Couple of other things to check is the steering head,are the bearingsgreased? and is the tension correct?
Also are you holding the handlebars too tight? Try relaxing your grip when it starts to wobble, if there is nothing wrong with the bike it should straighten itself out. What's your previous riding experiance? Off road bikes have a steeper rake and less trail than road bikes and threfore are more sensitive to rider input esp at high speed. If your used to road bikes it's easy to overdo steering inputs.
The following is a very simple explanation of rake and trail, if you know this stuff just ignore it.
Rake is the angle of the fork away from vertical toward the rider. Trail is the distance on the ground between a vertical line dropped straight down from the center of the wheel and a projection of the fork extended until it touches the ground. As the rake increases, the trail increases. The more rake, the more stable the handling

Cheers

 

Good post, Garry. This relationship might seem obvious to a veteran, but it's easy to forget that there's a whole new crop of riders coming along who, like us, weren't born with this information.

Thanks,
Bill Dragoo
Norman, Oklahoma

 

I have little experience in off-riding a motorcycle. This is my first timeriding and first motorcycle.

Another thing I did was bleed the air in the fork tubes to atmospheric pressure.

Can anyone point or provide a pic of the steering head, and what should be the torque spec of the bolt?

College for the this week and next week is going to murder for me. But I will try to get some time and try again to see the problem is fixed or if the road was the cause.

 

Mine will wobble at times, but it is neversteady state and always short lived. What seems to trigger it is traversing form one side of the lane to the other when there are prominent ruts in the asphalt created by heavier vehicles. I don't know if it's the action of going across the ruts or the fact the it takes more than the usual force to terminate the turn. It seems like I remember getting the bike to do the same thing by doing a quick, forceful righty/lefty at about 60MPH. Kind of an oscillation that dies away when you remove any pressure from the bars.

Yours sounds more constant and seems to predictably rear it's headabove a certain speed. Thefirst thing I wouldhavecheck was to see if thewheel was true, but yousaid that checks good. Next would haveto be balance. Ireally doubt the problem is coming from anything beingloose, butI guess that's worth a try for that sake of elimination. In the end, you may be able to reduce the duration, but I think there will always be situations on the pavement where you will get that wobble. I have considered a damper and may eventually get one someday.

 

I'll try to scan that section of the service manual for you tonight unless someone else can do it quicker. If I had to guess I'd say your more than likey holding on too tight, the best thing you could do is take a motorcycle riding course. I've been riding these types of bikes for 35 years and I never notice a wobble with the KLXbut maybe it does and I just don't notice it.
Good luck

 

Out of curiosity I decided to see how quickly I could weave the bike one day.......whipped it right and left real quick and then the handlebars went nuts, a quick sharp side to side, maybe 4 oscillations at most but scared the crap outta me at 60mph. I've had a constant weave at 30mph and under, but that went away when I put the tires up to 19 psi from 12 psi. If you are grabbing the bars very tightly, the wind hitting your shoulders will transmit through your arms and make the steering wiggle.

 

Oh man!!!! More math? [8D]

 

Josh, I hesitate to suggest this, but I'm wondering if what you describe isn't a normal characteristic of the KLX. My bike does have some inherant instability at certain speeds and road conditions...wind and the like. It isn't bad at all, but it's there. Low tires, big knobbies, loose steering head bearings, crosswinds (especially if they're gusty), and grooves in the road, will all cause the steering to hunt a bit. Although I've noticed it, I don't worry about it since it has always been easily controllable. Is there another KLX nearby that you can test ride to see if it's the same as yours? That might save you a lot of R&D. Also, an aftermarket steering damper should help. Several bikes have them stock and they can be retrofitted to the KLX as well. I think Bill Blue has one on his KLX.

Bill Dragoo
Norman, Oklahoma

 

Holding the handle bars too tightly could have very well been my problem. Or the tire needs to be balanced. I most likely won't get a chance to drive again until after May 27 hopefully by the 29. But an oscillation sounds more of the correct way to describe the problem.

I mainly bought the KLX for to use as a communtier and a trail bike. I love how it handles at lower speeds (below 50mph), little effort, takes off quick, easy to handle and maintain.

I'll most likely need moreriding timein order to sort the problem any further than I have done now.

 

You'll get there. It won't hurt a thing to have the balance checked, just to eliminate that as a problem. Have them check the steering head bearings for proper feel too, while you're there. Meanwhile, it does help to relax as much as you can. If you're cranking hard on the bars to turn or holding them vicelike to go straight, you're probably working too hard. You should almost be able to "think" the bike into a turn by tilting your hips and applying a little pressure on the pegs, while countersteering with the inside bar..."push right to turn right," and all that. These bikes handle as sweet as a dual sport bike gets.

Bill Dragoo
Norman, Oklahoma