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.
Author
Topic: The Harley Death Wobble (Read 58604 times)