[Classico]

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Hello

I am new in this forum and I hope to get a hint to solve wobble of my GL1000/K3.

I have installed a WIndjammer fairing on my wing. Recently I discovered a heavy wobble at higher speed. I had to hit the breaks to stop the wobble not to go off the road. The steering stem bearings are new and correct adjusted. I got new tires and replaced the standard fork springs by progressive white power springs. Apparently that does not help. Does somebody have experiece with that. I am grateful for any help I can get.

 

[Classico]

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Classico wrote:

Hello

I am new in this forum and I hope to get a hint to solve wobble of my GL1000/K3.

I have installed a WIndjammer fairing on my wing. Recently I discovered a heavy wobble at higher speed. I had to hit the breaks to stop the wobble not to go off the road. The steering stem bearings are new and correct adjusted. I got new tires and replaced the standard fork springs by progressive white power springs. Apparently that does not help. Does somebody have experiece with that. I am grateful for any help I can get.

 

[exavid]

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:waving::waving:Welcome to the Best Goldwing Site On the Internet Classico!:waving::waving:

I suspect your problem is that you don't have the weight that was installed on most of the early faired Goldwings. There's a iron bar that's mounted to the fork that's supposed to control the wobble. I'm sure some of the guys here with that model bike can give you the real dope, hang on for a bit!

 

[BigAl]

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Hi Arno and welcome to the forum. How is the riding weather in Aachen? I was in Aachen in 1982, lovely city and the people are very friendly. I was a studentat the timeand the public telephones in Germany used to take Irish 5p coins and it cost me very little to phone back home..

Anyway, back to your problem. Did you replace the fork oil when you did this job? Bad fork oil causes problems with fairings. If you already did this then you will have to experiment with adding weights to the front of the bike to compensate. I'm not sure but I think the extra weight was about 3lbs.

 

[Tonys96]

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The counterweight was only offered after Honda started putting fairings on the bikes.

Now then, when did the wobble start ?

What did you do right before the wobble started, change the tires ?

Sometimes the aspect raio of the new tires is off just enough to change the trail and screw up the front end geometry. Radials in bias applications have been known to cause problems as well.

Steering head bearings ?

Wobble at high speed, just how high, I've never seen the Vetter fairing cause instability, but it may be the case.

By the way, the tighter you held the bars the worse the wobble got right.

 

[Classico]

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Hi,

thanks for your reply. The weight is installed. I got the fairing with all required parts.



Arno

 

[Classico]

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Hi BigAl

The weather here was the previous 2 weeks super. Actually it was too hot, above 30 centigrades. Today the rain stopped me riding.

Thanks for your hint. The oil was changed in accordance with the manualwhenI installed the newwhite power springs.

Thanks

Arno

 

[Classico]

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Hello :waving:

Thanks for yourhints. So, what did I do?

The fairing initially was installed because I hurt my back and I got earlier tiredthan in the old days.

This year I did have to change the tires to a diffent type because the old type is no more fabricated. Recently I installed the whte power springs because the fork hit completely down on any little pothole. I guess thats because of the age anddue tothe weightof the fairing. The steering head bearings were replacedabout 3years ago. Ichecked them whith the bike on the centerstand. I could not feel more play but I will check it again.

Actually, after the spring installationI discovered that dangerous wobble at a speed of about 120-130 Km/h. The wobble gives me the feeling that I will hit the ditch in the next second, if you understand what I mean. Also I found that the wobble increases as soon as the front tiregoes below 2.3 bar pressure. The normal from the manufacturer recommended pressure is 2.5 bar for the front tire and 2.8 for the back.

The weight which came with the fairing is installed as it was.Are there different weights available? By the way, the fairing was originally installed on a GL1100. The mounts I got seperat from somebody else,from a GL1000.

The only subject whatkeeps methinking is the fact that the White Power recommendedfilling of the fork oil is more than the Honda manual says. Its about 70 ml more for each spring and it is original White Power oil.

May be you have a now more good ideas of what more I can do. I don't :baffled:

Arno

 

[exavid]

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I'd never heard of White Power suspension until you mentioned it Classico. Looked them up on the internet and found they've been using the name WP in the USA since 1991. I wondered who'd have the chutzpah to use a name like White Power, not very politically correct! Anyway sounds like they're much like Progressive springs. I'd go with their recommendation on the amount of fork oil, though don't really think you have to stick with their brand of oil.

The wobble you speak about is different than the common wobblies that have often been mentioned on this forum, that occurs around 25-35mph. High speed wobble could be many different things. Have you tried the bike without the weight? How are your fork bushings, did you change them when you changed the fork springs? Fork leg clamps tight? Is there any other brand of front tire available to you?

 

[Classico]

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Hey, that was a quick response :jumper:

I hope my English is good enough to explain eveything right - I will try. The brand/name"White Power"is apretty famous brand here in Germany. Another type brand for progressive suspension is "Wilbers" . Actually, thats the brand I have installed. I just mentioned White Power because I assumed that those are more familir to eveyone. I haveused that fork oil only, because it was recommended to reach the best effectivity as stated by the company.Itwas not much more expensive thananother brand. By the way I just read in an old book about the so called high speed wobble and it details exactly my problem. There is just nothing mentioned on how to cure that.

The bolts on the fork clamps are tightenedwith a torque wrench in accordance with the clymer book.So that should be OK.The tire that I have installledis presently the onlybrand available. There is no alternate possible. I hope that other companies will produce them in future as well. Even Honda Germany could not help me when I was looking into the replacement of the tires. One issue that you mentioned makes me concerned - Fork Bushings! What bushings are you talking about.

 

[exavid]

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Classico wrote:

Hey, that was a quick response :jumper:

I hope my English is good enough to explain eveything right - One issue that you mentioned makes me concerned - Fork Bushings! What bushings are you talking about.

Classico, your English is no problem! The bushings I meant are inside the fork tubes and provide a sliding surface for the fork tubes inside the lower fork castings. They look like short pieces of tubing with a bearing surface on the inside. Unfortunately I don't have an exploded drawing of the 1100 forks, there was a picture of the forks parts recently but I haven't been able to find it. I'm sure whoever posted it will guide you to it.

 

[wingdawg101]

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These guys know more than me but I've had the best luck using "Transmission fluid" in my forks" and some bike magazines still swear by it!

Sounds Crazy , huh ?:baffled:

But I would think you have a weight/tire problem, if as you say the steering head is good?!

Push come to shove you could go to a "Universal Windshield/WindScreen" !

Better than going into a ditch!

Welcome to the "WGGWWS" !

I was stationed in Germany years ago, wonderful place and people, love it!:clapper:

 

[exavid]

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wingdawg101 wrote:

These guys know more than me but I've had the best luck using "Transmission fluid" in my forks" and some bike magazines still swear by it!

Sounds Crazy , huh ?:baffled:

Not at all, Progressive recommends ATF.

 

[Classico]

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PaulI guess I know nowwhat bushings youhave meant. I never thought about them.Did not know that those wear orget damaged.I probably will have to check it.

Thank you for your excellent advise.

 

[Harrystoy]

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Considering you mentioned the problem changes with tyre pressure adjustments, I would immediatly remove the front tyre have it professional re-mounted ie one side/edge removed from the bead/tube checked for kinks/tyre positioned correctly

mounted again checking the bead seating surface all the way around both side and then balanced correctly!

Betcha it goes away then!:cheeky1:

 

[Tonys96]

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The violent shaking of the handlebars is commonly refered to as a "Tank Slapper" in the U.S.

It is usually due to a geometry change, "New Tires". Your new tires probably decreased the trail and steepened the rake (steering head angle). When you say that adding air to the front tire decreases the severity of the wobble it confirms tis hypothesis.

It's difficult to make a chassis change to overcome this, the best bet may be to find a lower numerical aspect ratio rear tire or a higher numerical aspect ratio front tire.

You didn't go to radial tires did you ?

 

[Classico]

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No I did not change to radial tires. Before I had the standard 3.50H19 in front installed and 4.50H17A from Metzler in the back, but those are nomore maufactured here.

Now I havediagonal tires from Bridgestone, a 100/90-19 57V BT 45Fand in the back 130/90-17 68V BT 45R. That were the only approved tires on the market here in Germany when I bought it. Unfortunatly we are not allowed to alter any tire specs. We have to pass an official inspection every 2nd year. If I alter them, the officials will take the license plate. For that inspection I did have to have an writtenstatement for those tires from Bridgestone and/or Honda to ensure the combination of the tires is safe for the GL1000.

For sure I will take the wheel off and take to the tireshop to check eveything like HARRISTOY recommended.

 

[Classico]

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Hello Wingers,

thanks foryour help on my wobble problem. This just to let you know, I am back on the road. I removed the front wheel to have it checked by the dealer. I was very surprised when I found 2 nutson one axle holder which were notproperly tightened.That apparentlywas enough to generate that wobble. According to the dealer the wheel was checked OK although the tire was moved on the rim and ballanced again.Everything else like the forkand its oil level was OK. So, I do have to assume that the nuts caused the problem. This time I installed the wheel myself and used new lock nuts.At least the wobble is gone.

Thanks again.

:clapper:

 

[wingdawg101]

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That's good to know incase it happens to us, thanks!

Glad you are rolling again!:clapper: