SRJ999 Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Good people, I have discovered a rather disturbing trait being exhibited by my new TDM. If I shut the throttle and leave the bike to coast, it develops a corking front end wobble between 35-40mph. It's not uncontrollable and I only discovered it by accident. I was aware of the front feeling a bit light a while back so, the next time I felt the lightness, I took my hands off the bars and WHOA! Off she went. Hands straight back and the bike settled again. It only happens within this speed window and I've only noticed it when the bike is coasting. When I spoke to a bike shop, the mechanic helpfully suggested, "Don't take your hands off the bars." Whilst I acknowledge that riding no-hands is not to be encouraged, it was only by doing that I could excaggerate the condition. The mechanic also suggested that the front tyre could be worn out but the bike is only 3000 miles old. I know sports tyres wear fast but this isn't a back road scratcher/track tool. I have ridden it (relatively) gently from Day 1 and can see no evidence of the tyre being shot; it's still got plenty of tread and there looks to be loads of life left in it yet. I can also not see any evidence of missing wheel balance weights. Finally, there's no evidence of a buckled wheel or warped discs. Any ideas, anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live to ride Ride to live Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Good people, I have discovered a rather disturbing trait being exhibited by my new TDM. If I shut the throttle and leave the bike to coast, it develops a corking front end wobble between 35-40mph. It's not uncontrollable and I only discovered it by accident. I was aware of the front feeling a bit light a while back so, the next time I felt the lightness, I took my hands off the bars and WHOA! Off she went. Hands straight back and the bike settled again. It only happens within this speed window and I've only noticed it when the bike is coasting. When I spoke to a bike shop, the mechanic helpfully suggested, "Don't take your hands off the bars." Whilst I acknowledge that riding no-hands is not to be encouraged, it was only by doing that I could excaggerate the condition. The mechanic also suggested that the front tyre could be worn out but the bike is only 3000 miles old. I know sports tyres wear fast but this isn't a back road scratcher/track tool. I have ridden it (relatively) gently from Day 1 and can see no evidence of the tyre being shot; it's still got plenty of tread and there looks to be loads of life left in it yet. I can also not see any evidence of missing wheel balance weights. Finally, there's no evidence of a buckled wheel or warped discs. Any ideas, anyone? Hi matey. I had this on my XJ900, I was using Avon Storm STs, even though the front tyre didnt appear to be worn badley it had worn in a weird way due to the construction off the tyre (The tyre is made up of belts of material lapped together, this as it turned out had been over lapped in one place, throwing the wear and balancing out) At around 4500miles, I was doing this mileage consistantly per month so had to opt for a Michelin front and back. It may be worthwhile taking the wheel off and getting it s balancing rechecked. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRJ999 Posted July 15, 2008 Author Share Posted July 15, 2008 Well, that'd be a bugger after such a short distance. Still; I suppose £220-odd is better than falling off the thing. I'll check it out properly at the weekend. Ta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRJ999 Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 Update: I took the bike to the dealer who sold me the bike in the first place for advice. He took it out and confirmed the wobble but reckoned it was pretty mild. We removed the top box and tried again. Ta-dah! No wobble. Fitted the top box to the pannier rack - no wobble. Rode it with top box two-up - no wobble. So; I'm not changing the tyres just yet. I know what brings the wobble on and can ride through it. I also know that when the bike is fully loaded, the issue goes away. We appear to have a simple issue of weight distribution here. Steve is now a happier bunny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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