Got an 08 Road King Classic with 700 miles. Love it except I absolutely hate the engine vibration at stoplight / idle! Yes its decently smooth at speed however at stoplights it shakes so badly my eyeballs hurt and everything I look at jumps all over. My old solid mount 96 Heritage Softail beat me up after just an hour ride and expected the RK rubber mount to be way more plush but seems only a marginal improvement and way worse at stoplights.

The engine mount looks ok. The bottom washer is snug toward front and a little gap toward rear. I tightened it as much as could but couldn't make gap disappear and shakes still the same.

Is there anything I can do to improve the shaking?

 

Is it April 1st already?

 

You bought the wrong bike dude.

 

Without seeming to be sarcastic. ..... it's a Harley, shake is what it does at idle. Maybe you could idle it a little higher, IDK, that's one of the reasons I like HD, but I don't think it's that bad.

 

Crap, I just noticed the post count (1). I fell for it.

 

His might be worse than normal if that '07 /'08 crank is out of round. That bike should be way more than "just a marginal improvement" over a rigid mount EVO softail.

 

Buy a softail?

 

OP,

any vibrations are amplified when the front brake is held, if you can use the rear brake at stops you'll notice the front end shaking around, absorbing the vibes.
if you hold the brake, the vibes are not absorbed by the tire working against the ground, and will be transmitted to the frame and rider.

2.) set the motor mounts as in the service manual, overtightening can be as bad as too loose.
motor mounts can last a long time, but if exposed to an oil leak or sloppy oil filter changes, the motor oil will eat the rubber.

normal for the entire drivetrain ( motor, primary and tranny) to bob and weave some at idle- this smooths out at speed

3.) "real" motor vibration problems can be a result of interior problems from crank to different compression ratios to incorrect spark timing, low idle..etc. etc.

welcome to the forums

mike

 

Ok, let's take a look at this. '08 RK with 700mi. and the shakes. The best thing that I can say to reduce the vibes is to just leave the engine off. Or, the engine may be ready to let go and I'll give ya $2000.00 for it.

 

This, and, an 08 with only 700 miles?? I would check and make sure all the rubber in the motor mounts haven't dry rotted.

The 96 Heritage still had the B motor, solid mounted or not. Should be pretty darn smooth at idle. If not, there was some major issue with it or you're just too sensative.

I have a feeling a Gold Wing is in your future. Nothing wrong with that, and I'm not trying to be an ***. But vibration is what Harleys are all about.