Twitchy front end

[Deano64]

Hello

Nor been heres for a while. Recently my bike had felt a bit twitch at the front whne going slow and seems to be following 'grooves' in the road.
Either the roads are now so bad that grooves are everywhere , or the tyres have gone off, even though there's loads of tread. I seem to remember the original Battlwing doing the same

Any body else ?

 

[Micky]

Head bearings at a guess

 

[Deano64]

Surprised anybody could understand the spelling on my post when I looked back. I was in a hurry!
There's no notchiness when taking the weight off the front and the bars turn free fron side to side. They don't locate in the middle. Bearings were tightened up some 10000 miles ago at dealers and seem to have been ok since. Before they were tightened, it was obvious they were loose since there was quite a knock over bumps.
Cheers Dean

 

[Deano64]

Still doesn't feel quite as 'planted' as normal. There's no central locatiing of bars when weight is lifted off front and handlebars moved from side to side. Neither is there any clonking / banging when going over bumps. I'd have though if head bearings needed seeing to , I would have got some of these symptoms. I'm still suspecting tyre, even though there's loads of tread ( ~ 3-4 years old)

 

[earthmover]

Denise's 650 is very sensitive to tyre pressures, when she complains that "the bike feels funny in corners" I usually have to put a bit of air in.
Mark

 

[Deano64]

Tyre pressures were first thing I checked. All OK. I've had the bike for 8 years and it just doesn't feel as 'planted'

 

[SuperTed]

It could be that the tyres, at 3 - 4 years old, have just 'gone off'.
Both my wife and I have had this on previous bikes.
She had a set of Michelins that lost most of their grip at about three years and only 2 thirds of the tread used and I had the same with a set of Bridgestones on my 1150GS.
Then again when even the tyre fitter we go to calls the Bridgestones 'DeathWings' it tells you a lot about a tyre!
Metzelers of any sort are highly recommended; as are Dunlops.

 

[Deano64]

They're actually Conti Trail attacks and they look fine ... but the look of rubber can be deceiving ! I do remember my original Deathwings having similar symptoms I think- especially the front following defects in road surfaces ... which have significantly deteriorated in the last 4-5 years. I have really liked the Trail Attacks so far

 

[Bem]

I had T/A on before moving to PR4, plenty of "tread depth" but not uniform across the width, so suggest you run your hand across the tyres to search for wear on the front (as in triangular shape) and rear (as in flattened centre)- together this can lead you to the "following grooves" sensation you noted above, even where non exist!

 

[Johnnymac]

Had similar symptoms and then on day one of a three day trip to Wales, front wheel bearing broke. Home in disgrace on a trailer today. Check your front wheel bearings. Get the front wheel off the ground, get someone to hold the bars and check for movement.

 

[Sooty09]

I have had a similar experience on my almost new F800GS, occasionally the bike felt like the front tyre was going flat but the pressures were OK. The dealer checked the bike and did not find a problem, I started to think it was adjusting from my previous GS1200. I went to Bavaria for a two week holiday and at times the bike was awful with the forks bobbing up and down, again i checked everything and fiddled with pressures and damper settings with no effect. The problem occurred on the very smooth roads, these have no ripples bumps or road markings at all for miles on end, On the trip home the problem went away almost completely on the bumpy Belgian and French roads.
I took the wheel off and had it re balanced, the new weights are a fraction of the old and about 20 degrees further round the rim, I think the balance has always been out and started a pattering in the forks until interrupted by a bump. The trye is now a bit out of round due to odd wear patterns, its done 5000 miles so I'm expecting the problem will be solved when I fit a new tyre.

 

[Deano64]

Not used bike for a while, but the rear is slightly flatter profile in middle. Can't imagine it's the wheel bearings as it has hardly been used in wet and I don't pressure wash it to wash grease out

 

[Deleted account 181015003]

I had a wobble you could see through the bars the on overrun slowing from about 40 turned out to be front tyre the oem Scorpions changed to Anakee 3 and it was ok

 

[Deano64]

Front wheel bearings seem fine. No play. Didn't feel too bad today....on some different roads. I'll replace the tyres at some point