Shimmy at about 48 mph up to 56 mph - best guess?

[PMK]

Walked past the bike in the garage a while back and noticed a weight laying on the floor next to the wheel. Just sitting there it fell off. Probably 750 miles on newly installed tires. Back to the shop... When I got my bike back from the shop after a major service, it seems they had sprayed everything with Armor-All. Best guess, they got it on the wheel before they balanced it.

As I mentioned it can happen. Unfortunately for you, it appears the tech doing the balance failed to correctly prep the rim to receive the balance weights, but then again, you rode 750 miles without issue, so my guess would be a cleaner used has the ability to release the weight.

As long as it is good now, right it off as it happens. For this guy, my point of the posts reverts back to a wheel imbalance, regardless of the reason, whether a weight fell off, was bumped off, or he has a huge spike in his tire.

Always check tne easy simple stuff first before expecting a ginormous problem.

 

[Lew L]

.

Has any body checked if the WHEEL was out of round????

 

[Mikey]

:dontknow:

 

[PMK]

.

Has any body checked if the WHEEL was out of round????

As I read the original, kind indicates all was good, suppose he could have hit a curb or bent a wheel on tracks.
I am fortunate, my balancer allows unobstructed witnessing of the wheel, and the wheel/tire for hops, wobbles or even bends, that could set the rotating mass irregular.

 

[shakin_jake]

Can anything can be done about it?

~~~used to read a lot of posts on the ST (Honda ST1100) forum, peeps complaint about this. Almost always tire related

I had a 99’ Honda ST1100. I remember it having a front wheel shimmy as you describe at one time or another. I was 3rd owner. Picked it up w/20 K miles in Y2K. IIRC I sold it in '05 w/99K miles. The more I think about it, a new front tire solved the problem. It was a low speed wobble. Could feel it coming on around 35 MPH & it disappeared before I hit 50 MPH. Tires and bikes, especially fronts do strange things sometimes. Rotsa ruck w/ your situation


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
Even a blind �� finds a nut every once in a while

 

[Baron14y]

Finally got a chance to get a good look at the front tires. Federal Formoza's. As I said, almost new. The thing I noticed was that there were no balance weights on either tire, inside or out nor any indication that there had ever been. Had they shimmied all the time and I never noticed? I am going to bring the Spyder in and have the balance and front bearings checked while the wheel is off.:dontknow:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Finally got a chance to get a good look at the front tires. Federal Formoza's. As I said, almost new. The thing I noticed was that there were no balance weights on either tire, inside or out nor any indication that there had ever been. Had they shimmied all the time and I never noticed? I am going to bring the Spyder in and have the balance and front bearings checked while the wheel is off.:dontknow:

The reality of the latest ( quality ) Auto tires is - they may not have needed balancing. If they were mounted with the valve in the proper place, it's possible they were OK ...... good luck , keep us posted ..... Mike :thumbup:

 

[PMK]

Finally got a chance to get a good look at the front tires. Federal Formoza's. As I said, almost new. The thing I noticed was that there were no balance weights on either tire, inside or out nor any indication that there had ever been. Had they shimmied all the time and I never noticed? I am going to bring the Spyder in and have the balance and front bearings checked while the wheel is off.:dontknow:

Most likely, they balanced them placing weights along the rims centerline. Did you look there for weights also? Then again, maybe no weights were installed as others suggested. FWIW, the Formoza tires on our Spyder did require some weight to balance correctly. I recently installed Formoza tires on my friends 2021 RT. His too required some weights.

The shop will resolve it for you.

 

[shakin_jake]

As for the idea of “throwing” a balance weight, anything is possible. These wheels require stick on weights and if not cleaned correctly may not remain stuck.

~~~One way to keep the stick on wheel weights from flying off- after you clean the surrounding area on the wheel, place a strip of duct tape over these wheel weights- old racer trick!

Note: not all duct tape comes in the prison shade of grey. You can find/buy duct tape in various colors. For instance, when the time comes for Jake to get around to “taping” the existing wheel weights on his dark RTL, Jake will purchase black duct tape to match his black wheels, keeping it stealthy. Others may have better and different ideas


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

~~~One way to keep the stick on wheel weights from flying off- after you clean the surrounding area on the wheel, place a strip of duct tape over these wheel weights- old racer trick!

Note: not all duct tape comes in the prison shade of grey. You can find/buy duct tape in various colors. For instance, when the time comes for Jake to get around to “taping” the existing wheel weights on his dark RTL, Jake will purchase black duct tape to match his black wheels, keeping it stealthy. Others may have better and different ideas


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while

I recommend black " Gorilla " tape ....it's way stickier than normal Duct tape .... and it's black ..... Also clean the area with alcohol before applying ..... good luck .... Mike :thumbup:

 

[2dogs]

In all my hours of riding 2,3 and 4 wheel machines, if anything was out of whack or out of balance it always showed itself first in the handlebars and shortly thereafter in the seat as it gets worse. As mentioned here before, don't ignore the rear wheel being out of balance/out of round.

 

[Baron14y]

Spoke to shop (not dealer). Says out of balance wouldn't cause shimmy, just vibration. Bringing it in next Tues for look see. Hopefully, nothing super serious.:dontknow:

 

[PMK]

Spoke to shop (not dealer). Says out of balance wouldn't cause shimmy, just vibration. Bringing it in next Tues for look see. Hopefully, nothing super serious.:dontknow:

Simply curious, if not a dealer, what kind of shop did you speak with and schedule in?

 

[PMK]

Spoke to shop (not dealer). Says out of balance wouldn't cause shimmy, just vibration. Bringing it in next Tues for look see. Hopefully, nothing super serious.:dontknow:

Merely curious, how did you make out getting the problem resolved?

Regarding another Spyder that had similar issues, that S2S I helped the guy with. He called yesterday. Mentioned he logged 3000 vibration free miles traveling around the Southeast USA. Even with oem Kenda tires, he had no shakes and tested above triple digits too. Spyders can be awesome when right, and a handful when not.

 

[Raven]

Has anyone used " balance beads" on their 3 wheeler.
Have used them in a Buell and Harley XR1200 with no issues.

 

[Baron14y]

Simply curious, if not a dealer, what kind of shop did you speak with and schedule in?

I use a shop that works on all cycles including Spyders. Very good, very knowledgeable. If you can get in and out in 2 weeks, consider it a victory. Hope to bring it in this week. Have been sick for the last week.

 

[PMK]

I use a shop that works on all cycles including Spyders. Very good, very knowledgeable. If you can get in and out in 2 weeks, consider it a victory. Hope to bring it in this week. Have been sick for the last week.

Just curious and hoping you got it sorted out. Feel better and hopefully it is an easy fix for them.

 

[Baron14y]

Just curious and hoping you got it sorted out. Feel better and hopefully it is an easy fix for them.

Finally got it into the shop. It will be a few days (I hope) and we'll find out. Driving there, I accelerated to above 48 mph. Still a little shimmy (in my mind), but not as bad. Maybe its my imagination?:gaah:

 

[PMK]

Finally got it into the shop. It will be a few days (I hope) and we'll find out. Driving there, I accelerated to above 48 mph. Still a little shimmy (in my mind), but not as bad. Maybe its my imagination?:gaah:

Just curious, did your shop determine the cause of your wheel shimmy and get it resolved. Finally cooling off here in Florida, I’m sure you want to be riding.