Ok have the bike now over a week and took her yesterday on about a 100 mile round trip and decided to take the motorway home - This bike frightened the life out of me at 65/70 mph cruising - Its a real struggle to hold onto her with any cross winds at all - at one stage a slight gust nearly push me into the next lane - When I returned home both myself and my mate who has the exact same same bike discussed same as he was experiencing the same problems as well - We searched on line last night and it seems its these solid wheels are the problem - This bike should be a lot more secure on the road but I feel the stability was not good at all with any cross winds - Is the only solution to maybe consider changing in time the front wheel?

Any help please would be great

K

 

or maybe I am just a crap rider

 

fatbob123 you get that in a car, so you should expect that on a bike, my rk is 800lbs and if the cross winds are gusty they push me around.


rk_classic

 

When I bought my 09 Low Rider it had the stock Dunlop tires on it. Was going to take a stretch of freeway home and the wind was blowing. The bike got so scary that I took an exit and found a back road where I could ride at a greatly reduced speed. A few days before I hit some grooved pavement that was awaiting new asphalt and the bike nearly scared the crap out of me till I could get it up onto the ungrooved shoulder. Changed out the Dunlops for Metzelers and now neither wind nor grooves will upset the bike's handling. Had the exact same problem on a previous bike with OEM Dunlops that was cured by changing to Metzelers. Don't know what you have on your bike but it may possibly be a contributing factor.

 

The bike is just out of the box with the "special developed tyres " for the Fatbob Harley claim - I still think its the solid front wheel that the wind just grips

 

It's easy to think it's the solid wheels causing the problem but essentially all motorcycles are subject to buffeting in crosswinds. You'll get used to it after a while. Changing to a spoke wheel won't cure it either. At speed a spinning spoke wheel pretty much presents as something solid to the wind. This buffeting is always a bit unnerving, no matter how experienced you are, but you'll begin to react quicker to it as you get more experienced and then you'll feel more in control.

 

I've owned and ridden with solid and spoked wheels and have not noticed any difference in the wind. If it's windy enough your going to change lanes whether you want to or not...lol. the solid wheel myth is in peoples heads.

 

I say get used to it,most all of us have been blown all over the place,it's all a part of the experience.Like out on the highway passing tractor trailers.Same experience,you will get used to it.Of course the right set of open wheels would look good on your FatBob

 

You will get used to it the more you ride it. Mine has the stock wheels and tires and I can ride it with one hand.

 

The topic of solid wheels causing issues with cross winds has been discussed on here regularly. Do a search and read up, probably best searching in the Softail section.....and the answer is NO, disc wheels do not create any more hazard in cross winds than spoked or mag wheels. I bought a 1991 FatBoy back in 92 and never experienced any issues with handling / stability in cross winds.