Could it be a tyre balance problem?

[casperfelix]

My 1200GSA has developed some odd behaviour: At slow speed (under 20mph) and particularily when braking gently to a halt it has some considerable wheel wobble. The handlebars kick gently from side to side with about half to an inch of movement.
This wasn't the case last year before laying it up for winter after which I changed tyres (front wheel was balanced I was told - and I trust the guy who did it).
Oddly there is no weave or wobble once you are going at speed - which is the opposite of what a car does when a front wheel is out of balance.
PS I may not be the greatest motorcycle rider but I'm quite experienced and have had GS' for some time - so am quite confident riding slowly. In short it isn't me causing the problem.
Any views would be wellcome before I take the front wheel off again to get it balanced.

 

[AberdeenAngus]

Doesn't sound like a balance issue to me. Too extreme at slow speed.
Are you sure the tyre is fitted correctly ?
Is everything lined up true ?

Did you take off and replace the wheel ?

 

[rjsmith26]

What tyre you had fitted to front?

I have just changed from Bridgestones onto Conti Trail Attacks (which are stunning!), and I get front end "nod" at low speed/low revs, however the bike is so much better at falling into corners etc.

 

[AshR1]

Check your front brake discs. Sounds like one of them is either warped or the pad is catching some crud in one place on the disc.

With the bike on the center stand and something heavy on the back you should be able to spin the front wheel. Does is spin freely? Does it catch? Does it always come to rest in the same position (that one would show a balance problem)

 

[(RIP) Johno23]

Could well be one or both discs warped,this is common.Had both mine done under warranty at 6000 miles Strange but the replacements have the Brembo logo stamped on them, which the originals didn't.

 

[ianran]

Checked your tyre pressure??

 

[Pukmeister]

Check the bolts are tight in the lower fork clamps. IIRC should be 25Nm. Early bikes had problems with them being loose (very unsafe). Probably not the cause of your problem, but a possibility and worth checking/eliminating.

 

[boatman]

+ 1 for the front discs

 

[Mr K]

Checked your tyre pressure??

My first stop.

 

[skywalker]

Bet you've got Metzlers on and its the infamous Metzler wobble. Wheel balance doesn't really come into play till you reach 70mph plus and you'll experience "like a jack hammer" effect through the handlebars

 

[GSmonkey]

New Tourance?

 

[snerkler]

New Tourance?

I've never noticed wobble with my tourances
Can you get such a thing as a dodgy tyre?

 

[TeaPig]

Are both the tyres fully seated on the rims? In other words, if you follow the line on the tyre wall around the edge of the rim is it equidistant from the edge of the rim all the way around? It's possible, though very careless, to not 'pop' the tyre fully onto the rim when fitted. Spin the wheel with the bike up on the stand and check it doesn't wobble

 

[casperfelix]

Are both the tyres fully seated on the rims? In other words, if you follow the line on the tyre wall around the edge of the rim is it equidistant from the edge of the rim all the way around? It's possible, though very careless, to not 'pop' the tyre fully onto the rim when fitted. Spin the wheel with the bike up on the stand and check it doesn't wobble

Thanks for your comments guys. I know it's not a disc problem as I had new discs fitted under warranty about 5k miles ago and the symptoms were different. I've decided to get the tyre re-fitted and re-balanced this week as nothing else seems amiss - including the tyre pressure. How odd.

 

[casperfelix]

Went back to my tyre fitter and had the new Conti Trail Attacks removed and replaced with a set of half used BattleWings that I knew had rolled true. Also had the front wheel balanced - though he always does this when changing my front tyre.
Just done an eighty mile trip and the problem has completely dissappeared.
Never knew a tyre could make this much difference to a bike. But equally I still don't know if the tyre was not correctly fitted in the first place. Guess I'll find out when I need to change tyres and use the Trail Attack again.

 

[Wapping]

It doesn't surprise me.

I run Anakee on my GSA.

A while ago I fitted a pair of brand new Dunlop equivalents (Trailmax, that had been good on my vanilla 1200).... and developed just the very wobble you speak of. Very marked and somewhat disconcerting at night, almost as if the bike had hit a largish hole on the road or developed a mild tankslapper.

Wheels in perfect balance, no warped disks, pressure correct, suspension all good.

Took them off (Dunlop gave me a full refund) and went back to Anarkees. The problem vanished in an instant.

 

[heathy]

had exactly the same problem with conti trail attacks. i swopped for dunlop roadsmarts and problem sorted. i put it down to faulty tyre because others don't seem to have a problem, or just put up with it.