Help. got a steering wobble on my 800

[Troll]

All balls is a company name...the bearings are tapered roller.

[ChilliDrift]

I may use roller bearings as it seems that there is more surface area, but maybe balls are stronger.. I don't know.. Definately going to tap a greese fitting in the neck...That's a great bit of advice and should last, 32000 miles and no trouble. Kudos.

[ChilliDrift]

Thanks Troll. I had a serious unsteady feeling when i realized what was happening. Im at z25500 mi. Ive heard you talking about it. But my tires are in a need of changing. But thrre is no doubt the bearings are in trbl. TROLL....many thanks.

[Troll]

    I put a set of all balls bearings in, and a grease fitting on the neck. I believe the grease that Kawasaki specifies is too light for the job. I used disc brake wheel bearing grease, packed by hand, and then filled the neck cavity with more grease before I put the bearing seal back on. I've been pumping in grease at 5,000 mile intervals, and have had no problems since I did this...32,000 miles in 3 years.

[ChilliDrift]

I gotta say. I found my neck bearings bad ton. I was in the grass at the hse and turning the
thr bars left and right i found annd felt the grove cut into my neck bearings.  Thanks troll for pointing me inthe right direction. I wll replace this winter. But my?  Is ...is there a better bearing to replace it with. I felt it in the grass turning my bars left and right. It worried me a bit but knowing the mechanics of it. I wiillhe pk for a short time. Thanks guys.....the neck hearings are next in line.

)

[49Reo]

[Sigh...] if only I could do this "driveway" with a snowblower; over 300 yards total, plus a shop and garage access to keep open; a couple of winters ago, I was also plowing out the neighbors driveway for him as he was always working; he decided to pay me back one weekend when I was gone; using his 33"snowblower it took him 6 hours, and he wasn't done. It would be a full time job around here.

Of course, if I used a snow shovel, it wouldn't be hard to start either......

Regards and such,
49Reo

[CDNRatMan]

no such isses with a Toro snowblower.....

[49Reo]

I've been thinking about the solenoid click problem. There are a few things that could cause this, primary among them is a bad ground connection. If the battery is at a nominal voltage of 12.8, which is normal "rest" voltage for a 12V system, the starter relay should be able to send that signal to the starter terminal. If the voltage does not drop when the starter is engaged, then the signal is not getting tot he starter terminal. If the voltage drops and then recovers rapidly, then there is a poor connection either to the starter motor, itself or a bad connection at the battery, either positive or negative terminals...or the one nobody thinks about. In the rear of the engine is a ground cable running to the engine from the frame. This might sound like a silly question, but does the lcd clock rest itself when the clicking happens? Has anybody confirmed the connection from the relay to the starter motor?

Just went through this today: Getting my snowplow running, (yeah, yeah, I know don't talk dirty,) hit the starter, click-click, click.
Removed and cleaned cables and battery terminals, hooked them up,  click-click, click. Ended up cleaning the ground 3 times (and it looked clean each time) finally scraped it until bright metal showed, hooked it up, away it went. I know, not a Drifter, but the mechanics are the same. Point is, it takes NOTHING for corrosion or why to create a poor connection. Good luck with it.

Regards and such,
49Reo

[Troll]

I've been thinking about the solenoid click problem. There are a few things that could cause this, primary among them is a bad ground connection. If the battery is at a nominal voltage of 12.8, which is normal "rest" voltage for a 12V system, the starter relay should be able to send that signal to the starter terminal. If the voltage does not drop when the starter is engaged, then the signal is not getting tot he starter terminal. If the voltage drops and then recovers rapidly, then there is a poor connection either to the starter motor, itself or a bad connection at the battery, either positive or negative terminals...or the one nobody thinks about. In the rear of the engine is a ground cable running to the engine from the frame. This might sound like a silly question, but does the lcd clock rest itself when the clicking happens? Has anybody confirmed the connection from the relay to the starter motor?

[49Reo]

okay, so i think i`ll have a go at the Metz, bearing in mind what ever tyre I put on will last forever anyway.   I only do about 3000 miles a year, cos i live in the miserable UK. we`re not blessed with nice weather like our brethren overseas. Overall the bikes handling is pretty bad, obviously nothing like any road tests i`ve read. It can only get better as the saying goes. When i change them i`ll let y`all know how it went. 49Reo, overall how`s the handling of your bike?

The handling is great. No wobble at any speed. When I bought the bike it had the original tires on it, it handled good; that fall it developed a wobble; as the bike had (by then) around 7000 miles on the original tires which were over 6 years old, I changed to the Metzler WWW's. Haven't looked back since.

Regards and such,
49Reo

[pcarrell]

Also, I have been told that the wobble can be caused by bad or loose steering neck bearings; for now, considering the long term storage, I would be looking at the tires.

I assumed lower mileage with 5 years of storage, but I probably should've asked.

On the clicking, if I didn't know better, I'd say it sounds like a weak battery......maybe a dead cell.

Can you verify the voltage getting to the starter?

[Drift Away]

Thanks, no problem i`ll check out the bearings too.

Heres one you might know about.
I`ve got a friend with a 1500 and when he tries to start it, the solenoid just `clicks` continously.

He put a new solenoid on and it still does it. The battery is fully charged and appears to be holding its charge.

Could it be something with the starter motor??

[Troll]

Just a thought, but raise the front wheel off the ground and slowly turn the bars side to side...if there is ANY notchiness at all, the neck bearings are bad. When I bought my 1500, the P.O. had just put tires on it, trying to correct this same problem. I am running a set of Michelin Commander IIs and after 4,000 miles (since mid August) I'm delighted. MUCH cheaper than the Metzeler I was running, and smoother too...with the promise of 20,000 miles, maybe I won't have to put tires on next year!

[Drift Away]

cheers for that ralph. I think with all the aquired knowledge of every body on this site i`ve come to the conclusion that my tyres must be knackered. Replacements shortly.

I`m glad to hear that at least my bike has the potential to handle well.

[aralph]

I had 2 problems with a front end wobble.
The 1st was caused by a loose headlight bezel. It's held in place by two screws
and a clip, when I would cruise at about 30mph it would start to vibrate and shake the front end
really bad.
The 2nd was what you are describing and as pcarrel suggest, it was the tire even though it still
looked pretty good.

regards aralph

[CDNRatMan]

I have the tires that came with my bike still on, Maxxis Classics white walls also. At low speeds I have never had an issue. I did have a priod of time to get used to the bike, sitting diffrent and feet in a diffrent position then I was used to so it took a few rides to get comfortable with it, but no wobble on any speed. not much help am I.....lol....ok

ok Drift Away you posted the same time I did, I really like the handling of the bike it handles really well, I have let a couple bussies ride it and they all compliment the handling and like it. In slow traffic I have no problems slow riding with my feet on the boards and just leaning and using the handle bars to keep tracking straight and in line....

[Drift Away]

okay, so i think i`ll have a go at the Metz, bearing in mind what ever tyre I put on will last forever anyway.   I only do about 3000 miles a year, cos i live in the miserable UK. we`re not blessed with nice weather like our brethren overseas. Overall the bikes handling is pretty bad, obviously nothing like any road tests i`ve read. It can only get better as the saying goes. When i change them i`ll let y`all know how it went. 49Reo, overall how`s the handling of your bike?

[49Reo]

Metzler 880's are my choice for my Drifter; I also run the wide white-walls, more money but look GREAT on a Drifter. If your bike is in storage for that long, I think I would change them anyway; tires don't necessarily need to show wear to be bad; they can start to separate on the inside, (I have had that on automobile tires, always trying for the last usable mile, but change them sooner on my bikes) all that being said, tire choice can sometimes be dollar-driven; you have to be able to afford them.

Also, I have been told that the wobble can be caused by bad or loose steering neck bearings; for now, considering the long term storage, I would be looking at the tires.

Good luck and let us know what you come up with;

Regards and such,
49Reo

[pcarrell]

Well, most agree that the original Dunlops pretty much stink.

I run WWW tires, so my choices are a bit more limited.  Avon tires are pricey and they wear out a bit sooner because of their soft compound.  On the other side of the fence, they make the road feel like it's made out of gummy bears!  Metzler 880's are real nice.  They last longer then the Avons, yet still have good grip, plus they're pretty easy to find comparatively.  I also ran a set of Continental Milestones (Conti's for short) that had nice grip and lasted FOREVER it seemed.  I got 14,000 miles out of my rear, riding mostly 2up, and I still have the front on (though it's about time to replace it), and it has nearly 22,000 miles on it.  I bought the Conti's because they advertised a harder, thicker sidewall, giving a bit more load capacity, but sacrificing some comfort.  I never got to loading them up, so I don't know about that.  For comfort, I never noticed them being real harsh or anything.  They just last forever!

Personally, I'll probably stick with the Metzler 880's for the near future.  It's a nice combination of sticky and long life.

Now if you want to run blackwalls, you have a lot more choices.  Maybe someone else can tell ya 'bout them better then me.

[Drift Away]

Thanks for that. That kinda backs up what a few people have said. `change the tyres` I think the bike has original rubber on it and could do with replacing, that`ll have to wait till next spring with the price of them. Any idea what the best combi is. i`ve heard so many different opinions ya dont know what way go.

[pcarrell]

Ahhhh!  The Vulcan Shuffle!

It's actually pretty common.  The problem is cupping on the front tire as it wears.  If you listen, when you lean into a turn you'll hear a hum coming from the front.  That's the cupping of the front tire.  Riding straight, seems like 35-45 mph is the worst usually, there is a shimmy in the front.  You can feel it all the way down to parking lot speeds.  If you run your hand over the tire you can feel the raised edges on the tire tread.

Think of it as your bikes way of letting you know you'll need tires before long.  It seems to show up, then, at least on my bike, it really doesn't get much worse.  I just ride it till the tire is needing replacement and the problem magically goes away with the new tire.

Lots of people have tried to solve this basic design issue, with some reporting that DynaBeads help, other suggest fanatical tire pressure maintenance, but I don't know of anyone that's SOLVED it.

[Drift Away]

Hi all,
Since owning my 800, about 9 months now, i`ve noticed a steering `wobble` at low speed, ie slow moving traffic .  its difficult to ride slow behind traffic  through town etc and is very difficult to keep under full control.
To give you a bit of background, the bike was taken out of 5 year storage, tested then put on the road.
The tyre pressures are ok, can`t find any thing obvious wrong and never had a problem with slow speeds on any other bike. Any suggestions?
Has anyone ever fitted a steering damper to a Drifter? Is this how Drifters behave at low speed  or am I  expecting too much?

Any feedback would be much appreciated