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Author Topic: The Harley Death Wobble  (Read 51527 times)

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wolfman

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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2011, 02:58:33 PM »



Do you believe this?

only going 25 - 30 MPH?

I believe He wrecked and got hurt, but a "death" wobble at 30 MPH?

I need more info on this.....

comparing this to a 90 MPH wobble is not the same thing.

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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2011, 03:14:54 PM »



Do you believe this?

only going 25 - 30 MPH?

I believe He wrecked and got hurt, but a "death" wobble at 30 MPH?

I need more info on this.....

comparing this to a 90 MPH wobble is not the same thing.



I agree, Keats.  May have been daydreamin' on the upshift, and pulled the brake instead of the clutch.  I feel sorry for the guy and all, but something just ain't right here.  :nixweiss: Later--HUBBARD
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2011, 05:24:24 PM »

I tend to ride a LOT harder than I should at times here in Arizona. High speed wobble with my '07 SEUC DEFINITELY exists ! I can't speak for others but the factors that make the bike wobble erraticlly are NOT present at 30 MPH or anywhere near that speed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry the guy is hurt and sorry the "NEWS" reported it as a "Death Wobble"
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2011, 06:27:19 PM »

I tend to ride a LOT harder than I should at times here in Arizona. High speed wobble with my '07 SEUC DEFINITELY exists ! I can't speak for others but the factors that make the bike wobble erraticlly are NOT present at 30 MPH or anywhere near that speed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry the guy is hurt and sorry the "NEWS" reported it as a "Death Wobble"

I saw an SERG last summer that they were.....it's scarry just watching it and I was on my bike. :nervous:  Got the fall away corrected and problem gone.
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2011, 07:25:49 PM »

Just this year, there have been numerous reports of the RG's going into a wobble when decelerating and hitting speeds of around 35mph, so I'm not going to say that it can't happen, because it does.  On the '07 and earlier bikes, with the old type frame, there is DEFINITELY a wobble in sweepers, though not every time, and the severity varies. I've felt it going 40 and I've felt it going 90...it seems dependent on the particular circumstances encountered at the time.  If this were not true, then Tru-Trak and all the variations of those type of devices to "brace" the rear swingarm would both not exist, and would be out of business.  The video of the HD on the track pretty much shows what happens...yes, it's a "police" bike, but they don't have any equipment that I'm aware of that makes them any different than a regular bike loaded down for traveling...probably not as much weight, in fact.

I'm not saying that the inherent "wobble" caused this particular crash...it could have been a number of things:  Neck bearing gave up the ghost at a bad time; swingarm bushings; sudden blowout on the rear tire; motor mount breaking at a really bad time, etc., etc, etc.  Or maybe it's like the HD mouthpiece said and the guy had put on some Kury footpegs instead of genuine HD footpegs, or another brand of windshield  ::)  But, the wobble is a known problem...that is an absoulte fact.  I'm not saying that other bikes don't do it either, as mentioned by the HD mouthpiece.

But, I'm not saying it didn't either...nobody will really ever know for sure, as the bike is totalled, and the crash is not on film.  And, IMO, speed may not even be an issue at times, whether going slower or faster.

The swingarm problem seems to have been solved with the new frame, and perhaps with the additional engine mount.  Let's see...the cop got killed in 2003 because of a "wobble", HD got sued and settled in '08...coincidentally, the new frame came out in '09...could have been in the planning stages for 10 years, I don't know, but then again, HD could have been correcting a known issue that they got their pants sued off about, and the cop case is the only one that we actually know about...no telling how many others have been settled with a "no disclosure" clause in the settlement, which is common.  Plus, they lost the contract in Cali to BMW, which surely would provide some incentive to change things.  Who here actually thinks that HD designed and built a new frame for no good reason?  And changed the engine mounting method?  They had to do something about the brakes, as all other manufacturers were leaving them in the dust with ABS, better calipers, etc.
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2011, 08:02:08 PM »

My 2011 RGU wobbled on me today at 25 MPH. I was zipping up my jacket so locked cruise and let go of the bars. Instantly wobbled. Simply grabbed the bars.

Couple years ago the ultra went into a wobble at 120 MPH. That was the death wobble. Or as they say in aviation...a near miss
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2011, 08:03:08 PM »

Thats true Terry. I was just telling Kenny Lee about the one on my RG at about...30-35 MPH. My dealer tech told me he likes to tighten the fall away a little tighter and did so with mine and I haven't had it since. Not saying this was the cause of this riders crash, but it can happen at that speed. HOWEVER, mine usually only happened if I removed my hands from the bars.
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2011, 08:30:16 PM »

Thats true Terry. I was just telling Kenny Lee about the one on my RG at about...30-35 MPH. My dealer tech told me he likes to tighten the fall away a little tighter and did so with mine and I haven't had it since. Not saying this was the cause of this riders crash, but it can happen at that speed. HOWEVER, mine usually only happened if I removed my hands from the bars.

FWIW: There's a HD BULLETIN out on this issue. Go to the dealer ASAP!!
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #9 on: May 18, 2011, 07:53:04 AM »

Thats true Terry. I was just telling Kenny Lee about the one on my RG at about...30-35 MPH. My dealer tech told me he likes to tighten the fall away a little tighter and did so with mine and I haven't had it since. Not saying this was the cause of this riders crash, but it can happen at that speed. HOWEVER, mine usually only happened if I removed my hands from the bars.

I had the same problem with the 09 SERG and posted about it on that board.  Essentially, it happened at around 35 and 55mph while lightly my finger tips the bars or with my hands off completely.  If I hadn't grabbed the bars firmly it would have developed into a "tank-slapper".  The dealer did the requisite tightening of the neck bearing but the wobble still persisted.  They called the mother ship and no solutions were offered aside of the neck bearing tightening exercise.  NOTE: I had my tourpak on throughout all this...when we removed it, THE WOBBLE DISSAPEARED! 

I talked about this with the techs and was still not satisfied about the wobble w/t-pak but the tech told me the MoCo would just end up telling me to NOT ride with my hands off the bars....

Can't argue with that!

Two things to mention here:

1) My tourpak is the Premium King Leather T/P off the 06-07 SEUCs which I believe is heavier than the plastic/fiberglass ones.

2) You'll see printed throughout the owner's manual the statement " failure to (insert statement here) can result in injury or death"...insert ride with both hands on the handlebars...they're a$$ is covered! 
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #10 on: May 18, 2011, 08:40:54 AM »


Funny how you can take your hands off the steering wheel of your car or truck without having the front end start doing a vehicular version of a break dance, but god forbid if you even relax your grip on a Harley touring model.  Perhaps Harley, those wonderful folks with our safety in mind at all times, should design grips that actually grab your hands and don't let go anytime the bike is moving?

Still waiting to see someone come out with a good steering damper specifically for the Harley EG and RG (not the trike part).  If Harley doesn't intend to ever fix their front end geometry, then they need to apply a bandaid (damper).

In the meantime, find a competent mechanic and get the head bearings properly serviced and adjusted.  That's the only thing helping to dampen the oscillations currently.  And make sure the wheel/tire/brake combination is accurately balanced of course.


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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #11 on: May 18, 2011, 08:52:52 AM »

Let me just say that everybody should be able to ride without touching the bars......it's done to often on to many bikes.  Why some and not others?  Something in the mfg. is not consistent from one bike to another.  By the way, I have a king tour pack and a rack on top and even when loaded.....it just doesn't make a difference.....no wobble at all. :nixweiss:
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #12 on: May 18, 2011, 09:02:10 AM »

I agree you shouldn't have it. Just wanted everyone to know that it was only when I let go of the bars. It would also do a little shimmy when I would set the cruise at 30-35 mph and lightly hold the bars with my fingers as Beemer mentioned.
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2011, 09:05:19 AM »

I had a terrible wobble on my old Heritage Softail - if you let go of the bars it would go ape sh*t and get worse and worse until you had to grab hold of the bars again.

Turns out it was because I had put "Slime" in the tyres and the tyre had become unbalanced as a consquence. I only discovered this when I changed the front tyre and the problem became cured.

The guy who changed the tyre said that this is a common occurrence as the slime can sometimes thicken and gather in one place - this then has the effect that a tyre balance weight in the wrong place would have.

I don't slime up anymore.

BD
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Re: The Harley Death Wobble
« Reply #14 on: May 18, 2011, 09:09:12 AM »

Maybe mine got "adjusted" before delivery since there was a bulletin on it and I didn't get it until the end of January.  Haven't noticed any wobbles yet, and I've taken my hands off the bars at 80 mph just to see how it tracked, but not at lower speeds.  I'm fully loaded this morning headed to Ribfest, so hopefully there won't be any issues.
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