Front End Wobble

OK,IF your tires are not cupped,front or back, and If you have a VERY bad wobble when on decel or your bike seems to follow the grooves where it wasnt before, read Freebirds write up on "Tightening the Steering Head" in the 2nd Gen read only maintenance area. Mine had started wobbling so bad on decel I had to really have a grip on the handlebars. I thought it was my Avons wearing out,(13,000 miles on them still very good tread on it) But after feeling tires for cupping or unusual wear I figured OK,tighten the steering head. IT WORKS! No more wobble at ANY speed or on Decel. I have ridden alot of Ventures and quite a few has this wobble but it is a simple fix and the write up is dead on. I have included the link for our New Members that may not have figured out how to Navigate the forums yet.( I know I still have trouble but I am NOT Computer literate!) Here is the link. Tom http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=511

Tom, I have tightened mine 4 times since new. I have been infirmed on this site that it is a bit rare to have to do that...but it cures the wobble every time. I suspect, as do others in here, that Yamaha did not assemble mine properly. Been about 15,00 since I last tightened, so maybe it it finally seated properly.

Yep it does work..If you take it to a Yamaha dealer they always tell me "Its the tires" They always say the steering head is adjusted properly..Go figure! Tom

Tom, I have tightened mine 4 times since new. I have been infirmed on this site that it is a bit rare to have to do that...but it cures the wobble every time. I suspect, as do others in here, that Yamaha did not assemble mine properly. Been about 15,00 since I last tightened, so maybe it it finally seated properly.

I have tightened mine 3 times since I got it and have put 45,000 on the bike. I did it 2 times on my other RSV with 37,000 miles. It seems that it is needed about every 15,000 miles or so. So it might be rare for those who don't lay down those kind of miles.

I've mentioned this before but will do so again. If all you are doing is tightening them, then you are making a mistake. Tightening is OK for a temporary fix but to do it right, you need to drop the front end and repack the bearings. Yamaha is about as stingy on the grease with the head bearings as the are on the rear splines/pins. They do not come with adequate grease. If you are having to tighten them that often, then you are wearing the bearings out and may well need replaced by now. You drop the front about 4 or 5 inches to remove and repack the top bearing. The bottom one will drop down far enough that you can pack it in place without completely removing the front forks.

They need to be repacked properly. Not that difficult to do but a time consuming job. I've done it a couple of times and it's probably a 6 hour or so job. Much easier on the first gen Venture. When I do it, I remove the rubber washer when re-assembling it. All that washer does is allows you to line up the locking tabs on the top nut. I reassemble without it and get them to line up by very lightly sanding the top nut until the slots line up for the locking tab.

I've mentioned this before but will do so again. If all you are doing is tightening them, then you are making a mistake. Tightening is OK for a temporary fix but to do it right, you need to drop the front end and repack the bearings. Yamaha is about as stingy on the grease with the head bearings as the are on the rear splines/pins. They do not come with adequate grease. If you are having to tighten them that often, then you are wearing the bearings out and may well need replaced by now. You drop the front about 4 or 5 inches to remove and repack the top bearing. The bottom one will drop down far enough that you can pack it in place without completely removing the front forks.

 

They need to be repacked properly. Not that difficult to do but a time consuming job. I've done it a couple of times and it's probably a 6 hour or so job. Much easier on the first gen Venture. When I do it, I remove the rubber washer when re-assembling it. All that washer does is allows you to line up the locking tabs on the top nut. I reassemble without it and get them to line up by very lightly sanding the top nut until the slots line up for the locking tab.

Ive tightened mine this one time,so Question,Is there a write up about this,maybe with pictures on how to?? I definitely will do this but need a little info? Do you have to take inner fairing off?

I just had mine done. Front end wobble. at low speed ( Hands off Bars ) But the steeing head got to be ( Torque ) not just tighten. Had a 16,000 check up/. New Tires Avons T- Bill $ 750.00 About 5 hrs labor

There is no write up at this time. I hope to get around to doing mine in the next few weeks and if I do, I'll take pictures this time. You do have to unbolt the inner fairing from the bike. I just unbolted mine and hung it with a rope from the ceiling leaving all the wiring and etc. connected.

There is no write up at this time. I hope to get around to doing mine in the next few weeks and if I do, I'll take pictures this time. You do have to unbolt the inner fairing from the bike. I just unbolted mine and hung it with a rope from the ceiling leaving all the wiring and etc. connected.

Looking forward to the article. I plan on replacing my front bearings and maybe races this winter. I originally did the shortcut method back in 2004 and it worked fine. I just did it again this past summer and it seemed to have pulled the fairing mounting points and driving light bracket slightly off center. Right now the bike feels a little wobbly. Not a speed wobble, just a bit "loose" if you know what I mean. Swingarm has already been repacked. At 56k I might also just go ahead and replace the wheel bearings too.

I have an '07 with a little over 1K miles. At what mileage should I expect to have a loose steering head? Is this pretty common to the 2nd gens?

I dont know if it is common but you WILL know when it starts..If you are slowing down and as I sometimes do,(I use turn signals and Hand signals,)As you are decellerating and if you let loose slightly on the handlebar it will start wobbling a little,then as a few more miles add up it will do as mine,have a pretty violent wobble. I tightened mine and it worked but on Freebirds advise I will pull it apart and repack it...I may have to go visit V7Goose and bring BBQ and Beer..(Hint Hint)

I have 60,000 on my 05 and only had to tighten the steering head once when it was new. If you are having to do it over and over again, either the bearing are shot as Freebird suggests, or the lock nut is not set correctly. That is the big problem with doing the quick cheat method - you don't reset the lock nut, you just force both of them to move together. If it is not tight enough it will not hold the adjusting nut in the correct position. Correct adjustment of both the adjusting nut and lock nut are critical for bearings in this type of service.

Goose

I have 60,000 on my 05 and only had to tighten the steering head once when it was new. ...

Sorry Goose, but i beg to differ. The Bearings should be cleaned and repacked in a regular Matter. Every 20 000 mls seem not wrong for me.