I own, well the bank and I anyway, an "03" 1200. I have only put 200 or so miles on it since I purchased it used. This is my first Harley. Back in the 50s and very early 60s I rode British bikes and never experienced this situation although I didn't ride the interstate much since it just barely got to this area when I quit riding.
The other day I got on I-25 headed north toward Cheyenne and at 75mph it was almost scary. The whole thing felt, for lack of a better word, loose. It is sort of&nbsp\\;a surging feel with a "gyroscopic" feeling at the handle bars as though&nbsp\\;wanting to float off in an unknown direction. I was very uncomfortable at that speed.&nbsp\\; I felt I had very little control. I attributed it to the road condition, a little rough, and quite a steady strong cross wind. A couple of days later I tried again on a little better stretch of pavement and no wind, rather rare around here, with the same very unstable feeling. If I dropped back to 70 mph it was much better and at 65 it was fine.
Is this&nbsp\\;normal? &nbsp\\;If not, anyone have any ideas what might be going on?
The rubber is good, inflation is correct. It has a windshield and medium sized bags. All in all it is about as pure stock as it can be.
I find it a bit disconcerting in as much as I have ridden my brother-in-law's old (1970s) 750 Kawasaki at higher speeds under the same conditions and never had this feeling even though the Kawasaki is lighter.

 

Mine gets a little shaky right around that speed as well - as with most vehicles, I think this is just the speed at which the bike does this - I've pushed mine over 80 and it settled back down again.&nbsp\\; I've&nbsp\\;noticed this in cars before as well - I'm guessing it has to do with aerodynamics and harmonics in the bike - maybe suspension upgrades would help this, but I'm not sure...

 

And - my buddy owns a Ducati Monster and says his becomes unstable at 120mph, and then settles back down after that - the bike is definitely built for more speed, but shows that this is an issue with more than just Harleys...

 

03 is still a rigid mount 04 they went to rubber mounted motors makes a big diffrence i run 70 to 80 constantly with very little vibration

 

It has nothing to do with solid mount versus rubber mount.&nbsp\\; Mine doesn't do it.&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;
How many miles were on the bike when you bought it?

 

11,000

 

My '05 is very smooth at 70, 75 and 80.&nbsp\\; I do notice a cross wind more, but countersteering into the wind a little keeps everything feeling very secure.&nbsp\\; Your description makes me wonder if you are steering by weight shifting or counter steering?

 

I have gotten mine up to 100 without any problems[sm=confused06.gif]

 

yeah My GPS showed 112mph with no problems with the ride. Usally take it up to 80 on the local interstates so as not to get rear ended LOL ........WVleo

 

hi roysha:I don`t &nbsp\\;know but i used to ride an 81 ironhead @ 70 - 80 all the time,no problem,i would suspect it`s the
bags ,winshield or both i never had neither. i`m interested to see what you find.