When I rode to Key West in December, I developed a wobble while riding through Florida. When I got home, the dealer tightened the neck bearing. I didn't really get a chance to ride for the few cold months ahead, and didn't think much of it. Then we had a nice day, and of course I went for a long ride. The problem was still there. My tires weren't looking their healthiest, so I just figured I'll replace those and the problem would disappear. Wrong! I took it back to the shop and they replaced the neck bearing. The wobble lessened, but it's still there and very annoying to ride with it, because it happens at all speeds, but is more noticeable as I speed up. I noticed that the dealer had put 6.5 oz of weights on the rear wheel (yes, you read that correctly...that is 26 of those 1/4 oz weights on one wheel). 1.5 ounces(6 small sections) were adjacent to each other in one area (that's 6 sections on each side, side by side). That seemed to me to be offsetting, and that perhaps only 3.5 oz were necessary to begin with. Anyway, since I was lacking confidence in the balancing, and I was still having a problem, I removed all of the weights and added dyna beads to each tire. There is no noticeable difference. Still wobbling, or at this point it might be described as more of a front end vibration rather than a wobble (that's where it's been at since replacement of the neck bearing).
Tonight, I removed the front calipers to see if there was anything noteworthy while spinning the front wheel freely. I placed a stationary item at the tire edge, then the edge of the rim, and then at the edge of the rotor, and with each I would get a slight variation where the tire, wheel, and rotor would touch the stationary object as I spun the tire checking each area. I then held onto the right front fork and I can move the wheel to the left to the point that it actually makes a clunking sound of metal on metal hitting. I had a friend on speaker phone and he could hear it too. I could not move the wheel from left to right in the same manner. I do not have a measuring device to determine if it is within the .002" tolerance that is acceptable according to the shop manual. I also could hear what sounded like a slight rubbing noise and a clicking sound when spinning the wheel.
Okay, now for the questions. Should I hear the sounds I'm hearing from spinning the front wheel? (the rubbing and clicking noise). The wheel still spun freely. Should I be able to move the wheel right to left to the point that I actually hear it hit the extremity of the movement? Does this appear to be any indication that I need a new wheel bearing? Is what I am describing enough to make a noticeable wobble or vibration of the front end? I'm not quite sure where to look next if this is not the problem. I'm guessing from there I move to the motor mounts, swing arm bushings, and rear wheel bearings...but I don't know and thus far the dealer isn't being a ton of help on this. It's more like I have to tell them what I want to try next and they just replace whatever I think should be next.
I don't know if my description is enough to go on, but I'm willing to listen if anyone has any good input. I did notice in another thread that there have been many problems with wheel bearings, but nobody mentioned much of anything about the handling with a wheel bearing problem.