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[Kilaani]

2012 FLHXSE3

I have read some of the past wobble  threads, but they were talking about much lower speeds. Had my 5k maintenance a few days back, and yesterday (after getting my Fullsac setup) it was a boring long empty stretch of road between Kingman and  Las Vegas.

80 - great
90 - great
100 - great (feeling like flying!)
110 - front wheel start huge wobble, kept wobbling as I was (immediately) slowing down til I hit about 65 again.

Normal at really high speeds? Doesn't seem like it should be....

Suggestions to take to my tech?

[GregKhougaz]

 It sounds like your bike is just fine.  110 mph?  Take a look at the front of your bike and consider its aerodynamics, or lack thereof.  The front fender is an air scoop. The bat wing fairing is an aerodynamic brick. Then there are the lowers to consider. It's a wonder it did not waffle at a lower speed.   

[miker]

Ditto..

never had one that didn't shimmy and shake goanfast...slow down, enjoy the ride.   

[Unbalanced]

Haven't had this problem at speed, but I would check tire pressure, tires for cupping, neck bearing, support brackets for the stereo and quite possibly have the motor checked for alignment.

There are more things like motor mounts etc that can be check and swingarm bushings.

[grc]

Sadly the Electra Glide models are not known for high speed stability, and short of a major redesign I doubt they ever will be.  The frame change in 2009 was a huge improvement in terms of greatly reducing rear steer; however, Harley hasn't done a thing to improve the high speed stability of the front end.  You still have the front end geometry that Harley came out with decades ago to improve very low speed maneuverability (think cop bikes and parade duty).  Back in those days an E'glide didn't have sufficient power to reach triple digit speeds, unless you rode it off a tall cliff.

Anyhow, there are some things that will make the problem worse.  Definitely get the steering head bearings properly lubricated and then check the preload of those bearings.  There is no steering damper to control oscillations, so you have to depend on the steering head preload to provide some damping.  Also have the balance and runout of the front wheel/tire/brake assembly measured.  Lateral imbalance and runout can definitely cause a high speed wobble.  And don't forget proper tire inflation.

There isn't much you can do to fix the fork mounted fairing problem, short of trading for a Road Glide.  

Jerry

[110tHunDer]

Ditto..

never had one that didn't shimmy and shake goanfast...slow down, enjoy the ride.   

Slow down?   Enjoy the ride?   Hell, the fun starts at 110!

Some do it and some don't.  My '12 is much better than my '04 was, but still gets to weaving a bit in high speed corners.  It's not just an Electra Glide thing, though.  There have been plenty of reports of Road Glides doing the same thing.  Have the things checked that Jerry mentioned.  If you can't totally eliminate it, you can probably at least make it better.

[miker]

Get 4 tires under you for safety...besides, I only got about 20 mpg at 100+ it is hard to sustain, cigar goes out, beer foams up, hard time hearing the tunes, even with the bitchin hawg wired pcs stereo system (thanks HD Dude) ...

[murphy]

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today....

[08glide]

waitin to hear reply from dealer tech (service tech) when you tell him to check your bike for high speed wobble at 110 mph. take pics of his facial expressions please.
however I have experienced this problem on kawasaki z1 & kz 1000. most of it is wind turbulence. tire pressure, suspension play into also.

[hdctss]

my '09 at 120 was dead stable...my '13 is hard to ride even at normal speeds.  have had it up to 100 but would never take it faster than that, or probably even up to that again.  my'13 imo is a pos...compared to my 2009...the funny thing is that the harley factory tech for georgia rode it and said wow, what a great bike...to which i reply...wow, what an idiot, and what kind of a company is harley hiring a moron like that

[jr1000yarder]

Had my RG over 110 with a 23" and pickard trees and not even a wiggle!

 

You need a RG man!

[Cvostu]

pretty funny or pretty sad..    i want to see that techs facial expression too when you tell him the bike sucks at 110..   at least tell us what he thinks is rong

[CVOBreak]

Slow down kiddo
they don't pay you the pay your widow.

[dlaws01]

It's you guys doing 110 mph that I see the ambulance EMTs scraping up off the highway every once in a while.

[kraut]

09 and later touring models can be expected to be rock stable at and over 120 mph - and usually are, that's no exceptional speed on a German Autobahn. If they are not, it's usually a maintenance, mostly tire, pressure or bearing matter. At least H-D Germany will go at any length if after checking those "usual suspects" a bike still is not, as over here the bike has to be safe and stable up to it's mechanical top speed.