Wondering as in all over the road.

Got my bike finally back together from the Wickenburg DS. Starter rebuild, Pro-Taper bars, new barkbusters, everything seemed good to go.....

The bike is wondering all over the road, I stopped 4 times just to check that the wheels were tight & the rear swingarm wasn't falling off. Notice the bike is leaking oil.... bad, then I started to check if oil was all over the tire. Everything seems fine except it handles terrible....

Try and go straight down the road, starts for the ditch, correcting with the handlebars seems stiff and loose, it usually starts the other direction (to the centerline), then correct (and it over corrects) and it heads back to the ditch. Back and forth.... I was on loose gravel road/trails when I noticed it first and I thought my rear end was just sliding a lot on the chat, but it does the same on pavement.

All the front end triple clamp bolts are tight, although there is a little flex in the front wheel if you hold it in your knees and pull on the bars. Axles seem tight, tires inflated.....

Any suggestions?

I guess they didn't put a new gasket on the left case like I asked them to, so I'll be tearing back into that side case although the starter is working fine now.

 

Steering head bearings?

Tire pressure?

Loosen the triple clamp bolts, knock the front wheel around a little and re-tighten. Loosen the front axle and bounce the forks up & down then re-tighten. (Not sure I have this sequence correct, but I've heard of this jamming up after a crash.)

 

Go back and give us a quick review of what has been done to the bike since the last time you rode it when it was fine. I've slept since then.

 

^^^
My guess, but they are all good guesses..

*Wandering, You are wondering why it's wandering

Dan

 

Proper Rear Suspension Sag?

 

OK, where to begin...

In my parts of the country we pronouce it w"o"ndering. The "7 Wonders of the world" is pronounced w"u"nder.

******! .... replace the 'k' with a 'd' and pronounce it, so it is not wandering... just another thing wrong with the dictionary... put it on the list.

Whoever developed the dictionary is an idiot, not an engineer! Your not an english major by any chance?

 

Your're...not Your.... ...kidding..kidding...but, hope you can get this problem resolved...i've taken wheels off and on....replaced handlebars and raised and lowered the front...never had the problem you described...are you missing a spacer?..are the wheels aligned when you spin them?...i usually jack up the bike and spin the front and rear wheels to check....

 

Darrel, I know you had that starter gear/bushing issue, but did any other "stuff" occur during all this process that you can share that might have resulted in this vague/loose steering? You know the old adage..."go back to the last things you did on any mechanical issue when a problem arises". If your bike was handling just fine, then a badly noticeable issue presented itself...something happened in between. Just shooting in the dark...sometimes during a spell of inactivity, like when the bike was down for the starter gear/case issue, a tire carcass can deform or actually have the plies "let go". While this is often visible by just a static inspection of the tire while standing still, sometimes it's not evident until under weight and driving load. Just an idea.

That aside, I'd think something occurred to a mechanical issue on the bike during some level of service. On your starter gear/case fix, did you do it or did a shop/someone else do it? Did anyone else have the bike during this period where someone may have ridden it other than you and perhaps did something to the handling?

Edit: Then again...I know you're a BMW owner too, so I know how **** you guys can be. Maybe you're too sensitive?...LOL!...JK.

 

Check your swingarm for play. i had a cb750f that just about killed me like that, swingarm pivot bolt was too loose.
good luck
marc

 

As others have said check the steering head and swing arm pivots for issues. Make sure the tires are in alignment and at proper inflation as a flat will cause you to wonder. Make sure the rear axle is tight.