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ORIGINAL: bigheadted

To all you who say slow down, that is your OPINION,
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Its also the opinion of the manufacturer of the motorcycle, who CLEARLY spells out in the owners manual what speeds you should not exceed when riding the machine, for both 1up and 2up riding, which co-incedentally, is faster than the speed limit on any public road in the United States that I am aware of.

Bitch about it all you want, but HD baggers are not intended nor designed, for triple digit speeds. If thats what someone wants or expects, they bought the wrong bike. (I know, I know, HD should have sent someone to their house to explain all this and stop them from making the purchase)

Who said anything about speeding or triple digit speeds here Ace ?? All it takes sometimes is to be in a corner and uneven pavement to set it off, or how about slow below posted speed limit manouvers. Is there something wrong with wanting to get the best performance you can out of your bikeor correctingsome funky handling trait of the bike does not scare the crap out of you while you are riding?? This sure is a hot topic here as are all of them related to the "BAGGER WAG" I suppose there is a reason for such interest.

 

Yea, your right. That would be WAAAYYY to simple.

Reasonable defined by whom? Again, HD tells you the speed you should not exceed. If YOU decide to push it, thats YOUR doing. My bedroom door is a well designed piece of equipment that does its job effectively and reliably, as long as I use it in the manner intended. Now, should I decide to slam my nuts in the door, (something not recommended by the door manufacturer) Its my own damn fault when I wind up on the floor in a heap.

Not telling you to ignore it. Just saying you should EXPECT it when you push the bike beyond what it should be doing.

Don't get me wrong. It would be nice if the problem was not there in the first place. Personally, I never understood why they just don't put the "B" motor in all the bikes, and make the frames more rigid. And if (and when) the dreaded Liquid cooled HD bagger for the next millenium debuts, first on my wish list, ahead of more power, cooler running, etc, is that they give us a nice stiff chassis that will once and for all solve the issue. Although in my opinion, as long as they have the same front end geometry (shallow rake, forks behind steering head) we will have the wiggle in the front at high speed.

 

Actually, the whole thread is a bit unclear in regards to what the original poster is referring to.


A. High speed wiggle of the front end.

B. High speed wiggle of the *** end when in sweeping turns

 

....As I have stated on several other occasions, several other posts regarding this issue, my '02 exhibited this 'hinged in the middle' behavior since it was new-as in I complained about it at the first service! This is not 'head shake' or a tank slapper as has been previously defined. This is the rear end 'wallowing' from side to side-like my '79 Honda 750F2 would when cornering hard. This is not the'head shake' I would get when the front end of my R1 would start to shake violently under hard acceleration at around 120. Most owners installed a steering dampener-I just learned to ride through it. I didn't like the muddy feel the steering dampeners added to the amazingly crisp handling of the R1. I found that a slightly choppy front tire barely skimming the pavement contributed significantly to the condition. To imply that someone experiencing this problem on his FL is merely 'riding over their heads' is ludicrous. My 02 did it every time on any sweeping access ramp at any speed over 55-hardly setting the world on fire. My 05 is more stable, but will still do it-and quite nastily-when pushed. It's threshold is just higher. My Ducati's, Buell, Suzuki's, BMW, Yamaha's, and even a few Moto-Guzzi's could always be trusted to hold a stable line through a corner-and at lean angles far greater than those achievable on a FL. Is it too much in this day and age to expect better handling/stability of my 2005 model bike than that of my 1979 model Honda? I think not. Bottom line, HD has designed this frame to meet the demands of what it's marketing has told it is it's target audience-thatbeing one that is not likely to push the performanceenvelop.Unfortunately, many in that audience have grown to expect more from their machines than what the original designallows. HDneeds toaddress this'flaming Pinto'(remember the Ford Pinto?) and make it right.

 

I live in So_Calif... And if you don't run 85mph+ you'll get run over... I have not noticed and wobble??

 

sorry to hear all the HORROR stories about the dreaded WOBBLE!!!!

I hope you get it corrected........

I'll tell you what tho........

the first sign of it, my bike will be in an aftermarket shop so Fast it will make my head spin.........

I'll be changing tires, bushing, adjusting the alignment and installing a stabilier on her........and if that don't cure it........she'll be in the Cycle Trader and cleaned up and Purty.......

 

I have run down the road with traffic at similar speeds and a time or two blast to over 100 and never a twitch, solid as can be but carve a tight corner and go over a ridge or patch in the road and the "bagger wag" will rear it's ugly head, well it used to.

 

Change Tires:Meztler 880 38 psi Front 44 psi Rear

Fork fix:15w oil with 11.5 oz.

Rear Shocks: Read you manual:I run 36 psisolo I run 42 psi 1 or 2 up

Showa Forks and Shocks work VERY well..

My buddies have Works performance shocks / Race Tech / STR-8 etc... they rode my bike last week and was upset that they spend all that money for nothing !

 

Hi from the uk, my 07 standard has a front end wobble at around 85-90 mph,it usually occurs if i hit a raised line when overtaking,i dont generally ride like an idiot,(ex firefighter and seen to many crashes involving bikes) but i dont lug my bike, i dont get into 6 gear untill im at about 70-75, never had a problem on a sweeper,always in a straight line,its interesting to note that 08 baggers have an extra fork to engine mount does this help? I dont think its the batwing fairing as my 05 victory 8 ball was the same at high speed,more like its at the limit of its design,i slow down till it goes away and dont push it to much------ dave.

 

I agree and move that hereafter we call it "wallow" rather than "wobble." Calling it a wobble is confusing, as front-end wobble and this wallow are two totally different things.