[spitfyr426]

Sorry to bring this up, seems that there are lost of posts about front end wobbles, but they all seem to relate to 1800's and car tires, neither of which relate to me. First a little info. Recently purchased a 93 1500 aspencade with 35k, lightly used, mostly sat. I'm an experienced rider and former professional motorcycle mechanic; but most of my experience is with sport bikes and dirt bikes, only a few wings, none with this problem. I've ridden about 1k on this bike since purchase and have noticed three things that concern me.

1) Front suspension seems too soft, even when at max pressure. Maybe this is just my perception from riding performance machines, or maybe its a problem, any ideas on how I could rule out one or the other.
2) Front end feels "rough", very hard to describe, kind of like a vibration but much slower, only noticeable at very slow speeds <30 mph.
3) Handle bar "head-shake" at same lows speeds, generally around 20-25 but even as high as 35-45. Usually happens mid turn.

I'm not talking about a little shimmy either, I'm talking about some serious shaking. I've experienced similar problems on sport bikes at high speeds (called tank-slapping), but never low speeds. When riding on the highway nearly all of these problems disappear, although the steering and suspension still seems "wrong" and very touchy. Obviously I've checked the basics, bearings, pressures, fluids, tires, etc. and all seem good. Anyone have any info on these issues.

 

[detdrbuzzard]

hello spitfyr, welcome to GWOF. how are the fork seals? replace rthe head bearings and you might want to get progressive springs up front.

 

[Cantankerous]

First of all welcome to the forum. Is the oil up in the forks? The suspension will be softer than a sport bike, but not too soft.

 

[Ron Robertson]

I have a 93 also 179,000 miles have owned since new. I have progressive spring in the forks( no added air need for me) also have super brace on the forks. And have fork chaps to keep bugs of the tubes. No shake.
You might want to check the torque on the steering head bearing.

 

[budoka]

If you have had 'tank slappers' on your sport bikes and haven't gone down because of them you're a lucky guy. I'd install a Scott's dampener immediately if they are still happening. On the Wing though, what the guys have mentioned so far is most of what you need to check. The other thing you want to investigate is the front axle bearings, they could be worn. Remember it's a rolling couch, not a supersport, but it still likes to run free if all is right with the set-up. Welcome to the site!

 

[spitfyr426]

Thanks for the info guys. The fork seals and bearings seem fine on initial inspection, but since neither one is particularly expensive to replace I'll go ahead and rebuild the forks and the bearings. Thanks for the tip about progressive springs, I'll see if I can throw in a set of those when I do the fork seals. Once again, the bearings and forks pass initial inspection with flying colors, but hey, this bike is almost 20 years old, I'm sure it's going to need a little TLC even though its low mileage.

 

[spitfyr426]

Well I jacked up the front end and checked for any play in the head bearings or fork bushings. Couldn't tell that the was any. I'll have to put a torque wrench on the stem later and make sure but so far that doesn't seem to be the problem. Proper torque still doesn't eliminate the possibility of worn bearings but I'll move on to other things first. One thing I noticed that may shed some light. It don't seem to wobble in corners under heavy acceleration, only when maintaining constant speed or decelerating. Unfortunately that usually causes other problems, the front suspension is so soft that when accelerating through corners the front wheel doesn't stick very well, it seems to bounce around quite a bit and skitters pretty easily. I'm leaning towards rebuilding the forks and I think that will fix the wobble. If it doesn't then I'll try new bearings. I really wish I had access to a similar year GW to compare too, I still can't tell if my forks are shot or if the really are just that soft. SS bikes are so much easier to work on. If it's bouncy, it's busted! I've done 176mph on a sports bike (confirmed on trackside radar), and ridden nearly every conceivable kind of motorcycle made, and to this day I still say that the scariest motorcycle I've ever ridden is a Wing.

thanks for the posts