Have new forged wheel set. Installed front wheel. Spin wheel, observed and measured approx. 2mm of lateral (radial) run-out ("wobble"). Rode it 20 miles. Not bad, some vibration at 50-60mph. May be correctable by spin balancing which of course means unsightly balancing weight(s). I am thinking that a premium set of (very $$$) forged wheels should have less than 1mm run-out ("wobble") at most and should not require any weights to balance and run 100% smooth at any speed. As such, I am this close -> <- to packing the front wheel up and sending it to the manufacture to have them pull the hub and try to correct it (they are receptive to my concerns and maintain it is the hub, not the actual wheel that is causing the issue). However, packing up and shipping the wheel back is a lot of effort. As such, I wanted to check and see, generally speaking, when one obtains a set of forged "premium" wheels, what is considered "normal" as far as measurable run-out ("wobble")? If what I have is within what is considered "normal" for a forged wheel set, then the improvement likely as a result of shipping the wheel back may not justify the time and effort to do so (cost/benefit).

Thanks for any information.

 

The factory manual for your bike should have the end play (run-out) tolerance listed for the stock wheel. I would hope to get at least as good as that tolerance out of the cast wheel.

2mm of run-out (.078") seems like an awful lot but I have no idea what it should be. I just set the front wheel on my shovelhead at .005"-.006" when I repacked the wheel bearings. (This is with tapered roller bearings).

 

.030 is about the limit I believe.

 

None--a wobbly wheel will only create more problems & will, just as quick, put you on the ground.
Take the trouble or you're gonna replace it & a multitude of parts real soon anyway, period.

 

The service manual (section 2.5) states lateral runout (side-to-side) should not exceed .040" (1.02mm) and radial runout (up-and-down) should not exceed .030" (0.76mm)
It also states that if the wheels are cast, replace.
Balancing will not correct the problem, it will make it worse because the wheel is rotating diagonally and the gyroscopic effect is not concentric.
Ask a knowledgable dealer, they'll say the same thing (we hope)
Ride safe......................