Wobbly front end

[Cobb]

When I let go of the wheel at 35 it wobbles a little any suggestions on how to get it to stop

[whisperquiet]

I am going to be Mr. Obvious........don't let go of the handlebars at 35 mph.  Lots of motorcycles exhibit the same behavior at similar speeds.  My T7 does not.

 

Motorcycle Weaves and Wobbles: How to Avoid Them and Deal with Them

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There are some aspects of motorcycles that motorcycle manufacturers are reluctant to talk about. Weave and wobble are two of them. Either can put you down and

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by whisperquiet

[johnnygolucky]

I've found when I close both my eyes riding my 700 down a freeway, my bike tends to wander around in lanes. Any suggestions on how to keep me and my bike in my own lane? 

[whisperquiet]

Mr. Obvious here again.............open you eyes and your bike will quit wandering. 

[johnnygolucky]

2 minutes ago, whisperquiet said:

Mr. Obvious here again.............open you eyes and your bike will quit wandering. 

Swoosh..... sarcasm Whispy, sarcasm. 

[UtahJack]

You guys ride funny.

[Tooph]

Not sure if it has anything to do with your issue. I had to tighten most of my spokes 1/4-1/2 turn after 600 miles. They were noticeably loose. Rocky mountain atv has a good demo video on how to properly do tighten them if needed. 

[Fibbs]

Just did a trip from UK to Croatia and back. I haven't had time to think about this thoroughly but the ride was mainly to see how the bike goes over longish distances. I'm happy. 

Some of this will be obvious.
I was experiencing this pretty bad particularly at the speeds mentioned here, it continues all the way up to 130kmh but the wobble becomes more of a vibration.
some notes i've made
Check your front Air pressure. I reckon i've got a slow leak inflating to spec resolved it to some degree. I'm really slack with this one.
I was way overloaded, but that was the plan, just to see how it performs. Hard cases and duffles etc.
Haven't touched my suspension i'm certain it was configured poorly given the massive sag and weight shift to the rear.
These Pirellis are not suited to the type of riding i do. 
Something still ain't right though, besides the wobble there is a wicked oscillating sound from about 70kmh and up, particularly when letting off the gas 130kmh and down. Mind you it could be just one of those things, once you hear it you can't unhear it.

 

[Louis]

Okay, where is MR Obvious? Thought I'd say what he is thinking.

If you haven't set your rear pre load or swapped out your rear  spring to suit your weight and load your carrying the you should check if your front wheel is still making contact with the ground. 

Thanks for the advice MR Obvious

[FredBasset]

My front tyre is definitely faulty, running at recommended tyre pressure of 32psi, my front tyre has a distinct wobble (it’s definitely not the actual wheel). I removed the the front wheel and checked for wheel trueness, which was within the manufacturers 2mm allowance, but found the actual tyre was moving from side to side. I broke the bead and reseated the tyre, making sure it was seated correctly both sides, but the tyre still wobbles side to side. If I increase the tyre pressure to 38 psi, its not as bad, but I don’t want to ride with such a high pressure in the front. I have reported it to my dealer who have passed it onto Yamaha UK. I’m still awaiting their response, but the dealer mechanics agreed that it was not correct or acceptable, after I pointed out it was the tyre and not the wheel that was wobbling from side to side! 

 

Either the tyre is misshaped/faulty or it doesn’t fit the rims correctly, but I’m hopping Yamaha come through with a new tyre for me. 

 

I’m not so sure the OEM tyres that the factories fit, are not always “equal” to the one we buy from manufacturers!

Edited August 24, 2020 by FredBasset

[Flyinbrianbmx]

Have you adjusted your forks at all, or messed with the front wheel? I adjusted mine and got a huge wobble like that. I loosened the entire front end and tightened everything up again and it fixed it!

[FredBasset]

39 minutes ago, Flyinbrianbmx said:

Have you adjusted your forks at all, or messed with the front wheel? I adjusted mine and got a huge wobble like that. I loosened the entire front end and tightened everything up again and it fixed it!

I only removed my front wheel, after the problem made itself present, on collection day. I initially thought, ok wire wheels aren’t always perfect, but when I checked the tyre pressures, both front and rear were very high. I checked the manual and rear should be 36psi and front 32psi.  Once I corrected the tyre pressure, the front tyre wobble was terrible!

 

I contacted my dealer straight away, and told them I was bringing it in asap for them to check. They confirmed the issue and made a warranty claim, although that was over a week ago, and Yamaha haven’t replied yet!

 

this doesn’t detract from the bike itself, which is great, just that the OEM Pirelli’s are suspect. 

[Flyinbrianbmx]

you should 

7 minutes ago, FredBasset said:

I only removed my front wheel, after the problem made itself present, on collection day. I initially thought, ok wire wheels aren’t always perfect, but when I checked the tyre pressures, both front and rear were very high. I checked the manual and rear should be 36psi and front 32psi.  Once I corrected the tyre pressure, the front tyre wobble was terrible!

 

I contacted my dealer straight away, and told them I was bringing it in asap for them to check. They confirmed the issue and made a warranty claim, although that was over a week ago, and Yamaha haven’t replied yet!

 

this doesn’t detract from the bike itself, which is great, just that the OEM Pirelli’s are suspect. 

you should try loosening the front bolts and front wheel and tightening everything down. maybe it works maybe it doesn't, mention it to your dealer. also my manual says 32 psi on both front and rear tire.

[bth2]

i have just given my front spokes a tweak. there was  quite a difference between some of the spokes (by feel).have done 4,500mls.

 

[FredBasset]

15 minutes ago, Flyinbrianbmx said:

you should 

you should try loosening the front bolts and front wheel and tightening everything down. maybe it works maybe it doesn't, mention it to your dealer. also my manual says 32 psi on both front and rear tire.

Thanks for the info, already done this several times, no difference, tyre still wobbles badly with 32psi. 

[Alf Meister]

I have heard and seen oem tyres having this problem before, it doesn't help when manufacturers also have wide tolerance on the wheel trueness either. When you get a rim wobble and the tyre isn't quite right either, that equals problems, which in isolation from each other, is acceptable, but when put together, it most certainly isn’t. 

 

I checked mine when I did the tubeless conversion, the rim was within spec, but had vertical and lateral run out and I can feel it when riding slow, makes the front end feel like its bobbing. Some of the spokes needed nipping up too.  When I’ve put a bit more miles on it (I’m at 854 at the mo) I think I’ll take it to a guy I know  that builds wheels and get him to true both wheels to a better spec i.e. zero runout, if thats possible. 

[Louis]

Was a post somewhere here,  a guy had dealer replace the front tyre due to "wobble " still hadn't changed. Then changed again soon after and finally fixed the issue.  Standard Pirelli tyres are suspect! Still,  suspension adjusted correctly for the pilot and luggage is important. 

[Canzvt]

Stock Pirelli oscillated not really a wobble. By oscillation, I mean it hopped like it was out of round. Made a silly sound too. Swapped them out for E07's at about 1000kms and the problem went away.

[DT675]

My front end wobbles side to side a little bit too mostly when de-accelerating. I can actually see the rear of the front fender oscillation from side to side. I think its my tire. Now to convince my local dealer to have a look at it when i didn't purchase the bike from them.  To be fair they didn’t have one in  stock. 

[vilageidgit62]

 

[Ktmmitch]

Check your Rider Sag, most riders, especially with passenger and/or luggage are undersprung at the rear, causing the front to push out and go light, this causes headshake.

[bth2]

my experience is tyres. i started to get a slight osillating when the tyres were about half worn. this got worse as they wore down. finaly becoming so horrible that is was not a nice ride. have fitted E07's and the bike now rides like a new one again. front spokes are an issue ill get the dealer to look at at its 6000ml service.have found some quite loose and variable tension.

[Janson]

Wheel balance ?

 

[Rider 101]

$%&^! I just ride mine. Don't know if it is me or the bike wobbling. Wait.........it's me!

Bugger, must stop injecting Jack Daniels.

Seriously?ride it in the dirt and who knows if it is wobbling. I only use tar to link the dirt and good old Oz limits us to 100km/hr and being a law abiding citizen I will never notice wobbling on our pot-hole excuses for a road 

[GPSAT]

I chased the wobble issue on my T7 for a couple of months after purchase. My Yamaha dealer assisted me with it. We narrowed it down to a faulty front tire. We replaced it with a MotoZ Tractionator GPS front tire and balanced the wheel... wobble gone. I can ride at highway speeds with no hands... smooth as silk. My wobble was horrible mostly at slower speed and worse when braking heavy.