

I have been fortunate to have the Shakes/Wobble on 3 Voyagers.

(the following is MY EXPERIENCE, Your Mileage May Vary)

On my 3rd and current Voyager 2014 with 43,000 miles on it.
#1 Tightening the Bearings helped but did not cure it.
#2 Adding a Garry Brace Helped but did not cure it.
#3 Changing the Fork Oil Helped but did not cure it.
#4 At the beginning of this year I had the ALL BALLS TAPERED Bearings installed.

!!! The Combo of All Balls, Garry Fork Brace, 5 heavier on Fork Oil and a 1/2 used Metzler 888 front tire CURED MY WOBBLE.

I have now worn out the Metzler 888 and have installed a Dunlop American Elite. - It's a different tire from the Metzler The Dunlop has a more "knobby tread" than the Dunlop.
But it does not have the Wobble..

Hope that helps.

[mike07nad]

Originally Posted by mrbreeze

My front end wants to shake if I take my hands the grips. This morning I hit a small pothole and the bars started shaking and I had both hands on the grips. Tire pressure is good. I got a fork brace from Garry. I think will have it professionally installed . Should I have bearings changed at the same time? Bike has 18,000 miles on it. Is there anything else I should do?

I'm assuming that since you talked about a Garry Fork Brace that you have a 1700 something. What bike do you have?

[Sabre-t]

I didn't have the wobble, but adding the fork brace, upping the fork oil weight, and changing to All Balls bearings in the stem made a huge difference in the way my bike handles. Twisties were fun before, but they are a lot more fun now. There is just too much flex without the brace, and the suspension is too mushy with the stock weight oil.

[mrbreeze]

sorry I didn't specify - it's 2010 Nomad.

[cactusjack]

Don't take your hands off the grips, then! (I joke) Sounds like steering stem bearings need to be adjusted.

[mrbreeze]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

Don't take your hands off the grips, then! (I joke) Sounds like steering stem bearings need to be adjusted.

that's what my wife said!

[twowheeladdict]

Originally Posted by mrbreeze

My front end wants to shake if I take my hands the grips. This morning I hit a small pothole and the bars started shaking and I had both hands on the grips. Tire pressure is good. I got a fork brace from Garry. I think will have it professionally installed . Should I have bearings changed at the same time? Bike has 18,000 miles on it. Is there anything else I should do?

I had my forks rebuilt at Traxxion Dynamics. Night and day difference. I also found that the excedra max tire worked best on the front with a commander 2 on the rear.

[YankeeMan]

I only started to notice this on my bike after i had my first tire change. And under further inspection the shop has my drive belt much to tight. The bars "wobble" when i am slowing down to a stop under engine braking and taking my hands off the bars. I feel its the belt putting to much tension on the rear wheel causing the front of the bike to wobble back and forth. Does this make sense?

[redjay]

Not really.

[Framer]

You can do what you want but until you change the bearings the wobble will come back. I changed mine last winter and added heavier fork oil. All is good.

[jimmyd292]

Originally Posted by Framer

You can do what you want but until you change the bearings the wobble will come back. I changed mine last winter and added heavier fork oil. All is good.

Any suggestion to a good replacement bearing to use? And what weight oil and brand did you use for the forks?

[Kopperhed]

Originally Posted by jimmyd292

Any suggestion to a good replacement bearing to use? And what weight oil and brand did you use for the forks?

All Balls tapered rollers. I didn't go up in oil weight, but i did install Racetech springs & Gold Valves, after I had the local dealer check, adjust to spec then re-adjust, the stock neck bearings. I had the "no-hands" shake with ths stock tire & the Commander....no more.