I've been chasing some odd vibrations in my '08 FXDC for a while. I laid it down last fall at about 30-40, and I assumed the front tire was slapped on its side. The front wheel was pretty wobbly, so I assumed that was the cause. I respoked and trued the wheel and remounted the same tire. Still had some unusual vibration. A local shop said my tire had some cupping, but I doubted this was the cause. The vibration tended to come and go and was more pronounced during acceleration from low speeds up to 40-50 mph.

Today, I had horrible scraping from rear brake. I pulled things apart and found that the pads had somehow shifted in the caliper. I have mid mount pegs. The brake pedal has been sort of wonky since the accident. I assumed it had been bent during the wreck. Today's inspection revealed that the c-clip that holds the pedal onto the shaft attached to the peg was missing. Got a new clip, put everything back together and took a ride. Then, things started getting weird. I'm sorry I can't describe this so that everybody will know exactly what I experienced. But I became convinced the problem was in the rear. Slowing down before a turn, I heard a pop and my rear wheel felt like it was wobbly at between 5-15 mph. Then, after getting back on the road, it seemed to be gone.

Just eyeballing it, I think my rear wheel is out of alignment with a shift in a clockwise direction when viewed from the top of the bike. The deflection on the belt is maybe a half inch or more. It should be between 1/4" and 5/16".

Do you think I'm on the right track to solving the odd vibrations if I set the proper belt tension and align the rear wheel?

Too much info, I know, but I wanted to supply as much as I could without knowing which ones might be involved. More fun for you!

Thanks for your thoughts! I'll do the tension adjustment and alignment tomorrow and report back.

~john

 

I didn’t get a reply to this question, but I did solve my problem. One of my rear wheel bearings was disintegrating. All the noises, shudders and wobbly ride at slow speeds now make sense. Also, why the ride would smooth out at higher speeds.