[Jan Jensen]

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Hello All !
When I activate my front brake lever and try to move the bike first ahead and the reverse I can feel some small shaking from the front of the bike. May be that’s the reason why I can feel some wobbling when passing in longitudinal direction the white lines on the road. Could anybody tell me what is wrong and how do I solve it ! My bike is a GL1500 SE model 95. Actually I have never had the same feeling on my GL1200 Asp. Until now I have had that opinion that the reason could be the difference between the sizes of the front wheel tire for the two bikes ! But I,m not so sure now !
PS. The bike has run 44.000 kms

Appreciate all answers !

Jan Jensen
Denmark

 

[Jason]

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Did you check the fork oil first? Low fork oil can cause wobbling and heavy steering. Also check the condition of the tyre carefully. Any imperfections in the tyre will cause wobbles as well.

 

[Jan Jensen]

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Jason it feels/sounds like a mechanical thing ! I can feel and hear it when sitting on the bike (not riding the bike,- stand on its wheel and I'm sitting on the seat) activating theclever for the front brakesthe while moving the bike ahead and reverse.

Jan

 

[wingdawg101]

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He's right first check the fork oil!

Then check the rim and tire!

I use to put a ruler or a straight edge of metal and put it in a vice grip on an angle and lay the vice grip on the floor 6 inches or so from the wheel and adjust the ruler so it's 1/4 inch from the rim and spin the rim and watch the gap between the ruler and the rim , then do the same with the tire because sometimes they get a very slight bulge or they become slightly out of round! You can't notice it with the eye but when you spin it next to a fixed edge it shows up ! This eliminates the forks, wheel and tire for starters!

 

[edzinohio]

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steering head bearing is also a possibility

 

[wexy]

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Sounds like the steering head bearing needs to be tightened,,they need to be done after the first 10,000 miles and periodiocally after that ,,,I think you will need a torque spanner to do this ...Ciaran ...

 

[FitzAl]

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Jan, if you want to test the steering for play in the bearings, just sit astride the bike (off the stand) and grab the front brake. Then rock the bike back & forth and you should feel a clunk if there is wear. Also just roll the bike forward slowly and grab the front brake and you should feel a clunk if there is play.

 

[dhaggard]

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What you're feeling when pushing forward and back with the front brake held may be nothing more than the anti-dive valves in the forks. If you look at the brake calipers, there are two mounting bolts. The larger one holds to the fork. The smaller one connects to the anti-dive valve. When you put on the brakes, the calipers push these valves in. These stiffen the shock action to reduce front-end dive. It's possible they may be worn or the mounting bolts on the calipers are loose.

But it's more likely that this is their nature on your machine and there's nothing wrong. You might just need to change the fork oil.

Take off the rotor covers and have somebody else duplicate the action while you watch the brakes and forks up close and personal. You may be able to see the "small shaking" that you talk about.

As for wobble when crossing the white lines on the road, nowadays lines on the road are not paint anymore. They're plastic that is sprayed on. And they are slippery. I'd say this is what you feel when crossing them. This is especially true if you run "high-mileage" compoundedtires (like Dunlop Elite II) rather than "performance" tires (like Bridgestone Exedraor Avon Venom). High-mileage compounded tires have harder rubber that can't grip the road as well as performance tires. Your "wobble" is probably slight side-slip that you feel as your cross the plastic lines.

 

[BenMC]

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That is interesting from DHaggard. I would have expected the white lines to be made of some sort of rubber, but plastic! Shouldn't be allowed at all.

 

[Jan Jensen]

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Dhaggard !
Thanks for the wise words ! Actually the Honda dealer in Hjørring main town of the Northern Part of Denmark said the same when I visit him with the bike. I will try to tjeck out some of theshrewd points you mentioned !

I have been on this Webpage only for a short time but I become more and more impressed of all of you out there knowledge about the Goldwings ! It seams that simpleand complex questions always will be answered with good advises from someone !
I really enjoy to get my3 times a day "Goldwing Injection" !

Best regards
Jan Jensen
Denmark

 

[Guest]

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Jan Jensen wrote:


I have been on this Webpage only for a short time but I become more and more impressed of all of you out there knowledge about the Goldwings ! It seams that simpleand complex questions always will be answered with good advises from someone !
I really enjoy to get my3 times a day "Goldwing Injection" !

Best regards
Jan Jensen
Denmark


Yes Jan I must agree with your comments, these guys could build a goldwing from the ground up, especially our "guru" Jason.Dont be afraid to throw plenty of questions to these guys no matter how silly they may sound, they will answer them.

 

[Guest]

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dhaggard wrote:

What you're feeling when pushing forward and back with the front brake held may be nothing more than the anti-dive valves in the forks. If you look at the brake calipers, there are two mounting bolts. The larger one holds to the fork. The smaller one connects to the anti-dive valve. When you put on the brakes, the calipers push these valves in. These stiffen the shock action to reduce front-end dive. It's possible they may be worn or the mounting bolts on the calipers are loose.

But it's more likely that this is their nature on your machine and there's nothing wrong. You might just need to change the fork oil.

Take off the rotor covers and have somebody else duplicate the action while you watch the brakes and forks up close and personal. You may be able to see the "small shaking" that you talk about.

As for wobble when crossing the white lines on the road, nowadays lines on the road are not paint anymore. They're plastic that is sprayed on. And they are slippery. I'd say this is what you feel when crossing them. This is especially true if you run "high-mileage" compoundedtires (like Dunlop Elite II) rather than "performance" tires (like Bridgestone Exedraor Avon Venom). High-mileage compounded tires have harder rubber that can't grip the road as well as performance tires. Your "wobble" is probably slight side-slip that you feel as your cross the plastic lines.

Welcome to the board dhaggard . It looks like we have another "Guru" in our midst. Make sure and visit the board often.

 

[BJR]

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This sounds pretty like what I am experiencingwith my '95 withabout the same mileage- 30,000.

Sometimes when I apply the front brake at slower speeds it almost feels like a small shudder with a sound that is almost like plastic scraping on something. Supposedly, my wing has linked brakes which may have something to do with why I don't notice the symptoms when using the foot pedal. Using the foot pedal is probably keeping enough weight off of the front wheel so that the problem doesn't exhibit itself.

Haven't had the time to explore but am guessing that it will turn out to be either loose steering head bearings or bad wheel bearings.

 

[BRowan]

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If you are getting scraping sounds when applying the front brake only then your brake pads may be worn down on the unlinked caliper (left I think) or dirt is trapped there.