Wobble/Shimmy when letting go of handlebars | GTAMotorcycle.com

Wobble/Shimmy when letting go of handlebars

M

malim

Well-known member
I've been having this issue with a 2012 Ninja 650. When I let go of the bars, at speeds usually above 60 km/h, the handlebars shimmy left to right. Just like a speed wobble but very lightly. Mind you, sometimes it doesn't shimmy but then again on smooth perfectly paved roads it may shimmy again.

I bought this bike with 2,000km and it has been doing this since the day I bought it. It doesn't appear to be crashed and I've looked at it really closely. The tire pressure is good. The wheel weights are not missing. The chain slack is within spec.I am at a loss. I've read online that a front tire may cause this issue and somebody did solve the problem by replacing the front tire, but how can I tell if it is the tire ? I can't figure out if it is cupping or not.

The sad part is that my Ninja 250 that I had previously did the same thing which makes me think it may have something to do with the tires. Maybe, improper storage in the winter without stands ? Bad lack with Kawis I guess.

This video I found on youtube shows the same wobble that I have on my bike.
 
This was also suggested by someone I know. How would I check ? Lift the front and see if there is any play ? Wouldn't think they would go that fast with 2,000km on the odometer.
 
Loose steering head bearings.
 
My ST had a similar problem when I had Avon Storms mounted. It has completely gone away with the replacement T-30 Bridgestone tires. No other changes were made, so it had to be the tires that caused it on my bike.
 
Tighten the head bearing . Keep your hands on the bars .
 
Same issue end of last year. New tires issue never came back.
 
Thanks for the input all. I really appreciate it. I am leaning towards the tires, but I jus realized that I have a clicking type of noise when I compress the forks with moderate pressure. Is that normal ? or would it possible that the steering head bearing making the noise ? Never knew that it is so hard to pint point the issue on motorcycles as there are many factors at play.
 
If the clicking noise is the damping valve inside your fork opening up in response to what it sees as a high-speed movement, and/or up/down motions reversing directions which causes valves inside the fork to change state to redirect the fluid to the appropriate compression and rebound circuits, it's normal.
If the clicking noise is your brake pads shifting fore/aft inside the caliper in response to forward/reverse forces changing sign, to take up the slight designed-in clearance that is necessary to allow them to float and move freely inside the caliper, it's normal.
If the clicking noise is slack being taken up in the steering head bearings, it's not normal.
 
Thanks Brian. I'll look into it further and report back. I had somebody press down on the bars while I tried pinpointing the location of the noise. I've felt the clicking near the bottom of the fork and/or next to the caliper; therefore one of the first two conditions makes sense.

I often feel like I spend too much time finding what is wrong instead of enjoying riding. Bad habit I guess, even with cars.
 
- Tires
- Head Bearings
- make sure wheel is balanced well
 
Had this issue as well 2012 ninja 650. Only wobbles between 70-80 km/h
Had the bike since new and only showed up last year with 20k on original tires . Replaced both tires this year. Wobble is now gone


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Do I need to start worrying that so many people are riding around at 70 kph:
look ma, no hands???

Is the road you're on nice and smooth?
My bars wobble a lot when they've ripped up the top layer of the road.
 
Try this
Loosen the fork pinch bolts on the triple tree
Bounce the front end a couple of times
Check the fork height they both should be the same and if not wiggle them around till they are the same and check that the front wheel is pointing straight when the handlebars are straight as well.
Tighten up the pinch bolts
This process will get rid of the no hand front end shimmy if the bike has on other mechanical problems for several hundred kms then just repeat
 
I have seen this problem on a few bikes. Most notably a customer complained his FJR would "wobble uncontrollably" at 72 km/h, with cruise control activated, when he let go of the bars. I test rode to confirm and I didn't feel it was "uncontrollable" but it was definitely there. I chased the problem for a couple of days with the guys at head office and after measuring everything we could, we determined that all the bikes of that year had a harmonic around that point (we duplicated it on many bikes), depending on rider weight and tire wear. Changed the front tire to a different brand/pattern and it never happened again. The paraphrased official response from corporate was: we do not ever recommend letting go of the handle bars while riding...

You might be chasing something inherent to the bike, so don't fret too much if after chasing the "basics" mentioned above (steering head bearings, wheel bearings, tire balance/condition, etc) you can't pinpoint the problem. Does the problem go away at higher speeds or continue to get worse?
 
Redundant...sorry I replied after reading first couple of posts.
 
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