I've got an '06 Dyna Wide Glide and have no probs. It shakes when it's idling, but I thought that was because it's a Harley. Once you get moving, it smooths right out.

 

Crow:

We're both on that list so don't feel alone. In fact when I justified the sale of the Buell and the replacement purchase of the Low Rider, I said that the ride would be silky smooth compared to that of the Buell. (Can you imagine anyone saying that a 1200 Buell has a smoother rider's ride than any Dyna series?)

I was really shocked when we got down to the end of the street (1 mile), and she told me that she couldn't stand it. I thought that she was merely angered about me selling one and getting another without taking her for a ride on the new one first. Later when this was confirmed by my buddies wife riding on the LR, I was determined to find a solution.

The new '06 Dynas have an adjustable primary tensioner. I was checking in the shop manual last evening about this, and did not find an adjustment procedure or value. This stil doesn't mean that it isn't too tight. Still worth having the shop check it out. For the secondary drive belt, it seems to be well adjusted.

I have to still verify the alignment of the rear wheel.

Then I'll take it to the dealership and pee in their beer for a while.



John D.

 

There has to be some defect on your bike???? My 06 Wide Glide rides smooth as butter. Like a cadilac. Suspension is smooth, engine vibes go down as you twist the throttle, and that 6 speed trannyis sweet. My sportster ride rough as hell, but fast. (not buell fast, but HD fast)

 

A friend of mine was recently given a ride on her friends' 05 Wide Glide. She said the vibration on the two-up was pretty bad, mostly at the foot pegs.

 

Chicago:

That's what I'm up against. The attachment points for the footpegs is different between two model years. With the '06 they are located on the swingarm. I was wondering if that had anything to do with it.

Currently I think that the most likely candidate is a tight a primary chain.

I was hoping to get more replies from '06 Dyna riders who have had this issue, and have resolved it somehow. So far I have verified the secondary belt tension, and rear wheel alignment. Still need to take it to a dealer to examine the primary chain tension.

I did try the heaviest foot pegs that I could find, to find that they made only a slight improvement in dampening the vibrations.

I will continue to examing the chassis. The ride up front is pretty smooth (when compared to that of the Buell Lightning which was like a vibratory bowl).



John D.

 

Try this too...

Make sure the pre-load on the rear shocks is not too high. Goof around with the adjustment to see if it gets any better

 

Primary is self-adjusting on '06 Dynas.

 

Maybe you have a bad motor mount? I met a guy with an 05 FXDI and he had a terrible vibration above 65mph. The dealer checked and he had a bad motor mount.

Another thing I have read about is have the dealer loosen the motor mounts, statrt the bike and idle for a few seconds then retorque the motor mounts.

Just a thought.

 

Well finally got the bike back to the dealer. I had arranged for them to take it out on a test ride, with one of their service types (who also sold me the bike) as a passenger.

The report after the test ride was exactly as my wife and my buddy's wife had relayed. So the vibration issue has been confirmed by the dealer, but no idea as to what to do to fix it.

Possible solution may lie with inserting a rubber gasket between the footpeg mount and the swing arm. The idea to examine the primary chain tension was dismissed by the service crew (not sure why). Some comments were made about the possibility of the vibrations being transmitted up to the seat and thru the footpegs by the shocks. For the seat, there is always the possibility to install the touring seat (additional cost).

Anyway, since there was a related post with a survey concerning this topic, and since there were only four replies, and mine was the only negative reply, I suspect this may be an isolated case.

Ride on,


John D.

 

First off, my old lady rides with me about 50% of the time I am on the bike. I've put 1200 miles on it in three weeks, so we ride a lot. I hope your dealer doesn't try to blame the seat or the footpegs for your problem. We have an '06 Wide Glide and the seat is one of the most comfortable motorcycle seats we've ever ridden on. That includes a few Mustang seats too (on previous bikes). We had actually priced aftermarket seats before we bought the Harley because we just assumed the stock seat would be a brick. We were pleasantly surprised the first long ride we took. Harley supposedly changed foam (or something) on the '06 seats. Whatever they did worked. Also, they shouldn't have to put a gasket between the swingarm and the footpeg mounts. There should be some vibration at idle, but it should smooth right out as soon as you get moving. Our bike rides like a dream. It's a real Cadillac. The footpeg mounts are very close to the swingarm pivot, so there shouldn't be much road shock transmitted to the passenger. I'm not sure what to say, but from the tone of your last post it sounds like your dealer is trying to pass the buck here. The passenger shouldn't have anything to gripe about. If she does, there is something wrong with the bike. For some reason, the engine is vibrating excessively and it's being transmitted from the frame (or tranny) to the swingarm. If your dealer isn't looking into engine vibration problems, I'd take it to a different dealer. Rubber gaskets are a bandaid solution. Ask them to let you both take a different bike on a test ride. That way you'll know how your bike is supposed to feel.