New 06 finally-Front end wobble

[Don B]

Hello All,

Finally picked up my new 06 on Tuesday. Got to put the first 130mi in the rain. Have a problem.

Has anyone had a wobble on the front end of this bike? Noticed it soon after leaving dealership. Bike has Metz Roadtec tire and wobbles bar from about 20-60mph while accelerating or on decel. Any ideas?

Thanks

Don

 

[TheAxeman]

Don,

I have an '06 also without the problem but it came through from the factory with Bridgestone's on it so it seems to me that the Metzlers could be the cause of it. You may want to do a search because I seem to remember someone else talking about some wobble when they switched tires.

 

[user 2024]

Mine has the Metzlers and no problems. The front tire is one of the things the dealer has to install on the bike out of the crate. One guy has reported his front axle wasn't torqued correctly. Take it back and have them check balance and reinstall.

 

[weekend rider]

As always. blame the poor tires all they want to do is go round and round till they get you there. Check you steering head bearings than your tires got to be out of balance..

good luck :clapping:

 

[ionbeam]

Tire pressure.......

My '04 with stock MEZ 4s was dead stable where as the (killer, gonna explode, come apart, self destruct and you're gonna die with these tires) MEZ 06s have a pronounced weave -- on my bike, YMMV.

 

[tstaff]

06 with Metz & no issues here.

 

[fjrbob]

Mine has bridgestone's with no wobble. I'd take it back to your stealer and have them take a look.

 

[Spedboy]

Did you check and make sure your steering stem nut is tight?

 

[Don B]

I want to tighten the steering head bearing nut but can barely see it. On top, there is a big nut that appears to be a cover? Is there a procedure to adjust the bearings?

 

[Mike-H]

Don B.....before you do anything....take it back to the dealer....giving them the benefit of a doubt & have them check it.....(front axle, tire pressure, steering head bearings etc....) then if there's a problem....take it from there ....Mike

 

[SkooterG]

Well, I can understand resistance to taking it back to the dealer. Not only may it my a huge PITA, but unfortunately, all to often results from a dealer are poor. Still, since its brank spankin new, the dealer option is not necessarily a bad one.

Wobble can be many things. Could be a bad tire. Could be steering head bearings. Could be suspension set-up. Could be loading. Lots of variable going on here.

Don B - yes there is a procedure. That Steering stem nut is a cover that is torqued to 85 ft-lbs. Once you remove it, you have access to the steering stem bearings. Problem is, you need a spanner wrench from Yammie for about $40 to properly torque the bearings. And the procedure call for torqueing them to an upper value, then backing off and re-torqueing them to a lower value.

To check the steering stem bearings, the service manual says to lift the front end, grab the forks and pull and push back and forth to check for any looseness or play. That is a relatively simple procedure you can try. To lift the front end, use any small automotive hydraulic jack and a piece of 2X4 under the headers.

While it's up, stick a 2X4 or something similar under the front tire so there is minimal clearance and rotate the tire. Look for any wobble or out of round condition.

 

[Don B]

Thanks all for the help. The dealer is a 3 hour ride away. I think I will do a retorque on the pinch bolts, set the air pressure in the tire, and adjust the fork settings. Any more can wait til the 1st service in 3 weeks.

 

[mindtrip]

One other thing to consider; I have seen some bikes (usually British, but one or two jap bikes) that came from the factory with an insufficient amount of fork oil. One guy's was so bad he felt a constant 'wobble' or 'bobbing', thought for sure his tire wasn't balance, or steering stem loose, etc etc. Finally took the forks apart and found about 1/2 the recommended amount of fork oil, filling it fixed the problem. If you dont' find anything anywhere else (steering stem, tire balance, fork setup) that fixes the problem, might consider checking the fork oil.

 

[RTSR1/FJR]

B) -->

QUOTE(Don B @ May 4 2006, 10:58 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I want to tighten the steering head bearing nut but can barely see it. On top, there is a big nut that appears to be a cover? Is there a procedure to adjust the bearings?
If you don't have a clue, leave it alone and take it back to the dealer!

 

[RadioHowie]

Speaking only for myself, I'm personally glad Yamaha didn't engineer the wobble out of the front end. It's the only thing that keeps interstate travel interesting in heavy traffic.

Kinda like THIS

Anybody building a steering damper for the FJR yet? Nope!

'course, you listen to enough expert opinions in here long enough and you'll know the FJR doesn't need one. :blink: