Front Wheel Shimmy

[scubadown]

I have a 2013 ST-L. It has about 10,000 miles on it and the original Kenda front tires. It has a shimmy which seems to be getting worse. Above 40 mph, after gong over a small bump in the road the front wheels shimmy or vibrate, even making the handlebars shake. After awhile it seems to settle down, back to normal. As I mentioned, this seems to be getting worst over time.

Today I jacked it up and everything seems tight. The tires are not at the wear bars. Any suggestions? New front tires maybe?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I have a 2013 ST-L. It has about 10,000 miles on it and the original Kenda front tires. It has a shimmy which seems to be getting worse. Above 40 mph, after gong over a small bump in the road the front wheels shimmy or vibrate, even making the handlebars shake. After awhile it seems to settle down, back to normal. As I mentioned, this seems to be getting worst over time.

Today I jacked it up and everything seems tight. The tires are not at the wear bars. Any suggestions? New front tires maybe?

IF - IF you had no shimmy , vibes etc. until recently .... I suspect a belt in the tire is the issue ..... Kenda's have the WORST defect record of any tire I know of .....this is not an un-common occurrence with Kenda tires ...... good luck .... Mike

[Lew L]

.

Mike is right about the Crapenda tires. Also check the tie rod ends and other suspension components ( off the ground ) for any looseness.

Good luck with this. My came brand new with defective tires that had to be replaced ( on the dealers dime ) with in 2 days of receiving my /

Lew L

[2dogs]

All the above is true. Frontend shimmy at 10K miles is less likely a mechanical issue as it is more likely tire related problem. Alignment and well balanced quality tires should solve your problems. If a tire, quality or not, starts becoming out of round it will only get worse with time. It will never get better.

[scubadown]

Thanks. Where can I find a set of 165/55R15? I've tried looking around on the internet and they seem all sold out. Heck I would setting for a new set of Kendas!

Actually I did find a pair of Vee Rubber VTR-350 Arachnid Tires but I have never heard of them.

[bigbadbrucie]

Actually I did find a pair of Vee Rubber VTR-350 Arachnid Tires but I have never heard of them.

Ignore them...i had them and they’re no better than the Kenda’s. Any car tire is better! just my 2 cents worth.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Thanks. Where can I find a set of 165/55R15? I've tried looking around on the internet and they seem all sold out. Heck I would setting for a new set of Kendas!
Actually I did find a pair of Vee Rubber VTR-350 Arachnid but I have never heard of them.

I just checked TIRERACK and they are shipping Vredestein " Quatrac " 165/60-15 ( almost everyone here is using this size ) they have SIX ..... it's one of if not the BEST Spyder tire ..... good luck .... Mike .... PS, the Vee rubber tire is no better than the Kenda's

[pidjones]

It is amazing how nice a set of ROUND tires feel.

[Flamewinger]

Could be lost weights. I have over 45K miles on Kendas and no problems. After 5k miles I replace the weights with Dana Beads. Could also be loose lug nuts. Just don't blame the tire as there are other reasons that cause a problems. I wouldn't touch a cheap car tire.

[PMK]

Not sure where in Florida you live. FWIW, many here have run with great results, Federal Formoza for front tires.

Not expensive, great grip, balance easy and ride well on Florida roads.

[scubadown]

I just checked TIRERACK and they are shipping Vredestein " Quatrac " 165/60-15 ( almost everyone here is using this size ) they have SIX ..... it's one of if not the BEST Spyder tire ..... good luck .... Mike .... PS, the Vee rubber tire is no better than the Kenda's

Thanks. No problem with 165/55 versus 165/55? Wheel fender is pretty tight.

[Peter Aawen]

Thanks. No problem with 165/55 versus 165/55? Wheel fender is pretty tight.

165/60's shouldn't be any issues. I'm running 175/60R16's and there are others out there running 185/55's!

[scubadown]

I ordered a pair Vredestein " Quatrac " 165/60-15 from TIRERACK. Thanks everyone.

[cptjam]

No problem. If you have another Spyder around, try trading tires and go for a ride. We have a spare set and have done that many times. While the OEM are off, I’ll throw them on the balancer. Sometimes, it’s a weight missing, a broken belt, a bent rim. The funniest one was missing 2 lug nuts!!! Client claimed that the lugs were torqued down and everything! Sometimes, we miss the obvious. Has it been aligned? Are the front tire pressures within 1/2 pound of each other? Do you have lots of stuff in one saddlebag? Have you checked the rear shock? Just running down the checklist! Scuba, there are so many Spyderfolks in FL. Reach out! Joe

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Could be lost weights. I have over 45K miles on Kendas and no problems. After 5k miles I replace the weights with Dana Beads. Could also be loose lug nuts. Just don't blame the tire as there are other reasons that cause a problems. I wouldn't touch a cheap car tire.

.... I guess you missed the OP saying " He raised the front end and CHECKED everything and it seemed TIGHT " ..... and IMHO the only way the front would " Shimmy " would be if the tire had 10 + weights ( not un-common on a Kenda tire ) they ALL fell off. ..... Mike

[Flamewinger]

.... I guess you missed the OP saying " He raised the front end and CHECKED everything and it seemed TIGHT " ..... and IMHO the only way the front would " Shimmy " would be if the tire had 10 + weights ( not un-common on a Kenda tire ) they ALL fell off. ..... Mike

I guess Joe from Squared Away didn't as well.

[2dogs]

"Not expensive, great grip, balance easy and ride well on Florida roads." Ride well in mexifornia also.

[PMK]

"Not expensive, great grip, balance easy and ride well on Florida roads." Ride well in mexifornia also.

Take it you run Federal Formoza front tires also?

[2dogs]

Take it you run Federal Formoza front tires also?

Yes sir, I sure do.

[scubadown]

So I got the new Vredestein " Quatrac "s 165/60-15 mounted. What is the recommended front tire pressure? 15 PSIG?

[Baron14y]

Finally got to take the Spyder out, the "feels like" finally went below 100. Hadn't checked the tire pressures in a while. Normally kept 18 F and 20 R on auto tires. Everybody saying 16 & 18 are great. When I checked the pressures on the TPMS, they were about 15.8 F and 17.5 R. Close enough. Found out it had a shimmy up to about 45 - 50. As the tires heated up, shimmy eased up. Going to go back to 18 & 20.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

So I got the new Vredestein " Quatrac "s 165/60-15 mounted. What is the recommended front tire pressure? 15 PSIG?

Peter ( Aawen ) and I like 15-17 psi front and 18-19 rear .... Mike

[scubadown]

Think I am going to love the Vredestein Quatrac's, they are really smooth. I should have done this years ago! Thanks for the suggestions.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Finally got to take the Spyder out, the "feels like" finally went below 100. Hadn't checked the tire pressures in a while. Normally kept 18 F and 20 R on auto tires. Everybody saying 16 & 18 are great. When I checked the pressures on the TPMS, they were about 15.8 F and 17.5 R. Close enough. Found out it had a shimmy up to about 45 - 50. As the tires heated up, shimmy eased up. Going to go back to 18 & 20.

Air pressure ( psi ) can't balance an un-balanced tire ..... Nor can it un-balance a balanced tire. .... And Air pressure doesn't cause or fix, " shimmy ". I have successfully Drag Raced my Spyders at 12 psi REAR with 45 psi FRONT, these amounts are way more disparate than yours. And I had no issues with Shimmy. ..... Mike

[Peter Aawen]

Finally got to take the Spyder out, the "feels like" finally went below 100. Hadn't checked the tire pressures in a while. Normally kept 18 F and 20 R on auto tires. Everybody saying 16 & 18 are great. When I checked the pressures on the TPMS, they were about 15.8 F and 17.5 R. Close enough. Found out it had a shimmy up to about 45 - 50. As the tires heated up, shimmy eased up. Going to go back to 18 & 20.

Air pressure ( psi ) can't balance an un-balanced tire .....Nor can it un-balance a balanced tire. ....Air pressure doesn't cause or fix, " shimmy ". I have successfully Drag Raced my Spyders at 12 psi REAR with 45 psi FRONT, these amounts are way more disparate than yours. And I had no issues with Shimmy. ..... Mike

. As most here would expect, I gotta agree with Mike on this Baron, your tire's air pressure isn't likely to be the 'cause' of any shimmy you're experiencing at either pressure!

But without seeing/feeling them & maybe doing a few other checks on them, I'd guess that by earlier running your front car tires at 18 psi, ie. a pressure that's most likely too high for the (light) load your Spyder places on them, your tire's contact patch was concentrated in the middle 2 inches of the tread except when cornering fairly hard, so you've probably at least started an adverse sawtooth wear pattern on one or both of the outside edges of each of those front tire's treads.... . Then when you ran these tires with dodgy wear patterns at a lower pressure (marginally under the suggested 'good for most' 16 psi up front) for the first time the whole of the tread face contact patch was actually touching the road surface for most of the time (as it should ) and that 'shimmy' you felt was feedback from the sawtooth wear on the outside edges of your tires created by the dodgy wear due to the previous over-inflation! . And then as the tire heated up after ryding on it for some time (as it should and needs to do to some degree) the tire carcass expanded (probably heating up a little more than strictly ideal.... cos it's pressure started out a bit lower than ideal ) and you were once again left running on a narrow strip of tread down the middle of the tire, leaving the sawtooth wear on the edges barely in contact with the road surface and reducing the 'shimmy' feel again!!

Now that you've started that adverse wear pattern on your tires, you'll never really be able to change it much (at least not without some extensive running at dangerously low pressures; or by getting the tire tread shaved down so that it's all even & your tire's & their treads are properly shaped again - loosing a bunch of tread depth & therefore tire life in the process! ) so that even if you do continue running a more appropriate 16psi from here on in, you'll still probably hafta put up with that shimmy until the tire warms up each time you ryde, maybe for the first 10-15 mins or so of each ride... but at least you'll be getting the most life out of whatever tread you've got left on those tires and you'll be running on a much safer to ryde on width of contact patch that's close to as wide as the tread face! So I reckon that's what I'd be doing - running the 16 psi up front & putting up with the 'shimmy' for the first bit of 'warm up the tire's' ryding to minimise the tread wear & let your tires work as best they can for your ryding safety!

However, if you choose to go back to running that too high 18 psi up front, not only will you likely be running mainly on an unsafely narrow strip of tread down the middle of your tires, you'll also be accelerating the dodgy tread wear down the edges of your tires as well as increasing the wear rate on the middle strip of tread that's the only bit of tread face touching the road surface for most of the time! All up, you'll likely get less shimmy, but it'll be at the cost of not so safe ryding and an accelerated tread wear rate on your front tires!!

Just Sayin' . From what you've told us, that'd be my guess about what's happening & my musings on how to get the best from whatever tread you've got left. But it is your ryde & they are your tires....