The dreaded cruiser wobble....

[dasinc]

I have it

I've been riding since I was 6 years old. On every bike up to my current, I've been able to pretty much ride at 0.1km/h and have no wobble... zzr6, zx9, zx10 all fine. Currently I have a cruiser and I wobble around and low speed, even trailing the back brake. What causes this?

I feel so inept

[potato]

my guess,not that im a mechanic, is loose or worn steering head bearing or incorrect tyre pressure.

[Mo-Fo]

I think it's because of where the handlebars are situated on a cruiser, high up and further (wider) apart. This makes it harder to keep the front wheel straight at low speeds.

I used to wobble on mine going < 5kmh but I'm much more steady on the sports with the handlbars nice and low. Plus sitting up on a cruiser gives you a higher centre of gravity, that doesn't help either.

[Murley]

Probably more to do with the trail of the front forks.

[Todd B. Rexington]

Possibly the long trail making small adjustments into fairly large ones, compared to previous bikes.

[Murley]

/me high fives Cam

[MADOGA]

what sort of cruiser?

front wheel size, rake n trail may cause it

cant say ive noticed any wobble on the 3 ive had, maybe im just used to it.

[Todd B. Rexington]

/me high fives Cam

[dasinc]

Just a yammy 950. So annoying to wobble around like I have nfi what I am doing. I guess it is rake, trail and riding position that all make the difference. Thought I would have gotten used to it, but nope...wobble, wobble, wobble. Sometimes better than others but always there.

Rode an xvs1100 the other day, didn't have much of a problem on that, but it has less rake and a more upright riding position.

[Tevilspek]

2 beers too many..?




Nah.. I got nuthin...

[JimmyR]

Varies from bike to bike. My old Kawasaki Meantstreak was a pig at low speed. Roundabouts were really hard to negotiate. Then I got a Fatboy and it's a piece of cake. Really good at low speeds. Maybe it has less rake?

Now I'm doing up an old Suzuki GS1100G and it is soooo easy to ride. Not exactly nimble but feels like a 250 after the Harley. And when I test rode a Triumph Bonneville I went around one roundabout about 5 times - just because it was so easy. :-)

[thedoctor]

I haven't been any having any issues with the wobble on my yammie 950 seems to be fine for me !

[Scrap]

I have it

I've been riding since I was 6 years old. On every bike up to my current, I've been able to pretty much ride at 0.1km/h and have no wobble... zzr6, zx9, zx10 all fine. Currently I have a cruiser and I wobble around and low speed, even trailing the back brake. What causes this?

I feel so inept

Check your tyres and your tyre pressures. ie - how old are they?

[duc13]

As others have said the first couple of things (easiest) that should be checked are tyre pressures then steering head bearings , check there is no play in the steering head.

Make sure when you check for play that you get the front end off the ground to check for too and fro play.

[Jezzabelle]

I get it riding my Kwakka VN 800 & so did the previous owner! Tyre pressure's are OK & all other bits mechanically OK too, so I just put it down to being a 'cruiser quirk'

[Desmo]

One of the joys of riding one of these wonderful machines.
As stated by others, it's the slightly less than ideal geometry.

[51 New West]

Run your eye, and a spanner, over the back end. Look for a loose or worn shock, misaligned rear axle, worn swingarm bushes, etc. If the tyre is brand new then look at that. I've had the wobbles twice; both times after getting new tyres. First time was me not lining up the rear wheel properly when I re-fitted it. The second time was a faulty Dunlop tyre (never again). I've ridden other bikes that had rear end issues that translated to front end symptoms

[dasinc]

I've always had it with this bike.....bike is 1.5y old and I've had it since new...Only done about 20,000k. Just had a major service and new year tyre...just thought I'd mention it now

[Retro]

Got a rack on the back? I had a GS500 that rode straight and true; threw a gear rack and sack on the back and when I tightened it up it must have thrown the geometry off as I struggled at low speed to keep it straight.

[51 New West]

Oh, well, in that case go to a dealer and test ride a new machine. If it also wobbles then it's a design flaw with that model. Anything else is a manufacturers issue, dump it back to them.