in san francisco and winds can gust...riding a 2009 kawasaki klx250sf....feels fine cruising 65 mph to 70 mph...speed limit is 65 mph on the freeway (highway)...the flow of traffic in the carpool lane is usually 75 mph to 80 mph...the bike is fine cruising up to these speeds...but, once i creep over 75 mph and start cruising up to 80 mph...the bike starts to wiggle rapidly...i ease off and the wiggle stops...i accelerated gradually back up and happens again...very rapid left to right wiggle..almost like a vibration....any solutions to this problem?....stiffen the suspension?...lower the front a little bit?....any suggestions?

 

All bikes have particular speeds at which head shake will resonate. Bikes which are not meant for high speed, like our KLXs, will be more prone. Steering dampers are typically used to reduce this tendency, although I have not seen one on a KLX myself.

 

I have a stock klx250sf with worn,dry rotted tires, i get NO wiggle at any speed even over bumps at 85ish.

Hold on with your legs and dont move the bars, and see if that helps. Any slight movement in the bars is a rapid jerk on the SF...

Glad to see another one cruising the bay area!


I deffinately think you have an issue with your bike, possibly the tires out of balance? or something of the sort...how much do you weigh?

 

+1

the klx is extremely prone to head shake. especially if your doing 75+ and the road is less than perfect. i personally ride my klx all through the highways here in Los Aneles. i added a 15t up front and jetted the hell out of the top end. added clip on handle bars. when you add the clip ons you will have to drop the bike in order to fit them over the top of the triple tree. Sooo i guess the combo of the clip ons (more stable than high bars) plus the drop up front from the clip ons adds some stability, plus you sit lower so the head wind is also dramatically reduced. there are some stabilizers that are available for the klx but they are very expensive, given that they make a night and day difference. they run for over 400 dollars. i personally am making one custom out of a universal steering damper i got on ebay much more cost effective way to go about it.

good luck with your bike and ride safe.

 

Any road racer will tell you slide forward on the seat to prevent head shake on the straight.
Please try it and let us know.

Mine does it over 80 occasionally. I usually cruise at indicated 65 on my SF.

ANY small input at top speed upsets the bike even shifting.

David

 

Raise the front or lower the rear.

 

My bike used to wiggle (or headshake). Eventually I got tired of it, pulled the steering head apart and replaced the steering head bearings and races with "allballs" bearings. No more wiggles or headshakes at any speed after that.

Sooo, just something to think about if you've never had your steering head apart... Kawasaki is very skimpy on the bearing grease on these bikes. Plus, when you re-assemble the steering, you can set the bearing tension yourself so you know it's perfect.

 

I had steering headshake too some last year, after changing the front tire. After all sort of trials of this and that, what cured it is loosening the triple clamp and retightening after whacking the steering to the stops front and left. It's a technique I saw mentioned in the forum here to get the front inline with the rest of the bike.

I'm not sure if this is your problem, but in my case it definitely was.

 

Check front tire pressure
I sit a little towards the back of the seat and press knees to tank
Be very light on the bars as any hard gripping will make head shake
Worse. Relax and the shaking will go away or at least be reduced

 

Wow, I don't know how you guys do 80, but then again, I'm running the 13-45 gears so 60-65 is about the limit. One of the things that contributes to the shaking is the fender. Its not exactly aerodynamic.