Front Wobble

[PozTonyPhoenix]

Yes I know lots on the wobble, but I saw nothing about a wobble on the newer 2014 ES models. Also, my wobble only occurs between 40 and 50 MPH. The wobble is more than a nuisance as some would have. If I let go for more then a second, Ginger would throw my ass off. I've had it in for warranty work. They rebalanced the front tire and replaced (that's what they told me) the front bearings. It was good, but only for 600 or so miles. I have an appointment to take it back in, but I anticipate some resistance from Yamaha to fix it for FREE so thought I'd come here and see what I could learn. Information I hope will help me out. ALSO, wanna see if anyone else has the same problem in their ES.

 

[RossKean]

98% CHANCE THAT IT HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH TIRE BALANCE AND NOTHING TO DO WITH BEARINGS (steering or wheel).

Bad front tire - plain and simple.

 

[Fred W]

yep. For a tad over a hundo you can slap a good quality front tire on and you may avoid months of anguish, multiple trips to the dealership to waffle about on this or that. Just get rid of the Bridgestone and see what happens

PS - I've said it before, but for some reason either people do not believe me or do not understand what I'm saying: Steering head bearings do not cause steering wobble. The wobble has to be caused by something that is rotating at road speed (which the steering bearings do not). The bearings can dampen out any oscillation that is induced due to normal mis-balance or run-out, but they are not THE CAUSE of steering wobble.

I'll probably die and they will put this on my headstone.

 

[careyh]

Everytime I had front end wobble, it was always a tire balance problem. Since I switched from the dealers to a local guy that takes his time and balances the tires correctly, I've never had a problem.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

Most likely a bad tire. What tire pressure are you running up front?

 

[Twigg]

Never had an out-of-balance tire cause a wobble either ... now a cupped tire, or one that had been manufactured badly ... Yeah, I've had those. Bent wheels cause wobbles too.

 

[Drmoto]

My 2015 ES also has a slight wobble (1200km) 40PSI , especially when decelerating for 50mph, but still can Cruise at 55 no hands to relax

Hope it lessens when I will be replacing the Bridgstones for Pirelli's. My Gen I with then never wobbled.

 

[JustinNck1]

I just installed a new set of Angel GTs and I now have a 40-50mph front end wobble. Never had a wobble on my Bridgestones with bad cupping. I'm running balancing beads and still no fix.

 

[RossKean]

Everytime I had front end wobble, it was always a tire balance problem. Since I switched from the dealers to a local guy that takes his time and balances the tires correctly, I've never had a problem.

A badly balanced or out-of-round tire may yield an oscillation that feels like rolling over closely spaced bumps. Not generally a wobble that sends the bars back and forth; sometimes dangerously. The bad tire can wobble like this and it tends to be at its worst with deceleration from ~50 to maybe ~25 mph.

I had a Pirelli Angel GT that went bad quite quickly and was soon to the point where the only ride I did was to go out and pick up a new tire - it was only about half gone. While some people love them, I have encountered at least a couple of other people who had wobble issues with the new Pirelli Angels.

 

[Drmoto]

OK damn guess it's not the tires, or would the praised PR4's come to the rescue.

Otherwise a little more torque to the steering head....

 

[Crice]

I put on a new set of the perelli angel GT's mid May before riding down to Robbinsville NC. I had a slight wobble with the stock tires. The wobble was totally gone. Ran my 2013 hard for 3000miles and basically ran the tires down to the warning strips. Front tire is worn out and rear tire is cupped. The wobble turned into a tank slap if I would have let it go further than a few seconds at speeds between 30 and 40mpg. I went to the dealer and of course he blamed the tires and some play in the steering head. They retourqued the bearings and it is considerably better but not gone.

 

[JamesK]

PozTonyPhoenix, I know your bike is nice and new, but still, one of the best long-term fixes for any/most wobble related issues is an upgrade to roller head bearings. I understand and agree with FredW's points about the head bearings not causing the wobble problems, but they sure as hell fix them.

I would usually have decel wobbles (which would grow to a full-on tankslapper if I didn't grab the bars) on pretty much any "properly" used front tire after as little as 1,500 miles. After upgrading to the roller head bearings, I can get smooth, wobble free steering on from tires that are totally FUBAR.

 

[garyahouse]

Installed a brand new PR3: wobbled something awful from day one. Got worse for 500 miles or so. Took it back to dealer. Rebalanced. Slight improvement, still wobbling. Same speeds and conditions as listed above. Endured it till the dumb thing wore out. Bought a new PR2: wobble absolutely gone.

Talked to several on this forum about this. It is a fact that even the best tire companies make a lemon once in a while. Dozens on this site have gotten great service and no issues out of the same tire. But once in a great while, ya get a lemon. You can balance it till it's perfect and it's still going to wobble. There was nothing wrong with my FJR.

Does that mean that it's always the tire? No. But it sure seems to me to be the likely culprit in your case.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[08FJR4ME]

PR2's, PR2's PR2's,

Sheeeeezzzzz, They produced and still make one hell of a tire that is the shiznit as Fred W would say. If it ain't broke why jump to another tire. I believe I am on my 6'th set in a row and have never had a wobble. You can throw a couple of used sets on my casket when they bury me cause am not going to change what works great for me.

Get a PR2 and be done with it, Learn to replace them yourself would be even better.

Dave

 

[FJRBluesman]

98% CHANCE THAT IT HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH TIRE BALANCE AND NOTHING TO DO WITH BEARINGS (steering or wheel).
Bad front tire - plain and simple.

Gunny tires. My bike was handling like crap, so i tightened up the rear suspension, not much help. I got new tires now, Ahhhh problem solved.

 

[Medpilot]

I have the exact same problem. Head starts shaking/wobbling 40-50mph. Gets progressively worse if I take my hands off completely.

Took it to the dealer where they diagnosed it to be loose/bad head bearings. Took them 5 weeks to order the bearings and install them.

Got the work done under warranty but I really wished I had never taken it to the dealer.

They left my bike outside for the entire 5 weeks they had it. The scratched up the paint on the front wheel taking it off. They also scratched up the frame where the head bearings install. This is why I like to do my own wrenching.

And the problem still exists. The work at the dealer did absolutely nothing.

I have a spare front tire I can swap out with the factory Bridgestone to see if that fixes the problem. I'll probably end up do that later this week.

I'll post up my results if the tire swap fixes the problem.

 

[SLK50]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="08FJR4ME" data-cid="1234683" data-time="1433299615"><p>

PR2's, PR2's PR2's,<br />

<br />

Sheeeeezzzzz, They produced and still make one hell of a tire that is the shiznit as Fred W would say. If it ain't broke why jump to another tire. I believe I am on my 6'th set in a row and have never had a wobble. You can throw a couple of used sets on my casket when they bury me cause am not going to change what works great for me.<br />

<br />

Get a PR2 and be done with it, Learn to replace them yourself would be even better.<br />

<br />

Dave</p></blockquote>

I might have agreed with you about seven years ago.

Until you try a really good tire you won't know what you're missing.

I've gone through my share of PR2s and I can now fully

appreciate their shortcomings.

Times change. So does tire technology.

 

[08FJR4ME]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="08FJR4ME" data-cid="1234683" data-time="1433299615"><p>PR2's, PR2's PR2's,<br />

<br />

Sheeeeezzzzz, They produced and still make one hell of a tire that is the shiznit as Fred W would say. If it ain't broke why jump to another tire. I believe I am on my 6'th set in a row and have never had a wobble. You can throw a couple of used sets on my casket when they bury me cause am not going to change what works great for me.<br />

<br />

Get a PR2 and be done with it, Learn to replace them yourself would be even better.<br />

<br />

Dave</p></blockquote>

I might have agreed with you about seven years ago.

Until you try a really good tire you won't know what you're missing.

I've gone through my share of PR2s and I can now fully

appreciate their shortcomings.

Times change. So does tire technology.

Tires are like women, we all have our preferences. I live in flatlandistan so having a corner carving wiz bang tire is not priority with me. I am sure there are a lot better tires to do that with. So when I can get 15K plus out of tires on flat roads its a good thing. PR2's wear pretty damb even for me without cups down to the canvas. So what more can I ask for 90% of the time for my riding circumstances.

No big deal, So whatever works for you is good too,

Dave

 

[SLK50]

Ah, well there's the rub.

Where I live roads are curvy AND bumpy.

The ability to hold a line through a bumpy sweeper

outweighs longevity.

OTOH, for you, long life rules. Salute.