Front End Wobble or Shimmy

Hi fellas!

Letting ya'll know I got my wobble / shake fixed. I put in the new tapered steering stem bearings. She is like a totally new bike. It doesn't feel the same, even hands on. She is sharp and responsive. Very nice!!

I got the replacement kit at my local Yamaha shop. $40.00 for the replacement kit. They amaze me there. They always have what I need and they never seem to charge me an arm or leg.


Sean

 

really?

In 25 years odd of riding and dozens of sets of tyres I doubt I have balanced more than 2-3 sets of them and haven't ever had a problem

Pretty slack for someone who works in a tyre shop

 

Hey bigfitz52,
wondering how many miles you got on those Dunlop 404's now? I'm due for a new set of tires and I'm really debating. I used the Kenda Sport Challengers and they handle real nice. But we aren't getting good mileage from them.

A friend recommended the Bridgestone BT45s but they don't seem to be available in the XJ sizes. I'm looking for decent performance in the turns and good mileage.

Now that my front end wobble is fixed I can't waite to get on a nice new set of matched tires and see how she goes!!!!!

Sean

 

Unfortunately I can't really say for sure. PO said he put them on "a couple seasons ago" when I got it from him. I suspect he'd put maybe 2K-3K on them; I've put almost 5K on the bike, so a good guess would be around 7K-8K. I would say they're just past half-life; it looks like I'll get about 14K out of the set but that's still a SWAG. I'm impressed by how evenly they're wearing.

 

In the case of MOST manufacturers, there is a definite difference between front and rear tires. SOME manufacturers offer SOME tires that are for front and/or rear use; but you'd have to be sure that's what you're looking at. In most cases, front and rear are different.

 

hey guys, ive been having a bit of wobble as well and since my bike has 44,000 miles i just decided to pick up some new headset and wheel bearings fro chacal. I was thinking about getting in to it this weekend but then i realized i dont have a headset press, something you need for bicycles. Are replacing bearings particularly difficult? does anyone have any pics? and do i need any special tools?
thanks

 

I don't have any pictures. It's not overly difficult and no you shouldn't need a press. It's easier than it looks. It would have been nice to have a C spanner but a hammer and punch worked just as well.

I have the Haynes manual and it gave very vague instructions but I got it done with no problem. Just pay attention to what and how you rip her down. Especially the cable routing.

sea