My 2003 GL1800 has a nose wheel shimmy whenever I'm going below 45-50 mph or less and take my hands off the bars. I know I'm not supposed to take my hands off the bars however is a shimmy supposed to be there. When the shimmy starts it gets progressively worse untill I grab the bars and stop it, am I the only one that is experiencing this and if not is there a fix for it other than keep my hands on the bars at all times I know that fix allready....
Shimmy
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If you do a search on the forum you will find a nunber of threads on the subject. Lots of opinions on how to fix it also. Good luck and ride safe (with both hands)...
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Just about all 1800's have it, there are many fixes, some are only temporary. like new tires, most of the times it comes from an unbalanced tire, even though your front shakes it can come from either tire, front or rear, some use dynabeads to keep the tires in balance, I put tapered head bearing in mine (which most wing owners are doing to fix the problem) and that cured it, Honda fix is KEEP YOUR HANDS ON THE HANDLEBARS, they are not much help. When the early 1800's had an over heating problem Honda first response was PULL OVER AND LET THE BIKE COOL DOWN. What a big help that was. 
My 08' has the shimmy also. I have just learned to live with it.
I have come to the conclusion that it has something to do with the geometry of the suspension. The reason I say this is because ALL the complaints I see ALL OF THEM do it at nearly the same speed and in the same manner.
If this was a bearing, balance, or any other issue, it would wobble at different speeds. But it does it around 40 mph in almost every case I read about.
It is not a wobble, it is called oscillation. Extreme oscillation can be seen in videos of "High Speed Tank Slapping". That is the same physics that make our wheel do it at low speeds (40mph).
The tapered bearings I believe is just a band aid for it. But the bearings do seem to make the steering more rigid and also requires you torque the bearings down tighter than stock.
Even with new bearings and even though you can not see or feel the wobble any more, all the geometry is still the same and wobble is still there "Ready" to happen but is being prevented from starting.
If someone with the upgraded bearings were to ride at 40mph and "slap" the bars real good, I would bet money you would see them wobble just like they did before.
I am not saying the bearings don't work. They do work and are a good upgrade.
All I am saying is the "wobble" is a physical characteristic of this bike due to the geometry of the suspension and components that make up the system. It has absolutely nothing to do with a tire out of balance.
I have come to the conclusion that it has something to do with the geometry of the suspension. The reason I say this is because ALL the complaints I see ALL OF THEM do it at nearly the same speed and in the same manner.
If this was a bearing, balance, or any other issue, it would wobble at different speeds. But it does it around 40 mph in almost every case I read about.
It is not a wobble, it is called oscillation. Extreme oscillation can be seen in videos of "High Speed Tank Slapping". That is the same physics that make our wheel do it at low speeds (40mph).
The tapered bearings I believe is just a band aid for it. But the bearings do seem to make the steering more rigid and also requires you torque the bearings down tighter than stock.
Even with new bearings and even though you can not see or feel the wobble any more, all the geometry is still the same and wobble is still there "Ready" to happen but is being prevented from starting.
If someone with the upgraded bearings were to ride at 40mph and "slap" the bars real good, I would bet money you would see them wobble just like they did before.
I am not saying the bearings don't work. They do work and are a good upgrade.
All I am saying is the "wobble" is a physical characteristic of this bike due to the geometry of the suspension and components that make up the system. It has absolutely nothing to do with a tire out of balance.
I like Buzzy feel this is geometry related. I found that after upgrading to Traxxion forks, the problem went away, I suspect that the forks don't compress as much with the traxion springs, so the steering angle is not as steep and that prevents the wobble from starting (steeper steering angles make the bike turn more quickly but also cause instability), but it's just my feeling I have no real data to prove this. However after upgrading to the traxxion suspension, the bike felt much better and has never shown the slightest hint of wobbling (and I keep trying to make it wobble just to see if it will happen as my tyres wear down.).
Gary
Gary
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If someone with the upgraded bearings were to ride at 40mph and "slap" the bars real good, I would bet money you would see them wobble just like they did before.
I would like to see anyone with any kind of front end on any bike SLAP the handlebars and walk away from it.
The bearings fixed the wobble on my bike, and thousands of others. It is not something that is the same on all Gold Wing 1800, three of my friends one with an 02 one with an 03 and one with an 07 never had the wobble, I didn't have it when my 08 was new, or when I put on a new set of tires, it appears after about 7,000 miles on the tires which at that time the tires are out of balance, which could cause the wobble, centermatics or dyna bears balance the tire every time you ride and those that use them have no wobble and get better mileage from their tires.
I would like to see anyone with any kind of front end on any bike SLAP the handlebars and walk away from it.
The bearings fixed the wobble on my bike, and thousands of others. It is not something that is the same on all Gold Wing 1800, three of my friends one with an 02 one with an 03 and one with an 07 never had the wobble, I didn't have it when my 08 was new, or when I put on a new set of tires, it appears after about 7,000 miles on the tires which at that time the tires are out of balance, which could cause the wobble, centermatics or dyna bears balance the tire every time you ride and those that use them have no wobble and get better mileage from their tires.
Whoa Joe, don't take me so litterally on the "Slap" the bars thing. What I mean is tap em to get them going and see if it continues the wobble.
I do realize that 100's of folks have dome the All Balls and fixed the problem.
My post was not about fixing it, it was about why it happens. Do you not agree that almost all these wobbles happen at about the same speed? If this were a "Tire Balance" issue, it would "wobble" at different speeds on each bike depending how bad out of balance and other factors like location on the wheel where the extra weight is throwing it out.
As far as other bikes not having the wobble at all? That could be simple as over torqued stock bearings in the first place. Then after enough miles on the bike, it finally starts to wobble and gets blamed on a bad tire, ect. Most of these folks go straight to trying tapered bearings, new tire, ect and never try to really figure out what exactly caused it in the first place. All they know is it was broke and the bearings fixed it. And I say BS, the bearings don't fix what causes this and that is just plain simple geometry of the suspension. All the bearings do is help it not to start oscillating in the first place.
I mean look, my 08' didn't develop the "Wobble" till it hit about 1500 miles. And I had read many many stories about it before I bought the wing so I was looking for it right off the show room floor. Not like I just took a while to notice.
I am sticking to my guns on the "geometry Theory" . It is the only thing that makes sense to me due to the fact that, I do not believe that all these thousands of goldwings mysteriously develop an unbalanced tire all at the same mileage, off by the same amount to wobble at all the same speed, ect. And because of the fact that I don't hear this about any other motorcycle make or model with a mass # of bikes all do the wobble at a certain speed.
It is just the nature of the beast as far as the wing is concerned.
And another thing, if this is due to tires out of balance, where are the thousands and thousands of threads about the 1500, 1200, 1100 wings and all those wobble problems??
There aren't any that I know of. Am I suppose to buy into the idea that only the 1800 gets out of balanced front wheels?
I am not arguing with anyone about it. We all have our own opinions on this and above, you see mine. In my mind, the facts all point to a common shared problem in all the "wobble wings". That one constant can not be various different issues all causing the exact same result. It can't be an out of balance tire. Tires do not all wobble at the same speed unless by chance something "common" is happening like a piece of the wheel, wheel weight, ect is coming off the wheel and ALL these affected wings are losing that exact same piece, weight, ect from the same location, causing the same out of balance problem.
Sorry, I just don't buy it. It has to be ONE COMMON thing that all these bikes share to cause the almost exact same condition in every bike. The only thing I can think of the one common thing they do share and that is the exact same stock suspension. The only variable there would be the torquing of the stock bearings from the factory (or dealer). This could explain why some never get the wobble and why some get it much later on than others.
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When I test drove the Green Wing I made it wobbel. Just like my VTX did. Just wanted to make sure it was a Honda.
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Welcome to the club. We are working on it. Some had already done an aftermarket part replacement and swear by it's improvement, some of the rest of us just noticed it and posted it. You are not alone. " Buzzy" : My mechanic suggested a higher torque on the steering head than Honda recommended also..... hmmmmm..... ?
I suspect that running tighter steering bearing torques is just making the steering slightly stiffer to turn and therefore prevents the wobble from starting, but if that is so, then it's a band aid that is hiding the problem, it is not fixing the problem.. I still agree with Buzzy that it seems to be geometry related.
Gary
Gary
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I have a 1200 Interstate and had bad wobble!! I put new tires on Dunlops! It has been fine since!!
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Its like the casters on a shopping cart. When a bike is designed to turn easily, the angle of the steering is sharpened but it also allows for more 'wobble'. I think the wobble problem is overrated. Most of my nice handling bikes do this (over the past 40 years of riding) and has never been a problem. I notice it when I have my hands off the bars for a short length of tiime to stretch or whatever.
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