High speed shakes- HELP!

[Krazykev111]

Im good up to 120 mph, but at my fastest of 155, it was shaking..... This was with orn tire and cupped front tires. (yeah i know crazy, but changed the tires since then)

[Wolfman]

Have only ever had the "shakes" at 220km/h plus...front end gets very light at high speed, if you plan on going that fast on regular occasion, get a steering damper.

[MarinaFazer]

Never had the shakes, but had to have my steering head tightened after 6,300 miles (from 0) No reason really for it, no wheelies or stoppies or such.

I'm ~160-165 and set my preload to 4. It's a lot better...might try 5 soon just for kicks, but would definately hit 6 with a passenger.

[zoomman]

This may sound simple but also check your tire pressure.

[mdr]

Cuba,
Before shop turns you down you might be able to detect a recently lost weight just by looking for an area of the rim that's "too clean" or maybe scratched in a "square" pattern as it flew off. That might give them incentive to help fix it. It's not that hard to do a static balance on the tires yourself, but at those speeds you really need a good dynamic balance done so you probably need the shop to (hopefully) do it right.

There was a previous thread on the "balancing beads" and at the end the person said he wouldn't buy them again. YMMV.

Hotei

PS: I second Wolfman's recommendation on steering damper if this is a regular thing for you. You might be at speed when the next one detaches...

[rvbiker]

Check the rim where the wheel weights go for a dark spot or some indication where a wheel weight was installed. Also raise the front end and spin the wheel, check the tire for out of round, bumps or indication of ply separation.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by bmccrary

The main way to keep it from happening, it just not to go that fast.

I respectfully disagree. My FZ6 has been stable at 130mph even when fully loaded. The problem isn't speed or weight. The bike should not shake, which means that it has a problem.

If you don't go that fast, the problem still exists. It will get worse, and then the bike will shake at 120mph, 100, and eventually it'll shake at 60mph.

The shake could be the only warning sign of a problem that will eventually wreck you. Please don't ignore problems like this.

As others have said, check tire wear, steering bearings, wheel bearings, brake caliper mounting bolts, brake rotor mounting bolts, wheel balance, rear shock, swingarm pivots and fork alignment. The problem's there somewhere and it won't go away on it's own.

Good luck, and let us know what you find!

Fred