Terrible front end shimmy …….

[bmwlarry]

My 2011 RT has developed a terrible front end shimmy from 41 mph thru 49 mph.

What could be causing it?

Laser alignment done
all front end suspension components tight and good
tires have ride-on sealant/balancer installed (two years ago - does it go bad)
BajaRon sway bar
Shock relocators
Tires correct air pressure (18)
Tire wear even

[Bob Denman]

Could a separated belt make it shimmy like that? :dontknow:
Can you jack up the front end of the bike, and spin the tires? Check to make sure that they are still actually round...

Good Luck! :thumbup:

[kyspyder]

What brand of tires are on the front end?
If they are the stock tires I would recommend starting there.
I had exact same condition, as have many others, and new tires fixed the problem.

kyspyder

[joebryanjr]

I have heard that Ride On tends to settle when the bike sits for a while and takes a while to get redistributed when you start riding again. It is worse when the weathers is still cool.

[SPYD3R]

DID YOU THROW A BALANCE WEIGHT OR TWO OFF THOSE WHEELS....????
just say'n...
Dan P
SPYD3R F3-S

[garb55]

I have heard that Ride On tends to settle when the bike sits for a while and takes a while to get redistributed when you start riding again. It is worse when the weathers is still cool.

:agree: I have Ride On in my tires and they take about a mile to settle down if its been sitting for awhile
When it is really cold it takes a lot longer
But I have found the solution to the problem
Don't let it sit :yes::roflblack:

[BajaRon]

As mentioned. If the Spyder has been sitting for an extended period you may need to ride a few miles at 30/40 mph to get the Ride-On to distribute. But it should happen fairly quickly.

Are you sure your A-Arm bushings are good? If they are worn they can give you this effect.

Separated tire belt would definitely give you this problem.

Bad tie rod ends (there are 4 of them) will do this.

Loose lug nuts?

Let us know what you find.

[Grandpot]

Take a look at this thread, it may help. http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?76628-Tire-Balancing&p=925227#post925227

[Deke]

My 2012 RT would get a crazy shimmy as you describe at the same speed. It wasn't all the time, but when it happened it was crazy scary.

I took it to Spyderfest last year, and it turned out it was worn out A-Arm bushings. Len's team replaced the bushings and I never had the problem again.

Deke

[bmwlarry]

I will have the A Arm bushings checked!

Ride on is not the problem. I went on a 250+ mile ride yesterday and it happened all day.

It has stock tires on it. I will check tomorrow and see if on is out of round.

The tires have rideon in them and yes, on has a lot of weight on it. It however, has always rode smooth with the weights. How could that change?

Tie rod ends are tight.

Lug nuts are tight.

[bmwlarry]

My 2012 RT would get a crazy shimmy as you describe at the same speed. It wasn't all the time, but when it happened it was crazy scary.

I took it to Spyderfest last year, and it turned out it was worn out A-Arm bushings. Len's team replaced the bushings and I never had the problem again.

Deke

How do you test the A Arms?

[Bob Denman]

If you leave the parking brake off, and just grab a tire...

Try to roll the bike back and forth by rolling the tire fore and aft...

If there's any movement in the system; you'll se it! :shocked:

[warp10]

I had the same problem on a 2012. I had the dealership swap out the tire and rims with another bike, no shimmy. So I replaced the both front tires, problem gone. I think a belt shifted in one of the tires.

[Orange Spyder Man]

my guess its the OEM tires... they are junk...

osm

[BajaRon]

If you leave the parking brake off, and just grab a tire...

Try to roll the bike back and forth by rolling the tire fore and aft...

If there's any movement in the system; you'll se it! :shocked:

And you can feel it also.

[Highwayman2013]

Had my original front tires start the 45 mph shake at 14,000 miles. New General Altimax
front tires fixed mine.

[MikeinGA]

DID YOU THROW A BALANCE WEIGHT OR TWO OFF THOSE WHEELS....????
just say'n...
Dan P
SPYD3R F3-S

OR all the wheel weights have fallen off, I know how that feels.


Mike

[Lew L]

My 2014 RT-S was delivered to me and it also had a "shimmy" at about 50 mph. With less than 80 miles on the brand new vehical I returned to the stealership and they replaced both the tries and rims. They said the "tires were not round" The shimmy was gone but the handeling seemed "sloppy":hun: i checked the air pressure only to fine 12 PSI in the front tires:banghead:. Check the air pressure no matter what ( in fact I'm going out to the garage {no --- I don't keep the :spyder2:in the living room} and check the pressure right now).

Kaos

[bmwlarry]

so I have checked everything. the tires are out of round upo to 3 mm in one and 2 mm on the other..

What next

[NorCalBud]

This "Shimmy" has just started to occur on my 12 RTL in the past few weeks. We just turned 12k miles on the original Kenda tires, but put on over 1000 in the last month. It only happens around 43mph and the front end begins to wobble side to side very quickly. It goes away if I speed up or slow down. I'm not feeling/seeing any bushing effects and don't have anything in the tires. I do have 17 weights on the right wheel and only 6 on the left. None seem to have been thrown.
I've got to get my 12k maintenance so I'll have the dealer check it out.... Just strange (and good)that I find this thread right after it started...
I'll let you know what is found.

[OJ UK]

This "Shimmy" has just started to occur on my 12 RTL in the past few weeks. We just turned 12k miles on the original Kenda tires, but put on over 1000 in the last month. It only happens around 43mph and the front end begins to wobble side to side very quickly. It goes away if I speed up or slow down. I'm not feeling/seeing any bushing effects and don't have anything in the tires. I do have 17 weights on the right wheel and only 6 on the left. None seem to have been thrown.
I've got to get my 12k maintenance so I'll have the dealer check it out.... Just strange (and good)that I find this thread right after it started...
I'll let you know what is found.


Good grief!! :yikes: 17 weights on one wheel!!! What was the guy who balanced the wheels thinking??!!
The least I would expect is him to do is to remove the tire and check it for centricity and try another tire.

[BajaRon]

This "Shimmy" has just started to occur on my 12 RTL in the past few weeks. We just turned 12k miles on the original Kenda tires, but put on over 1000 in the last month. It only happens around 43mph and the front end begins to wobble side to side very quickly. It goes away if I speed up or slow down. I'm not feeling/seeing any bushing effects and don't have anything in the tires. I do have 17 weights on the right wheel and only 6 on the left. None seem to have been thrown.
I've got to get my 12k maintenance so I'll have the dealer check it out.... Just strange (and good)that I find this thread right after it started...
I'll let you know what is found.

6 weights are at the upper end of what I would consider 'Reasonable' or maybe more like tolerable. 17 is in the insane range. Something is very wrong for a wheel to need that much weight.

[bmwlarry]

Well, I fixed it!! I bought a 2015 RT LTD!. Really, I did, but it turned out to be the top shock bolt was loose!

[NorCalBud]

6 weights are at the upper end of what I would consider 'Reasonable' or maybe more like tolerable. 17 is in the insane range. Something is very wrong for a wheel to need that much weight.

While I don't disagree with you one bit, that does seem crazy, I don't really think that is the direct problem. I've been using these tires like that for 2 years and only started feeling the "shimmy" for a few weeks. Unfortunately I never even noticed the amount of weights until just now.
I also had the DPS/Limp Mode alert this past weekend while on a ryde. I've never had any alarm before. I pulled over and shut the tryke down. I pulled out the manual and checked what the alarm was about, I started it up and it was gone. I checked for active fault codes, but that was blank. I rode several hundred miles this weekend without that occurring again. Perhaps I was riding the break, but I'm usually pretty careful about that. But I can't say for sure.
Coincidence...I hope so!

[elkk]

I just went through this with a friends 2008 RS and found the front drive sprocket was loose causing front-end shimmy between 20 and 30 mph. The whole bike shook at certain speeds. Hopefully not your problem but certainly worth checking to be sure it is tight. Just Saying....

[jerpinoy]

That was an expensive fix for shimmy a 2015 RT?:roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

[BajaRon]

Well, I fixed it!! I bought a 2015 RT LTD!. Really, I did, but it turned out to be the top shock bolt was loose!

Wow! That simple! Well, just goes to show that checking the simple stuff first is usually the best way to at least eliminate a simple fix.

[BajaRon]

While I don't disagree with you one bit, that does seem crazy, I don't really think that is the direct problem. I've been using these tires like that for 2 years and only started feeling the "shimmy" for a few weeks. Unfortunately I never even noticed the amount of weights until just now.
I also had the DPS/Limp Mode alert this past weekend while on a ryde. I've never had any alarm before. I pulled over and shut the tryke down. I pulled out the manual and checked what the alarm was about, I started it up and it was gone. I checked for active fault codes, but that was blank. I rode several hundred miles this weekend without that occurring again. Perhaps I was riding the break, but I'm usually pretty careful about that. But I can't say for sure.
Coincidence...I hope so!

Agreed. If 17 weights worked at one point something had to change for that wheel to be a problem. Still, they should never pass a Spyder through assembly with a wheel that needed that much weight to make it right. My only point was that if the wheel/tire combination was that far out. Normal wear might create a serious imbalance which might not occur on a wheel/tire assembly that was more harmonious to begin with.

In other words. If the tire were the culprit, that could mean a big chunk of weight in the tread (wear) area of the tire. The further out from center the imbalance is, the greater the weight needed to balance it. As that weighted area wears, the potential for a great deal of imbalance would occur.

Let us know what the actual problem is when you find it.

[NorCalBud]

The further out from center the imbalance is, the greater the weight needed to balance it. As that weighted area wears, the potential for a great deal of imbalance would occur.

Fantastic explanation BajaRon. That makes perfect sense and I fully agree with you. I'm gunna hopefully get her in for the 12k this week and get the tires checked as well.
I'll post an update when there is one....

[900Dave]

Well, I fixed it!! I bought a 2015 RT LTD!. Really, I did, but it turned out to be the top shock bolt was loose!

Is that all it takes?? I hope i get a shimmy real soon, then I will fix it the same way you did.:thumbup: Enjoy your new ride.:2thumbs:

[Bob Ledford]

[QUOTE=bmwlarry;961062]My 2011 RT has developed a terrible front end shimmy from 41 mph thru 49 mph.

What could be causing it? You left out one important chunk of information. What is the miles on the tires.

like Bob D suggested a belt layer in a tire can cause you all kinds of grief in that speed range

My RTL dOes it tween 41/43@ 40 deg F and since it only happens then I don't worry about it. T

Laser alignment done
all front end suspension components tight and {\QUOTE]