Front Wheel Shimmy

[DavidD]

I know most of us don't ride around without our hands on the handle bars, but on occasion when I am riding with one hand or if I let go of the stearing my front wheel will start to shimmy. Once I grab on it will go away. Has anyone else exeperianced this? Is there something that I sould look into or is this normal?

[GigaWhiskey]

There area man ythings to look into;

Tire pressure,
Tire age,
Tire cupping,
Possibly steering bearings,
other items.

Search the forums and you will find many posts on this subject and some in depth.

What bike do you have?

Other club members will jump in and help as usual.

[DavidD]

I ride a 2002 Midnight Venture with a little over 11000 miles on her.

[GeorgeS]

With bike on Center Stand, sit on bik, weight on back wheel.

Now from center, just start the handlbar, left and right from center position.

The wheel should go to the " stops " with some friction.

If it " Flops " to the Stops, then you need to add little Torque to the Steering Head Nut.

As a rule of thumb, you might have to Tighten the Steering Head Nut about 2 to 5 degrees, of CW rotation.

If you don't understand how this is done, I would call somebody to discuss the proceedure.

My 89 had the same problem, about 5 degrees or CW rotation on the large nut cured the problem.

[DavidD]

So is this something that should be considered routine maint. Even for a bike that only has around 11,000 miles on it?

[Marcarl]

So is this something that should be considered routine maint. Even for a bike that only has around 11,000 miles on it?
Yep, something that needs attention as much as brake pads, smething there doesn't feel right, adjust it fix it, your life depends on it.