Front end wobble at 500kms

[Fraz's T7]

Has anyone else experienced a minor front end wobble (tank slap style) on a new T7? Took it to the mechanic and had the tire balanced, no change. Wheel appears to be true. No felt play in the head tube. Still stock tire, no significant impacts. 

Anything else I might be missing? 

[hobie_angler]

1 hour ago, Fraz's T7 said:

Has anyone else experienced a minor front end wobble (tank slap style) on a new T7? Took it to the mechanic and had the tire balanced, no change. Wheel appears to be true. No felt play in the head tube. Still stock tire, no significant impacts. 

Anything else I might be missing? 

I'm dealing with the same issue, one of my friends got Scotts stabilizer and he claim that the issue is gone for him ... Anyone dealt with the issue? 

[Fraz's T7]

Thanks, Good to know, unfortunately stabilizers don't come cheap.. 

I put over 10,000kms on the last one and never had an issue 

[Landshark]

It could be tread separation in the tire causing a wobble at speed.  Sometimes you can feel the separation on the sidewall with your hand.  

Is the tire balanced?  The bike shop may say that it was done but it may not have been.  Easy to check on your own if you are able.

Improper spoke tightness.  This repair requires a bit of knowledge and a spoke torque wrench.  This is probably the least likely trouble.  

And just for the hell of it, check the air pressure.

You may need to replace the tire as well.  A defective or improperly worn tire may cause the grief you've noted.

If none of this works then it's time for some serious trouble shooting.  But for now, the easiest stuff to check is always first.

Let us know what you find and ask more questions if needed.

[Tenerider]

I am by no means an expert, but one thing came to my mind: Do you have bar end weights still mounted?

[thepointchris]

there is a DEEP thread in here somewhere about front wheel wobble: as is usual, there's never just one magic cure, and often a combination of things to get it sorted. stock front tire was to blame in a few instances (bad batch), and even incorrect sag settings contributed ( changes the steering geo). I had no issues with the stock front tire, and saw 115 on the clock once, yet now with news Dunlop on the front, I can pick up a little wobble at 95, which I only did for testing reasons.  

go dig for the Thread, you're sure to find help there

[Eric W.]

It's a defective Pirelli tire.  Many of us have had this.  

[Hammerhead]

Two votes stock front tyre. Swap it out & bid that shake goodbye

[wb22rules]

Just the tire pressure in the front being too low will also make the stock front tire wobble on decel. I have 7700 miles on the stock tires and the front went through a couple stages of wanting to wobble as it wore and it cupped more, adjusting the air pressure helped cure it mostly each time. I may be the exception, but I only had wobble issues on deceleration, never while accelerating or maintaining speed. 

[Ray Ride4life]

Not tankslapper style but i do have a bit wobble up and down at low speed (50 - 60km/h) but today it went crazy.
Don't know what caused it because i was playing with the setup of my suspension and had a flat rear tyre at the same time.
If it happened because of the flat tyre it means that with a good tyre the rear suspension setup could cause the wobble but i was messing with my front suspension so if that was the cause it means the little detail i was trying to find might also be the solution.

[Stevoh]

5 hours ago, Ray Ride4life said:

Not tankslapper style but i do have a bit wobble up and down at low speed (50 - 60km/h) but today it went crazy.
Don't know what caused it because i was playing with the setup of my suspension and had a flat rear tyre at the same time.
If it happened because of the flat tyre it means that with a good tyre the rear suspension setup could cause the wobble but i was messing with my front suspension so if that was the cause it means the little detail i was trying to find might also be the solution.

My be worth checking your steering head for play, seems quite common problem on T7, often loose from new. 

Two persons job, lift front wheel off the ground by pivoting bike on side stand, get your helper to grab the bottom of the fork tubes and move backward and forward, if loose steering head you will feel, hear, and see the movement.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Stevoh

[Fraz's T7]

Thanks for the advice guys. Ya, I went to the mechanic and rechecked the basic stuff for me.

He checked balance, was fine.

Tire pressure was good. 

Spokes all seem good. 

No wobble in the rim. 

His guess was also head bearings just seated and perhaps need a readjustment. Although there was no sign of play. But the bad tire could definitely be a culprit! 

Does anyone know if the bad tire is a warranty issue? 

I have a set of motoz but the front won't be in for a couple of weeks.. 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Fraz's T7

[Ray Ride4life]

2 hours ago, Stevoh said:

My be worth checking your steering head for play, seems quite common problem on T7, often loose from new. 

Two persons job, lift front wheel off the ground by pivoting bike on side stand, get your helper to grab the bottom of the fork tubes and move backward and forward, if loose steering head you will feel, hear, and see the movement.

Thanks for the tip but just had 'm out to put some proper grease in it when i installed the Touratech closed cartridge and new handlebar but i can double check.

[wb22rules]

18 hours ago, Fraz's T7 said:

Thanks for the advice guys. Ya, I went to the mechanic and rechecked the basic stuff for me.

He checked balance, was fine.

Tire pressure was good. 

Spokes all seem good. 

No wobble in the rim. 

His guess was also head bearings just seated and perhaps need a readjustment. Although there was no sign of play. But the bad tire could definitely be a culprit! 

Does anyone know if the bad tire is a warranty issue? 

I have a set of motoz but the front won't be in for a couple of weeks.. 

I recall a few people were able to get the dealer to replace the front tire under warranty for that exact reason, some were able to get a different model Pirelli front too. There were a few threads in 2020/21 that had participants do that successfully  here and over at advrider I believe. 

[Yasenia]

On 3/24/2022 at 9:15 PM, Fraz's T7 said:

Has anyone else experienced a minor front end wobble (tank slap style) on a new T7? Took it to the mechanic and had the tire balanced, no change. Wheel appears to be true. No felt play in the head tube. Still stock tire, no significant impacts. 

Anything else I might be missing? 

Mine started to do it but only when I went over 85 mph. At about 90-05 mph it got really bad. I realized that it was the front tire. It wasn't wearing off evenly. even though the bike only had about 2,000 miles when it started to do it. Another two thousand miles it was super scary to go about 80 mph.
 

 I blamed myself for not checking the air pressure often enough. My understanding is that tires with inner tubes don't hold the air as good as a tubeless radial tires. I've had lots of sport bikes before and never lost air like I do on on my T7. The first and only bike I've owned with inner tubes. I don't know, may be it is true.
 

I purchased a set of Avon Trailrider, so far so good! I've been to up to 90 mph with no problem. Now I check the air twice per week just to play it safe.

[Fraz's T7]

SORTED

Incase anyone is curious. 

So get this, checked the tire pressure before going to the dealership along with blah blah blah, all the things.. 

The mechanic filled the tire to spec, so in other words, put 2psi in the tire. Took it for a ride and boom, no wobble. I'd say that's still a faulty tire if it can't handle being down 2 psi.. 

Hurry up motoz! 

[Landshark]

11 hours ago, Fraz's T7 said:

SORTED

Incase anyone is curious. 

So get this, checked the tire pressure before going to the dealership along with blah blah blah, all the things.. 

The mechanic filled the tire to spec, so in other words, put 2psi in the tire. Took it for a ride and boom, no wobble. I'd say that's still a faulty tire if it can't handle being down 2 psi.. 

Hurry up motoz! 

Just replace the front as soon as possible.  There's something wrong with it if it wobbles with 2 lbs less air pressure.  I still can't wrap my head around the conclusion.  Something is not right at the dealers end here.  

[Fraz's T7]

3 hours ago, Landshark said:

Just replace the front as soon as possible.  There's something wrong with it if it wobbles with 2 lbs less air pressure.  I still can't wrap my head around the conclusion.  Something is not right at the dealers end here.  

I've got a set of Motoz Adventure on order, the rear is in but of course the front is a month out. 

If the stock tread pattern worked for me I'd put up a fight. They didn't charge me for the service and I came to the conclusion that I'll live with it until the fresh shoes arrive. In their eyes if it operates at stock psi then it's gtg. But my good friend who works there is trying to push it through as it's not the first time he has seen this. 

I'm just excited to try the Motoz! 

[Ray Ride4life]

4 hours ago, Landshark said:

Something is not right at the dealers end here. 

That's everywhere i think.
But it's partially out own fault because in the beginning of the internet shopping era it was real cheap but when when the sellers discovered they had to grow and ended up with overhead after all the prices went up but we still believed the internet was cheap as f**k.
Also a bad habit in comparing prices is OEM at the dealer against China crap online so dealers need to cut overhead.
Manufacturers demand prime location and other costly crap so the only way is hiring cheaper but less capable mechanics.
For most things i go to the dealer on my way home from work as it is just a small detour, tyres i buy directly from one of the largest motorcycle tyre importers of the Netherlands and other things mostly from the known webshops/resellers and only 10% i buy from Ali/Amazon/ebay because i don't think it is something worth the price company's charge or in most cases it's a testcase i like to figure out with cheap stuff and replace it when it's working as planned.
I have no problem with paying for quality but is refuse to pay for a name.