frt.end whobble

I ride a 97 superglide,I change the frt.end to a wide glide with the org.39 mm
forks and at times I have a frt.shimmy(handle bars go back and forth at 65 to 75mph w/ the ol lady on it it will not do it..I changed the fork oil to a heaver oil ,but to me it seems to have alot of travel and the tubes are equal.miles on the bike are 17,000miles.I checked the bushings for the swing arm and they are o.k.rear wheel bearings are new.?help please

HawkEye

Did you change out the triple trees? If so, are they raked? This may be your problem, if not, then check your fallaway and make sure all fasteners are good and tight. You may check around on previous posts regarding rake and trail. Keep us posted...we all hate the dreaded "wobbles".

Sorry, just noticed you changed out the trees, but kept the stock forks. I did the same on my DynaGlide Convertible without problems, but did a heck of a lot of research before hand. Those wobbles are DEADLY and need to be corrected immediately. Could your front tire be possibly out of rotation, meaning running tread backwards? Check and re-check everything that you worked on again. Make sure all bolts/ fasteners are to proper torque.
Get back with us on your findings, and by all means, keep the ol' lady off until you get 'er figured out. Doesn't do any good having both of you in the hospital at the same time!
BTW, whos the maker of the trees?...may shed some light on the situation.

Thanks for the info.there is a 5 degree rake,everything is torqued right I double checked last night.On the fork brace I put it under the lowwer tree,but I need to see where my forks bottom out and put whst 1/4 above??The tire is new rotation is right.Do you think if my fork springs are weak or one would that do it and have you ever seen/heard of it??

wobble

Hawkeye,
seems like a "trail" issue or lack of.Who makes those trees & how did you come to decide on 5 degrees...note:"rake & trail" need to be addressed any time a modification is done to a stock frame(28 degree neck angle).Hope all works out.
00 wildglide

Hey,
The compant is C.N.C machine the rake is what he said he made them at..
What is the way to figure out my "rake & trail"?

Before you ride again, either get the trail checked or teach yourself how to do it. A high speed wobble is also called a death wobble.... For a very good reason.

http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/rakeandtrail.html

I did the calculations for his bike using the calculator, and with everything else stock other than the trees, he's coming up in the negatives. Too much rake and not enough trail dude!

You Said They Where Cnc? Did You Have The Trees Custom Built? I Thought A Wobble Like That Only Happens When You Go Into Turns. I Don't Understand If You Say All You Did Was Convert To A Wide Glide With Only Changing The Trees. How Much Further Did The Rake Kick Out The Front End? Did The Rake Change From Stock To 5 Deg. Or Was It 5 Plus Or Min. Stock. Another Thing To Check Maybe Is The Fork Tube Line Up At The Top Of The Trees. Maybe One Tube Is Slightly Sitting Longer Than The Other.

Nope, happens more in a straight line than a turn. A turn will load the tire to the inside and that is where things like you mention show up. A wobble is is usually caused by not enough or negative trail.

On the degree it is 5 degrees plus stock..the fork tubes are even.The trees were made the guy had a machine shop and was making them for people and I am the only one with this problem..how due I tell about the travel? when I load the frt.end sitting the tube compress to where my free travel for riding and hitting bumps is aprox.6".It seems the same from the org.?it does seem real soft to were if I put my weight on the frt.end it just about bottoms out..I hope this helps..

thanks
Hawkeye

Raked triple trees are a disaster waiting to happen if you do not know how to check trail. Rakes beyond 2-3º can cause major problems in handling.

What you are feeling are classic examples of too little trail.

In an earlier post I gave you a link on how so you could determine trail.
You can skirt around the issue all you want to but you will still have to calculate the trail or deal with what will happen.

Hawkeye,

You MUST have better than 0 when calculating your rake and trail, otherwise, you're taking a chance on your life as well as the person you are transporting! The only other way you can rectify the situation without losing the trees, is to have your frame neck re-worked to conpensate for the additional rake. My bike has a 3 degree set with a 28 degree neck, which puts me in for positive trail, get it? Use the calculator C.D. provided you. If you follow the advise given, you'll live longer! Good luck!

Thank-you for all your help..I am going to be checking into the web site and the input and response is great...I will keep you up to date with the process..

This site I would say is a "brother hood on the net..."

Thank-you,
Hawkeye


talk at ya soon......

Hawk,
Indeed it is, and you're welcome!

Hey Hawkeye,

Have you come to any conclusions as to what needs to be done? Hope you're not riding it that way! If your not riding, you're missing some prime riding time. It may be more lucrative, for the time being, to go back to stock trees for a while, at least until you figure what direction to go. You can find a decent machine shop that can chop the neck and fix the rake problem if you must keep those trees. You may be pleasantly suprised with pricing.

Hey,
I just got back into town for work.I will be checking it out this weekend and will update next week and let you know the good or bad news..I thought about putting the old trees on but my ol lady when i was gone thought she would help and clean the garage..yes you know what happened they are gone..yes there was some heavy talk about the garage and it's my space she has her own..So now I need to get this done soon because the weather is prime and it is killen me letting it sit..

Thanks,
Hawkeye

That sucks!
I'll tell you what, if you want to put stock trees back on your bike, and not miss the prime of riding season, I'm willing to part with my stock set. I'll never use them again and they're just gathering dust. I don't want anything for them, but they are a bit scarred up, but with a bit of TLC, they'll work again. You just need to pay for shipping them. Just throwing you an option.

Thank-you for the offer I will Let you know about that after this weekend.


Thank-you again,

Hawkeye