front end wobble

[YankeeRon]

Need some advice from the experts here. I'm selling my 84 Aspencade and want to make sure I'm giving the new owner a good machine. I've taken good care of it (new timing belts, stator, etc. etc.), but the one thing I'm concerned about is front end wobble when you remove your hands from the bars. The bike is rock steady all through the gears with your hands on the bars, not the slightest indication of any problem. It tracks well in turns and has never done anything that made me feel unsafe. Remove your hands from the bars (or really lighten your grip), however, and it starts to wobble pretty badly. I've always heard that these bikes do that, so I have never been concerned (and I always keep my hands on the bars anyway), but I just wanted to confirm my thinking. Is there something I should be looking at here to fix or is this just the way these bikes are?

[EDIT] FYI - Tires are new Shinkos with correct air pressure. Never had any cause to wonder about the steering head bearing, but will check that....

Thanks in advance for your help...
Ron

[Whiskerfish]

Odds are high it is steering head bearing tension. Go to mike nixon's site "the motorcycle project dot com" or close and look for a subject called shucking the shakes.

[YankeeRon]

Thanks Wisker! will do...

Ron

[Shadowjack]

I had to crank mine down a lot more than I thought I should to get rid of the shakes. Not saying that was the right way.

[jdvorchak]

as far as I know every GW since the 1200 had a 40 mph decel wobble with few exceptions. Cranking the steering head bearing past what the FSM says will probably result in a steering that is hard to control and hard to get it to ride down the road straight. I've owned 3 GL1200's and two of them had the wobble. The third one I bought wouldn't track straight and I found the PO had over tightened the head bearing. I re-set it to Factory and it rode perfectly but did have the decel wobble. It's a pretty common ailment but not considered a problem as long as you keep both hands on the bars when you decelerate through 40 mph.

[Whiskerfish]

One of the things Mike describes is that the bearings can get a "set" in them where they are actually slightly cocked in the neck. Over torquing them can straighten them out then you back it down to the spec while exercising it from lock to lock. I have used this successfully a couple times.

[tlbranth]

One of the things Mike describes is that the bearings can get a "set" in them where they are actually slightly cocked in the neck. Over torquing them can straighten them out then you back it down to the spec while exercising it from lock to lock. I have used this successfully a couple times.

That's how you're told to do it in the GL1500 shop manual

[JSBail]

My 83 had the shakes so I pulled the tri tree apart, cleaned and repacked the bearings with fresh grease then installed and torqued per the Honda manual as described by Whiskerfish. That took care of it.