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[litox]

Hi! Haven't posted in a while but have been reading and riding almost every day!

I have a question for you all... Two weeks ago while riding on the freeway along with a friend on his v-rod we encountered a huge BMW group. My friend decided to show this group how fast the v-rod is (BMW riders in Mexico always drive VERY fast). He accelerated and I followed.

You all know what the FLHTCSE is capable of doing, so I had no problems following my friend all the way to around 170 KPH (a little more than 106 MPH). Now, I know that our bike is not designed as a high-speed bike but the engine has plenty of power to accelerate to very high speeds.

Anyway, around 110 MPH the front end started shaking so bad that I really thought I was going to fall. The roads in Mexico are sometimes really bad, but this happened on a straight and level part of a toll way that was in perfect condition. Imagine the front of the bike shaking vigorously at that speed. It was really scary.

My dealer explained that this is caused by the low-rider suspension the bike has. The springs do not have the normal

[110tHunDer]

Miguel, I don't believe it is the suspension.  On the Delphi Electra Glide Garage board there has been a lot of discussion about this on all the Electra Glide models (Standard, Classic, and Ultra Classic).  The conversation over there has blamed the way the air flows around the front of these bikes (batwing fairing, fairing lowers, etc.).

That being said, some guy's bikes seem to be totally unaffected by this and other's are.  For instance, I had a '02 Classic that was rock solid when it topped out at an indicated 108mph.  Likewise, my SEEG has seen an indicated 112mph (and still pulling, but backed off) with no sign of the high speed wobbles.  On the other hand, the service manager at my dealer gets a new Ultra Classic each year.  He has never had one that exhibited this problem until the 2003 he got last year.  This leads me to believe that the problem may lie in the steering head bearings where some bikes may have been adjusted more loosely than others at the factory and therefore exhibit the wobble.  To back this up, my '02 Classic never would pass the "fall away" test whenever I did it at home, meaning the bearings were on the tight side of the spec.  But I decided not to mess with it knowing I may sacrifice some of the high speed handling.  You may want to take this up with your dealer before going to the expense of the suspension changes you mentioned.

By the way, love the story of your loco friend doing 110mph on the way home from taking delivery.  [smiley=beerchug.gif]

[Cabo]

FYI..Ive been to 120mph with no wobble...I had a puckered A$$ but the bike handled fine.

I would question your front/rear alinement.

[starvin]

I read somewhere that a policeman's family had a law suit against HD when he was killed in a crash during a high speed chase due to what they called high speed front end wobble. Caused by the wind taking the weight off the front end due to the shape of the fairing. Don't know how it turned out. I've had mine over 100mph a few times but never for any extended time and the bike seemed very stable.
http://www.goingfaster.com/angst/lawsuit1.htm
something to think about  [smiley=thinking2.gif]

[mr_magoo]

Have buried the speedo (over120) several times once for well over 20miles.  Was riding 2up at the time, no wobble what so ever.  Have not experience it riding solo either.  Would have dealer check the steering head bearings, good luck.

[DEAN_NELSON]

Miguel,

103thunder has the right story as I have seen. Try taking off the lowers off the crash bar and go for a ride. See if it runs straght line. Than adjust the front neck bearings as the book tells you to than over tightin them just a little. It will go away.
You will find with the lowers off it might be fine, put them back on and you will have the problem back. That is when you adjust the bearings just a little over tight.

When we convert the Harleys to our trike kit we do the bearing adjusting. If the bike had mis-adjusted bearings the customer thinks it was the trike kit that was the problem and it will be the adjustment that was the problem.

When our SEEG was new and I rode it for 500 miles I had it up to 105 with Sue on the back it ran just fine. When I took it apart to convert to the trike I checked the front neck bearings and they were just a little over tight and that is how I left them.

One last item to look at ............check your tire psi. and how much air you running in the rear shock in reguards to the total pounds?

Dean

[JCZ]

Motorcycle Consumer News (simular to Consumer Reports, only for the motorcycle industry) printed an article awhile back that addresss the problem and a correction using laser alignment.

It's not the fairing.  I've owned two Ultra Classics prior to the SEEG and had both of them in every type of situation and at speeds over 115 mph many times, each with no problems.

However, on my SEEG in a sweeping left hand curve, if I catch a slight dip, it will start pogo-ing first, then the wobbles and that is only right around 80.  If I speed up (whcih is really hard to do, since the natural instint is to hit the binders) it smooths back out.  I noticed AK's bike do it a little this morning, when we were coming down out of the mountains and I was behind him, in the pack.

By the way, we were well over 100 for a long ways and up to 120 mph several times this morning.  No wobbles on the straight aways for any of us, even if there were slight dips in the road.  By the way, two of the bikes were being ridden by single women, and they both hung with us! [smiley=laugh.gif]

[110tHunDer]

By the way, two of the bikes were being ridden by single women, and they both hung with us! [smiley=laugh.gif]

Key word being "single."  [smiley=worthless.gif]

[JCZ]

Key word being "single."

[110tHunDer]

Well, I'm happily married, but couldn't resist responding.   [smiley=laugh.gif]  Great pix, though and looks like it was a fabulous day in your neck of the woods today (not here!).

Miguel, Sorry to get thread off-topic!  [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif]  To get it back on, JCZ is right in saying the alignment has also been blamed for this.  At any rate, if I was a betting man, I would bet that your problem gets resolved by looking into the things you've already been pointed to in the prior posts.  Please keep us informed as to what you find out!

[JCZ]

I sent an email to Motorcycle Consumer News.  I'll let you guys know what I find out from them, on the wobble problem.

[litox]

Thank you for the great info. It seems I have a great deal of research in front of me. I will keep you informed. You guys are great and this forum is an excellent information resource!

[litox]

Well, been surfing the web and came across "fork braces" and "fork stabilizers" for Harley Davidson motorcycles. I had planned to install a superbrace on my v-rod but hadn't considered before installing one of the Glide.

Do any of you guys have something similar installed on a touring HD bike? Would this device help me to get rid of the wobble?? As always thank you for all your replies!

Miguel

[VIKING]

I've also buried the needle and been clocked on radar at 138.
A very solid ride with no wobbles.
Just some mach tuck from air dam buildup.

[ak]

Motorcycle Consumer News (simular to Consumer Reports, only for the motorcycle industry) printed an article awhile back that addresss the problem and a correction using laser alignment.

It's not the fairing.