[tony308]

The other day I was riding with a freind of mine with a large cruiser, he had taken his hands off of both handle bars and was able to travel a considerable distance in a perfectly straight line.

I wanted to see if the burgman was as stable as his bike, I let go and hovered my hands about an inch over the bars and within 1 or 2 seconds they started to shimmy back and forth.

I dont feel anything when I have both hands or 1 hand on the bars.

Am I comparing apples to oranges or do I have a problem.

Thanks

 

[Jim]

How many miles on the machine?

Check the steering head play sounds loose, mine needed about a 1/4 turn at 3,000miles.
Check the front axle, at 3,000 I found mine loose
Check the front axle pinch bolt, another member found his loose.

After adjusting my front end, it was like a new machine

I recall it was sensitive at high speed, and The ride was also worse than new, increasing the rear shock setting helped.

Ultimately the problem was the loose front end.

 

[Randy]

Have it checked out, there should be no shimmy at speed. I can take my hands off the bar for miles if I want .

 

[abm]

Tire pressure, front axel pinch bolt (easy), front axel (easy), Steering head (pain in the ass). In that order.

 

[Jim]

The tool to adjust the shock (which I never use) works perfect for adjusting the steering head

 

[abm]

The tool to adjust the shock (which I never use) works perfect for adjusting the steering head

You mean:

take off the bar cover, lower dash surround, handlbar clamps, loosen the top big nut, and then use the shoch tool to adjust the head?

Easy.

 

[pauljo]

Many bikes shimmy on deceleration if you take your hands off the bars. If you have a throttle lock that maintains constant speed, they don't do it. Accessories like bigger windscreens, tail trunks, etc, can also affect this. A touring machine or sport touring machine tends to shimmy more than a naked bike if you lift your hands from the bars. And to an extent, you are comparing apples to oranges. A cruiser has a much different steering geometry designed into it than the Burgman does. It is more biased toward tracking straight (and takes more effort to turn). I'm not convinced that you have a problem, but it wouldn't hurt to check tire pressures & other basics.

 

[mactd83]

speaking as an experienced sport bike rider some of them have the same probli can tell you that the shimmy is usually caused by a bad tire either chopped or out of round my suggestion is to replace the tire

 

[Brian]

I agree with Pauljo; if the problem is so minor that you don't notice it when riding with your hands where they should be, but only when off the bars, then I doubt that you have a problem.

Unless you have a throttle lock, as soon as you let go of the grip the bike will start to decelerate and weight will shift to the front tire. Then as the bike wanders slightly off course it will try to straighten itself out (a mark of stability) but -- with such small tires compared to a M/Cs -- will overshoot and have to correct itself the other way, starting an oscillation that will seem like a shimmy.

A true shimmy from a suspension or tire problem would be there even with your hands on the bars.

 

[Jim]

Tony,

Again, mileage on the machine,

I am assuming 2,000 -5,000 miles are on it. Is service and normal maintance being done, including bolt checks. 2,000-3,000 is an important time. Like the 600 mile check up, things can loosen up. If there is more miles on it check your wheel bearings for grease, espically if you do riding in the rain.

Is it worse at high speed ?(usually it is)

Like paul said, I don't think it's a major problem, but I don't recall a steering damper on the Burgman, and if there is none, the steering head is critical.

 

[bwdbrn1]

I had a 1980 Gold Wing that did just what you described. It would shimmy violently on deceleration, and it had a 19" front wheel as I remember, but was a steady as a rock as long as you kept a hand on the handle bar. The problem was not with the bike, the problem was, no hands on the handlebars where they were supposed to be. Many sound suggestions have been made here, check everything out, starting with tire presure, but do so just as a matter of course for preventative maintainance, not bcause you can't travel without your hands on the handlebars.

 

[Randy]

Somewhat conflicting advice being giving here which is good it keeps us all thinking.
I will disagree (most humbly :wink: ) with anyone who says there is no problem, ( I agreed it may will be a small one ).
But no motorcycle or scooter tire shimmies on acceleration, deceleration or constant speed
unless something is out of spec's.
That's just my 21/2 cents worth.

 

[Roger Buente]

Many hi speed sports bikes have steering dampers to prevent wobble or shimmy. Honda has an electronic one on their new sportbike. I had a Ducati 748 with one on it. Some biks will go into a hi speed wobble or shimmy and have nothing wrong with the steering.I had a V-max that on heavy accelleration would go into a scary hi speed wobble. Ther may be nothing wrong but it is best to check all the possibles.

 

[Brian]

Somewhat conflicting advice being giving here which is good it keeps us all thinking....I will disagree (most humbly :wink: ) with anyone who says there is no problem...no motorcycle or scooter tire shimmies on acceleration, deceleration or constant speed unless something is out of spec's....

I would agree if it was shimmying even when his hands were on the handlebars, but it's not.

I don't think it's a true shimmy, but simply drifting or wandering from lack of rider input. All bikes do this, but on a bike with bigger tires it's a slower, less noticable, phenomenon.

The fact that he said it's stable for several seconds after letting go reinforces my belief. That's time for road uneveness, wind, etc. to effect the bike's position/balance.

Yes, do check it out; but I think even a brand new Burgman in perfect condition would exhibit the same "shimmy" at those speeds/conditions.

$0.02

 

[abm]

I noticed my 650 would very very lightly shake its head in a low speed take off. Very subtle and related to tire temp/pressure. At the exact low spec for solo riding - it would ever so slightly wag in your light grip - for about a second of off the line take off. Increasing tire press. cured - not even much, 1 lb.

Now when taking hands off - I noticed a light woble at street speeds - 25-35 mph. Only with hands off - guess what is was??????

Anwer:

Front axel pinch bolt. Which also caused many other more serious problems over bumps and high speed turns and hard braking. It loosens up frequently.

Blue threadlock is no good at high shear torque, and red threadlock is to hard to break. So I carry a good quality ratcheting mini wrench. I can always get a good 0.5-0.25 turn after a ride out.

I think it is one of the most important screws on your machine.

 

[tony308]

Thanks for the sugestions. I'll be going over everything you guys mentioned tomorrow. My 650 has 3000 miles.