| Author | Message | ||
     Bigmanonully |
I dont know if my size has anything to do with it. Im 6' 6" 250lbs. My front end gets a shimmy right around 80-85mph, but not all the time. My dealer told me its a buell thing. that they are not very aero. I was not very pleased with that answer. Any suggestions? Its a pretty scary feeling when it happens. | ||
| Ejc |
What tires are you running? The Dunlop 616's had some front end issues. Swapping to the Pirelli Syncs solved that problem. Rock solid now. In fact, I'm impressed with how stable this bike is at speed. | ||
| Froggy |
I checked your profile quick, it said you got an 06 Uly, so i assume it has the Duncraps. I used to have a headshake at high speeds, but i switched to the Pirelli Scorpion Syncs and it went away. | ||
| Bigmanonully |
I have the 06 so I have the Dunlops | ||
| Bigmanonully |
thanks. Do you guys suggest getting the pirellis thru my dealer or elsewhere? | ||
| Etennuly |
Elsewhere if you can. I have found some at an independent dealer that works out real well. But you MUST be sure that they can do the powder coated rims without scratching them. When my '06 was new the front tire did the "swim" at speed thing. It was consistent so I went with it. It seemed to subside with about 5000 miles on it( or I was really used to it). I ran that tire 15000 miles and went to the Scorpion Sync. It made a new bike out of it(but I knew it would, I run them on the back, and on my previous bike, a City-X) For the aero issue, I'm 6' 240. Not really the problem at all. (Message edited by etennuly on August 31, 2007) | ||
| Kc69xlch |
i suppose the guys at the harley dealer think that an electra-glide is aerodynamic somehow.  | ||
| Slowride |
Bigmanonuly, I had the same issue the more the dunlops wore down. I changed to the Mich Pilot Road tires and I have had no shimmy. I currently have 7500 miles on my tires since June 07. | ||
| Imonabuss |
It's absolutely the Dunlops not "a Buell thing, they're not very aero". Right, Kc69xlch, this is being stated by a dealer that sells Harley-Davidson FL's?! Put on Pirellis and the problem will be completely gone. | ||
| Bigdaddy |
Dump the Dunslops. | ||
| Bigmanonully |
Thanks everyone. Any suspension adjustment suggestions being that I dont know anything about my bike yet. Im a newbie. | ||
| Danger_dave |
>>Put on Pirellis and the problem will be completely gone.<< Very wise. | ||
| Orangeulius |
Bigman, I also had the the swim problem. The Pirellis helped a lot. I made the tire change after only 300 miles on my new 06. I also had the dealer check the torque on the steering head bolt....I think thats what it's called. For me, using a taller fairing makes a huge difference. At 6'2" I get a lot of wind buffetting at my shoulders which can translate down my arms into steering wobble. If the other fixes don't clear it up totally you may want to consider this. | ||
| Desmo900 |
I have the same problem as Orangeulius with the wind buffetting my shoulders and making the bars wobble. i installed a Zero Gravity wind screen and it helped alot.. one other thing is to relax your grip on the bars and dont tug on them to hold your self against the wind | ||
| Jlnance |
Any suspension adjustment suggestions being that I dont know anything about my bike yet. There is a chart in the owners manual that shows the settings as a function of your weight. Set it up like that. You can tweek it from there if you like, but it's an easy place to start from. | ||
| Jlnance |
Do you guys suggest getting the pirellis thru my dealer or elsewhere? You've a few decisions to make: 1 - Are you taking the wheels off the bike yourself? 2 - From whom are you buying your tires? 3 - Who is putting the the tires on the wheels? These are all intertwined. I would recommend that you remove the wheels from the bike yourself. A lot of techs overtighten the axles when they reinstall the wheels, and this may be the cause of some of the bearing failures people are having with the Ulys. If you do it yourself, you'll know the correct procedure was followed. If you have an independent shop do it, photocopy the relevant pages in the service manual (buy it, it's worth it) for them. It's not difficult but it is different. A Harley Dealer is probably the most expensive place on earth to buy tires. Almost any other place will be cheaper. Ron Ayers Motorsports is a good place with cheap shipping. The complicating factor is that unless you own a tire machine, you have to find someone to put them on the rims, and a lot of places won't mount tires they don't sell. Cyclegear will mount tires they sell for $20. My local Harley dealer charges $30 something to mount tires (if you take the wheels off yourself), and you don't have to buy the tires from them. They charge $60 something if you leave the wheels on the bike. You'll have to ask around to see what you can find locally. |
