V-Max Speed Wobble (ran it up to 115mph and...)

[gamorg02]

check your steering head and swingarm bearing tightness too.

 

[bagherra]

check your steering head and swingarm bearing tightness too.

will do!

 

[Nicki66]

On mine, I was able to correct mine with the proper torque on the swing arm bearings. Now she is steady up to 135. That is until ya cross the yellow lines and the reflectors get me loose again.

 

[edea21]

On mine, I was able to correct mine with the proper torque on the swing arm bearings. Now she is steady up to 135. That is until ya cross the yellow lines and the reflectors get me loose again.

So I bought my 06 max last year from my local dealer. The bike was brand new out of the crate 3 years old (got a good deal on it). Anyway i still have the factory warranty on the bike and i've complained abou the wobble i get over 100 mph and they told me they couldn't find anything. i want to bring up the proper torque you brought up but but do you know the spec for them so i could tell them. i don't really have much faith in them because i took it in for my first service and i couldn't tell they did anything besides change the oil.

PS Any good shops in NJ i can use???

 

[gamorg02]

have u tried the bounce test yourself? the tool dingy is selling on the forum works wonders.

 

[Redbone]

have u tried the bounce test yourself? the tool dingy is selling on the forum works wonders.

+1 on bounce test and Dingy's steering head tool, bounce test should give you better results as it takes in account specific conditions of your bike. The factory torque settings are just a place to start.

 

[edea21]

have u tried the bounce test yourself? the tool dingy is selling on the forum works wonders.

not really sure what the bounce test is? i tried to search it, no dice:bang head:

 

[KJShover]

not really sure what the bounce test is?

Sit at the back of the seat to get the front wheel off the ground. Check how freely the steering moves, allowing it to "fall" against each end stop. It will probably fall easily and "bounce" a couple of times off the end stop.

Tighten the first nut either with a spanner or with a flat blade screwdriver and mallet until you can repeat the above test and get things tightened up just enough to eliminate the bounce.

 

[gamorg02]

essentially jack the front end up the ground. loosen the top triple nut and the two TOP triple clamp bolts.

then hold the handlebars straight and lightly push them to one side. they should lightly touch down against the stops. if they don't then tighten the TWO castelated nuts together until it lightly touches down. then tighten the upper triple clamp bolts and the large nut and ur good to go.

 

[Nicki66]

+ 1 to what Garrett wrote, and I usually loosen up the bolts on the lower triple clamp hat hold the fork tubes also during the tightening process.

 

[naughtyG]

Also it really helps to loosen the big nut on top of the upper tripletree first. You may need to remove the handlebars to access that nut. I like to loosen the top tripletree fork tube bolts rather than the bottom ones too.

Then once it's loose, refit the handlebars and do the bounce test. The two castle nuts should move together as they have a washer with tabs on top of them and the tabs keep the two nuts aligned.

There's a rubber washer between the two castle nuts - some people have found that replacing it with a steel or aluminum washer (the 'Furbur Fix') helped them. It's quite easy to do if you wanna try that, just get the washer first.

I tried tightening my steering bearings on my '86 but it didn't help. That was because the bearings were totally worn. If they are, no amount of tightening of washers will help. On a newer bike they *shouldn't* be worn, but can easily be if the bike has done a lot of wheelies with heavy landings. The only way to find out is to remove the front wheel and bars to be able to feel if there's any roughness in the bearing movement, and/or dismantle and inspect them visually.

After renewing my bearings and tightening them using the bounce test (I stayed with the OEM rubber washer), my bike's been stable up to 135mph. After a few months I did need to retighten them as the looseness started creeping back.

Hope this helps - the 115mph+ wobble is one muthafocka of a pants-shitting b*****d!

 

[RaWarrior]

Ya, the Magna's were even worse than the Max from what I've heard. I remember last summer when I was on my V30, going down a gigantic hill (rt 74 toward Ticonderoga). It's a good 2-2.5 miles down. I put it to the stop in 5th and let it wind out to it's 11,500 redline, which came to about 115mph. I put it in 6th, and it actually started slowing down. I figured it would be okay to push the engine a little, so I put it back to 5th and let it climb to about 12,500....the very end of the tach's scale. That was a bit over 120, and she started to gently weave. That was the first time I've ever got it, and instinctively I sat up and applied brakes. Sitting up=bad idea...that made it worse. Got to the end of the hill and the motor settled back down, idling away happily at the next intersection, despite a good 30 seconds at 1000+ RPM past it's redline. I'm pretty sure it was close to 13 grand.....gotta love your Honda.

On the Max I've found that if I get weave, I can get away with GENTLY applying the front brakes. Usually doing that instantly straightens it out.


One of my friends had a similar story about "pushing through" a weave. It may work for a bit, until it reappears 30mph later but instead of a gentle weave/wobble, it manifests as a full blown tank slapper.

I did the bounce test on my 97----yep, it was loose. Adjusted it to stop the bounce, and took it out. I ran up to 125 and was steady, but to be honest previously the weave was kinda intermittent. Sometimes I'd hit 140 with no issues, and other times I'd barely break 110 before getting a weave.

I kinda want to blame the crappy Avon venom tire on the back too....handles like crap, walks in hard corners, and is downright scary in the rain. The Max can keep it lit up off the line to the top of 3rd gear.

 

[Shuriken]

I've just swapped my 85 forks with a set of 88 forks that I've had in storage for awhile. I'm temporarily doing this because my 85 set developed a leaky fork seal (maybe bouncing the front end on takeoffs?). Rather than keep the bike out of commission, I want to test the 88 forks.

I know they are the same diameter as the 85's, but I want to see what difference these forks make in handling, speed wobble, etc. A year ago, the seller said the 88's were internally lowered 1/2", as I mentioned in another thread. Not sure in what way this will affect handling.

However, as I was removing the front wheel and in general, paying attention to things (I haven't had much time to get to the bike over the last year), I have some drag on the rotors. Either the rotors are warped or the wheel is damaged, because if the rotors are true it would have to be the wheel. Furthermore, I'm not entirely sure that the axle is 100% true. Any of these issues could cause or contribute to speed wobble, right?

Has anyone seen a rim develop runout naturally? How about axle damage? You'd think if a bike took a big enough hit on the front end to damage a rim and axle that the frame or other things would be destroyed.

I'm chapped that my rotors drag on a spot but I'm not going to get new ones if the wheel is damaged. I'll see what I can do to get all of this stuff checked (fixed if necessary) and post back on the speed wobble.

One reason I think it might be wheel/axle/fork combo is because the steering head seems to be adjusted about right and I have no low speed wobbles. If you have a bad rim or even just warped rotors, is it possible that those conditions could contribute to uneven tire wear? Then if you have all of those factors working together..... SPEED WOBBLE...

What do you guys think? Anyone have a known good spare front rim/axle laying around? How about stock rotors?

Off to the garage to check for wheel runout....

 

[BothaBoeta]

You got to 115??Who else and what does your revcounters say...??please. also weight on the front wheel or of for a high speed wobble?

 

[ripinanroarin]

I use to get a wobble at 85mph ,now 115 is always stable. Adjusting my neck bearings made a huge difference. Tossed the rubber washer,went steel.Then i tried different air pressures in the forks. Found the more air I had, the worse it felt. So, no air. Then I played with tire pressure. the more air it had...the worse it felt. It feels more surefooted running a lower amount.Went all the way from 36 to 26lbs trying to figure what was best.
Last, was riding position..I ALWAYS put my feet on the front foot pegs I installed when going warp speeds.It helps a great deal. Now having said all this....what I have done to MY bike, works on MY bike. Please do not follow it and try it on YOUR bike. This combination "works extreamly well for me" but may worsen your handling!!! I am a light little guy,..a heavier person may need different air pressures and such. Tweeking these bikes out for speed is an individual thing, and there are way to many factors involved to say " all it needs is this or that" Some bodys good advise may be tragic advise for you.:biglaugh:

 

[Shuriken]

You got to 115??Who else and what does your revcounters say...??please. also weight on the front wheel or of for a high speed wobble?

I didn't look down at RPMS for fear of death! Glanced at the speedo.

What do you mean weight on the front wheel or of for a high speed wobble? I'm not understanding that question.

There is a weight for wheel balance on the rim. I was in a normal riding position leaning forward.

 

[Shuriken]

Going from 85 forks (that were straightened from an accident before I got the bike) to 88 forks that are internally lowered 1/2" has made no noticeable difference in high speed handling.

When I went to an ME880 on the front, my 45mph decel wobble disappeared. However, swapping forks makes no difference in the high speed issue. Adjusting the steering head also makes no difference.

I'm still checking into this but I suspect one of several things that I'll try and look at soon: wheel/rotor runout, rear suspension damping, and bearings. Still feels to me like an improper relationship between the front and rear suspension systems - as if the rears are too springy....

Will post back.

 

[COP RUNNER]

MY FRONT FORKS ARE SLID UP THE TRIPLES 1 INCH , I RUN NO AIR IN MY FORKS , I RUN 30 LBS IN MY FRONT & BACK TIRES & HAVE NEVER HAD A WOBBLE OF ANY KIND ! .. 7,200 MILES AND EVEN AT THE BROWNIE RUN , GUYS WERE SAYING THAT THEY CAN'T BELIEVE THAT MY TIRES ARE IN THAT GREAT OF SHAPE WITH THAT MANY MILES ON THEM ! .. :confused2:

 

[Thevmaxrider]

All things being good on the front end I would look at your rear tire next. If it is squared off you will get a high speed wobble.

 

[Shuriken]

All things being good on the front end I would look at your rear tire next. If it is squared off you will get a high speed wobble.

Thanks. The rear is also a new ME880 - replaced the pair of tires at the same time.