Between 37 and 42 mph I experience a slight front end wobble or shimmy. Its more noticeable when coming to a stop but if I go a steady 40mph its steady wiggle as well. The tire is the correct inflation. Yes I do have a Fork brace installed.(Didn't help) I've never experienced this on any motorcycle and I've owned 100's. Has anyone else encountered this? Corrected it? Any ideas on how to make it go away?................Dickie
Myself, no. The GL forums have quite a few posts on it. Unclear if a 'silver bullet' type fix exists,,,
The old Honda headshake rears its ugly head again. Yep, I've had it on every Gold Wing I've owned. Except this one. I always noticed it at a slightly lower speed when slowing down. Especially if I was decelerating and took both hands off the bars to do something like zip up a jacket. FWIW, I also noticed it on later model Harley's after they switched to the smaller front tire. If unchecked, it would turn into a tank slapper on both brands. Do you have a forkbrace? Just fishing, don't know if that would help or not, but my bike seems to handle better with one, and I haven't noticed any shimmy on it. One of my friends dumped his wing on the highway with a highway speed wobble. I don't know what he was doing when it happened, but we need to research this over on the wing forum.Originally Posted by dickiedeals
I have it as well on my Goldwing. My Goldwing only has 6000 miles. It is a known issue ... Honda says YOUR NOT suppose to take your hands off the handlebars. 2 of my close friends also have the wobble.
Some have said that the cause was from under inflated tires, old "cupped" tires and some have seen the problem go away after replacing the steering head ball bearings with "tapered" bearings.
From my personal experience..... It does happen and after replacing my old tires with 2 new tires just prior to the Daytona-Key West trip, it is not caused by the tires as some have suggested, I still have the wobble. When I had 38lbs in the rear tire and 40lbs in the front on these new tires the wobble was actually worse than before with my old tires. So I just bumped up the tire pressure, I have 45lbs in the front and 44lbs in the rear and it has minimized the deceleration wobble. I had installed a fork brace and still had the same wobble.
Some Goldwings have it and others do not, you can torque the steering head ball bearings once again but the problem will most likely come back. So my last solution is to replace my front head bearings with tapered bearings, that will happen later this year.
Successful people build each other up. They motivate, inspire and push each other. Unsuccessful people just hate, blame and complain.
I meant to add, check the steering head for proper torque.
According to the GL folks ALL BALLS neck bearings are the fix. Here is a quote from Big Dawg (forum member): "All Balls" are an upgrade set of neck bearings that are really a set of tapered roller bearings instead of the cheap open balls in a plastic cage. I suggest that you research the dreaded decel wobble that a lot of wings are prone to suffer from. Search over on the GL 1800 riders forum.
IMO because this phenomenon is present on some bikes but not all it is more likely due to neck bearing adjustment than design. I do think the ALL BALLS bearings are an improvement and if this wobble ever rears its ugly head on my bike I will install them.
Dickie, have you experienced this wobble on deceleration or just at steady forward speeds?
I have no problem on my F6B. My other two Wings had head shake. I now ponder if it was the trunk? I ran car tires on all my Wings. I have 10.7 k miles on this Bridgestone 709 with no cupping. No tire whine on the curves. I have never had tire whine with car tires. Just saying.
Deer Slayer
If I can't fix it, I will fix it so no one can fix it.
That is exactly what Honda told me, word for word, in 1991.
It is a known issue ... Honda says YOUR NOT suppose to take your hands off the handlebars.
I always get it on deceleration when passing through 42 and stops at 36. Plus if I ride a steady 40 to 42 mph its a continuous wobble. Quite a nuisance as I also turn loose of the Handlebars to adjust things, Zip jackets etc.
The first sign of time to replace the front tire……JMHO!
P.S. Don’t let the head shake get out of control by seeing how bad it will get!!!! it WILL turn into a tank slapper!!!
" Truth is often deemed rude, blunt and to the point which is why so few make their friend " Freddy Hayler ..352-267-1553 Sanford, FLA Gutterman6000@Gmail.com
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