...speed wobble is a term which describes the spontaneous oscillation of the front wheel -- this can cause the bike to go out of control.

Over the week end on a main road, a rider experienced a speed wobble which caused him to go into the grass and hit a pole while the bike continued on. Unfortunately the rider died.

Has anybody ever experienced this effect? If so, how do you best deal with it?

 

I did one time, on a 900 Kawasaki, in fact, in one of the bike mags, they had a artical about that particular bike and the high speed wabble, can't remember how fast i was going, , i had read about it, and when it happened, i just held on and let it slow down on it's own.

 

I have recently,right at about 100mph,the way I dealt with it was to slow down.Some roads can have a lot of little bumps in them,that seem to add to situation.

 

The worst thing you can do is chop off the throtle. Also one of the hardest things to not do when it happens. You should slowly ease off and hang on. Hapens all the time on my dirt bike, just dont panic, and you should be fine. If you have severe speed woble, somthing needs to be done, fork brace or dampeners are fairly cheap and work great

 

Everyone who has raced bike has experienced this.
Back in the 80's at one of the races I was in a friend broke both arms in a tank slapper.
My guess is that has happened many times but I only witnessed it once, fortunately.

 

It is some thing you hope you never have to experience cause it will scare the s%$^ out of you.

If it is a minor wobble move forward on the seat as far as you can and let off the gas. DO NOT touch the front brake. You can apply a little rear brake. Hold on tight to the bars and try to keep them straight while the bike slows and the wobble stops.

If it is a major wobble (AKA tank slapper) if you are still on the bike lift your butt off the seat, pull back on the bars and accelerate like your were trying to do a wheelie to get weight off the front wheel. This should stop the shaking and allow you to get control back.

Then slow down, pull to the side of the road and clean out your shorts!

 

I used to have a 76' Gold Wing and around 105 mphI experienced speed wobble so I learned to keep it below 100 mph just to be safe. It's pretty hairy, the handlebars want to jerk out of your hands. I think I just let off slowly on the throttle until the wobble went away. Haven't experienced it on any other bike since that one.

 

A friend of mine went down on a Yamaha, hit a pickle and descided to open the Vrod up a bit...........big mustake

 

I also had the wobble starting at around 70-75. It was wornpivot shaft bushings. When they wear they allow the swingarm to move side to side. After replacing the bushings the wobble was gone. When the bike starts to shake it will make your @ss pucker until you get it to the side of the road.

Check your bikes over well. If you have the condition, get it checked. My currentbagger has a true track and is solid as a rock.

 

I get it at about 100mph,...scares the crap outta me,..but its not real bad,......I can usually ease out of the throttle and it goes away. not often I do100mph though.