New tires now I have front end shake.

[Gigs]

Just had my local Cycle Gear mount some contimotions and now above 25mph my handlebars shake side to quite badly. Any thoughts?
Maybe the wheel isn't balanced well, anything else to check? Thanks guys.

 

[StratTuner]

It seems really obvious that they are not properly balanced. Maybe take them in to a different store and have them balanced?

 

[Gigs]

That's what I thought but a guy I work with who rides said I should also check the torque on front end fasteners. Thanks for you input I'll run by my dealership and have them check the balance.

 

[670cc]

Inspect the tire bead around the rim on both sides and be sure it's seated evenly. It's pretty difficult not to seat a tubeless tire properly, but worth a look anyway. As for balance, it would need to be really bad for it to shake like you describe. Most of the time you balance a new tire with less than an ounce. Buy a balance stand at Harbor Freight and check it yourself, or take it back to CG and have it rebalanced.

Did you take the whole bike to CG, or just the wheels?

 

[Old Can Ride]

Install Ride On, can be purchased from Cycle Gear. Remove all wheel weights. This should balance the front wheel, unless you have a bearing problem.

 

[Old Can Ride]

Did you take the whole bike to CG, or just the wheels?

Nation wide Cycle Gear has a policy of not taking the wheels off of motorcycles. You must remove the wheels and carry to the store for mounting new tires.

 

[Gigs]

I took the wheels off myself. and used the procedure in the owners manual and a torque wrench to put it all back together. Should I be running the stock 36/42 psi in the Conti's?

 

[Old Can Ride]

The more air you put in your tires the rougher the ride. However, if you do not take the front wheel to at least 40 psi your tire will get what I call the front wheel wave effect. The rubber will look like a wave at higher mileage. Cause by all motorcycle front fork shocks. I run 40 psi in front and 38 in the rear for street riding. If going to ride most of the day in the dirt, I put 25 psi in both tires, this helps with the bouncing in the dirt. ATV tires use 3 to 4 psi because of bouncing in the dirt.

 

[showkey]

During this side to side shake...........are your hands on the handle bars or hands off the bars ???????

 

[Gigs]

When I am holding the bars firmly there isn't a much to noitce but when i lift one hand (to clear my visor) its there or if i loosen my grip with both hands to relax them a bit its bad.

 

[showkey]

O

When I am holding the bars firmly there isn't a much to noitce but when i lift one hand (to clear my visor) its there or if i loosen my grip with both hands to relax them a bit its bad.

Here is another posting with the same issue..........read all the posting as the part with hands off shake is not explained in the beginning. It was first thought to be related to braking.

http://nc700-forum.com/forum/garage-mechanical-help/7356-vibration-shaking-approx-40-mph.html

Post # 15 pretty much covers the issue........and #24 covers some of the reasons.

BUT

It is critical that you check and recheck all your work and tire mounting/ balancing before asuming or concluding any causes or effects of the tires or prior workmanship.

There are many misunderstandings on this type hands off shake................
Even a bike with no prior shake can have this issue arrive if the hands are off the bars during decel and a bump or other input is applied to the front end.

 

[Gigs]

So I took it to Carolina Powerhouse, my local dealer. They pulled the front wheel off and it spun zero so it's balanced. They check all the front suspension, drive nut and axle stuff brakes and everything it all looked good. I know the tire was fine. I guess it's just the tire. The tech said it's not dangerous. I'm just going to run it until it's dead then not buy contis anymore.

 

[Grey1one]

If you have grooved roads in your area that can also cause some "wobble" if the treads try to follow them.
I had that happen on some Bridgestones many years ago, the grating on drawbridges was scary until I got used to it.

 

[Old Can Ride]

Most hands off the bars shaking, then hands on the bars not shaking is caused by the yoke bearings. The bike that does this the most is the Honda Goldwing. Some Goldwings have this problem, and some do not. Honda does know about this problem for years now, but has refused to replace the bearing under warranty, stating the motorcycle is not suppose to be ridden with hands off the bars.

The fix is to replace the yoke bearings with a tapered sealed bearing. Replace the bearing with a company by the name of "All Balls" tapered bearings. This works on the Honda Goldwing every time.

Any dealership should be able to get the All Ball bearings for you.

 

[silverhound]

In all the "checking" that has been done, did you confirm that the tire was mounted for the right direction of travel?

 

[Gigs]

Yes the tire is going the right direction. I doubt it's yoke bearing since it happened when I changed tires and never before. I'm just going to write it off as lower quality tires than the bt-023's and live with it

 

[gharshman]

Did you check for defects inside the tire before mounting it?

 

[showkey]

Yes the tire is going the right direction. I doubt it's yoke bearing since it happened when I changed tires and never before. I'm just going to write it off as lower quality tires than the bt-023's and live with it

+ 2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not everyone believes that "All Balls" are the answer and some forums have questioned their quality ??????

Since this shake condition can be related to the tension or setup and condition on the steering head bearings simple maintenance can change the condition.

 

[BerndM]

A quick and easy test you can perform in about 2 minutes is to have the bike on the center stand, jack up the bike so the front tire is off the ground a tiny amount and then get in front of the bike and give the wheel a hard spin. look VERY closely for ANY sort of wobble or bobble either side to side or up and down. If there is any of that, the tire is either defective and not formed right or the tire is not seated correctly.
If it spins true, then see if on a slow spin, the tire always ends up with the same part at the bottom. This could indicate a badly balanced tire. You may hav to carefully pry the pads away from the rotor to get a unrestricted spin.
These quick & easy tests are rough and basic but will normally show up serious issues.

 

[jeremysilas]

I think this may be a tire issue, perhaps only on the NC. I just put on a new continental conti motion and I'm getting the same shaking/shimmy issue. I'm gonna check to see if it is not on straight, but I checked the steering side to side when I had the front wheel off the ground and it seemed fine. The continental are very cheap, so I question their quality.