Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ltank]

I was considering a Bagger but reading about the Death Wobble in bikes with the Batwing Fairings. I have not read about  Street Glides that use the Standard Windshields. Any Recommendations?
Thanks

[HOGMIKE]

I was considering a Bagger but reading about the Death Wobble in bikes with the Batwing Fairings. I have not read about  Street Glides that use the Standard Windshields. Any Recommendations?
Thanks

Really?
 
 

[kojak]

Its not really a batwing issue, its more a swing arm mounting issue. There are zillions of opinions out there. All bikes can have a frontend shake if there are certain conditions (tire pressure, steering head issues, uneven tire wear, etc). The only time I've experienced it was on a 2007 street glide when I took sweepers at high speed. Haven't had any issues with Harley tourers since (2009 Ultra, 2011 Ultra, 2009 RK, 2010 SG, 2013 RG). Probably rode those bikes about 150k miles put together.

[KGB]

I was considering a Bagger but reading about the Death Wobble in bikes with the Batwing Fairings. I have not read about  Street Glides that use the Standard Windshields. Any Recommendations?
Thanks

I put a Klock Werks on mine, not for tank slap, but it may have helped it?

http://www.getklocked.com/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ultrafxr]

I had a terrible wobble on my 2011 CVO Road Glide Ultra.  Dealer adjusted / tightened the neck bearing and that did help quite a bit.  Never had the issue at all with and of the batwings I've owned - five of them.  I think it can happen to any bike if the celestial alignment is a bit off the day it is assembled.   

[ltank]

I always thought it was the Batwing fairing. I have a Standard Windshield on my FXR4 and have 87k miles and it has Never wobbled. I ride 80-85 all the time in East Tx. I have had it over 100 many times and 120 plus maybe 10 times with no wobbles. Ever.

[JCZ]

If you want to do the research back in about 09 and 10 on this forum it was happening way more often with the Road Glides than batwing fairings.  Like has been mentioned.....many, many opinions.  Tightening the adjustment on the neck bearings as little as 1/8 turn helped a couple and others needed 1/4 turn.  It seems that the neck bearing races seem to seat theirselves further after being ridden a bit....causing to much play in the neck even though the fall away may be within factory specs.

Other things can contribute also, wheels out of alignment with the frame, front wheel out of balance, on and on.

[dartman]

My 09 Roadglide CVO had a high speed wobble never had a problem with my Batwings

[skratch]

I always thought it was the Batwing fairing. I have a Standard Windshield on my FXR4 and have 87k miles and it has Never wobbled. I ride 80-85 all the time in East Tx. I have had it over 100 many times and 120 plus maybe 10 times with no wobbles. Ever.

no, not the batwing fairing, exclusively.  I think the problem lies more with the way that the steering head is mounted in the touring frame (ie. backwards).  there was a tsb put out by hd a few years back that changed the spec for the roadglides.  if I took my hands off my bars while decelerating, I would begin to get a wobble around 35 - 40 mph.  tightened up my steering bearings to 1 swing on the fallaway and have had no problems since.

[Ironhorse]

My '01 Ultra had a slight wobble issue. It was due to one of the front forks leaking. My '06 CVO Ultra has been fine.

Like many have posted there are a litany of things that when combined or in and of themselves may cause the wobble. Everything from tire pressure, loose neck bearings, worn handlebar bushings, worn swing arm bushings, and on an on. A lot of riders use those swing arm braces to solidify the rear end more.

[Billy]

I think they built a new roadglide a few years back to prevent the problem   Billy

[ltank]

Well, I bought the 98 Road King with 35k miles for 6k. Waiting for delivery. Then comes some customizing !

[Major Tom]

G'Day Y'all,

Some folks including myself have experienced issues with  relatively low speed deceleration wobble issues on RoadGlides after servicing or even on delivery. My understanding is the servicing/set up techs looked up batwing specs for tensioning the steering head bearings which are different for RGs. My 11 SERGU had wobbly bars on deceleration (as described by skratch) when I got it. I just thought it was a RoadGlide thing but read about the issue on here somewhere and had the bearings checked and tensioned to RG specs at the dealers and 'wallah' no more decel wobble. Thank you CVO forum.

Tires will also cause some wobbliness if they are on their way out. You can usually tell when changing lanes if the bumps affect your steering or if the bike tends to follow lines in the asphalt. Have also had some very disturbing wobble from flat tires but that is to be expected and doesn't last long although it will take your mind off sex for a bit.

On previous bikes I have occasionally experienced some high speed wobble, mainly in long sweepers where I backed off when I should have screwed it on. Operator error caused by fear. Simple fix keep it on until the corners are finished! True Traks, newer designs with more fixed points for the drive trains, better suspension and a host of other solutions are readily available depending on the year model and the size of your pocketbook.

Cheers Tom

[Homer 661]

Never had a wobble but I did have a high speed "nibble" on my Ultra while running a recurve type windshield. The front end would feel lite and acted like it wasn't in full contact with the road. Put a Klock Werks on and it settled right down. As soon as I hit 70 the downforce came in and it was really stable.

[kojak]

Sorry, I didn't really clarify my earlier comment. The infamous "death wobble" is different from the front end shake that is a result of various mechanical/suspension type issues that have been mentioned numerous times in this thread. It can happen to any type of bike actually.
The "death wobble" is generally attributed to the Harley swingarm being mounted to the trans and having lateral movement under certain conditions(i'e high speed sweepers for one) that cause the rear wheel and the chassis to go out of alignment and start oscillating. The aftermarket devices like true-track etc are all attempts to stiffen the frame. Harley upgraded the chassis and the swingarm in 2009 to make their touring bikes more stable as well as the motor mounts and various other improvements. The 2009 and up bikes seem to have fewer issues of this type than the 2008 and earlier.