Could different tires have eliminated the headshake?

[MZ5]

This may not be in quite the right sub-forum. Sorry if it's not; move it as appropriate.

At least some of us have some headshake on our NCXs. On mine, it's always manifested during deceleration, starting as I coasted down through the 40 - 35 mph area. Generally it subsided by the time I got below 30-ish mph. It was never severe; more a curiosity and occasionally a mild annoyance.

Recently, I replaced the factory Metzelers with Continentals (the ContiMotions which there was a nice thread about last fall-ish), and the headshake is now gone. Is this reasonable? It's interesting to me, to say the least. Has anyone else experienced either the disappearance OR appearance of headshake when changing tires?

Curious, and just thought I'd share.

 

[Old Can Ride]

This may not be in quite the right sub-forum. Sorry if it's not; move it as appropriate.

At least some of us have some headshake on our NCXs. On mine, it's always manifested during deceleration, starting as I coasted down through the 40 - 35 mph area. Generally it subsided by the time I got below 30-ish mph. It was never severe; more a curiosity and occasionally a mild annoyance.

Recently, I replaced the factory Metzelers with Continentals (the ContiMotions which there was a nice thread about last fall-ish), and the headshake is now gone. Is this reasonable? It's interesting to me, to say the least. Has anyone else experienced either the disappearance OR appearance of headshake when changing tires?

Curious, and just thought I'd share.

Tires not being in balance can cause all sorts of vibrations. Over time rubber wears off the tires and they are no longer in balance. What has worked for me is to put Ride On in the tires. Ride On being a liquid seeks its own balance and level, thus keeping your tires in perfect balance. Make sure to throw the weights on the rims away when using Ride On. Before I retired as a Honda Dealer the Ride On product worked many times for both my self and many of my customers. Another benefit of Ride On is that it cuts down on having flats.

[video=youtube;Qi7VLRqX-Sk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi7VLRqX-Sk[/video]

[video=youtube;4tQ6hFqifE8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tQ6hFqifE8[/video]

[video=youtube;YqkBfEHYzxw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqkBfEHYzxw[/video]

 

[dduelin]

Head shake is not unusual with many bikes that have some miles on the tires. A new tire may fix or reduce the shake but it will be back under the right (or wrong) conditions. Some tires are worse than others and if the bike is popular the worse tire may get a reputation for it.

 

[Old Can Ride]

Head shake is not unusual with many bikes that have some miles on the tires. A new tire may fix or reduce the shake but it will be back under the right (or wrong) conditions. Some tires are worse than others and if the bike is popular the worse tire may get a reputation for it.

I have owned this 1978 Honda Goldwing sense she was new. And like dduelin says there were some tires that no one in their right mind would have put on this bike.



At about the Ton (100 miles per hour) the vibrations were unreal. No tires, no balancing machine, and no amount of balancing could solve this problem. The real reason being the Notorious Infamous Honda Comstock rims.

Then one day, without me knowing what they were doing, one of the techs in my shop and the Tucker Rocky Rep (Danny) put some Ride On in my Goldwing tires. Even with the Comstock rims the Ride On product balanced the impossible. Over 100 mph the bike was so smooth. Sold me, the guy who said it would not ever work.

 

[Big Thump]

Nice machine OCR! I have come so close to buying a GL1000 over the years. Still plenty of them on the road.

 

[dduelin]

I think what the OP was asking about is head shake under deceleration which is usually related to tire wear or less likely loose steering head bearings. Ride On and riding at 100 mph is unrelated.

 

[draco_1967]

I have head shake in the same speed range as the OP. It's the Metzlers wearing. If you look closely, you will probably see the tread near the center of the tire is no longer a rounded profile (the edges of the tread "stick out" a bit). Rebalancing might fix it. It doesn't bother me (yet). I have enough RideOn to put in, but I just haven't yet...

Sent from a Speak & Spell wired to a record player, a saw blade, a fork, and an umbrella.

 

[Brillot2000]

View attachment 14470

I have owned this 1978 Honda Goldwing sense she was new. And like dduelin says there were some tires that no one in their right mind would have put on this bike.

View attachment 14473

I also owned a 78' GL1000, I loved that bike. I got it you roll over 100,000 mile while I owned it too. It was used when I got it, maybe about 40,000 miles or so. I got rid of it to get a 82' GL1100A "Aspencade", which was "Fully Loaded". All this before I was 23 years old. I got my first GoldWing that the age of 18, which was a 75' GL1000. I used to run Continental ContiTours on those 2 bikes.

 

[Garnet]

I agree with checking your steering head bearings. In my limited experience, head shake is caused in equal frequency by tires and steering bearings, usually in combination with each other. Our bikes have cheapo ball bearings which are very fussy to adjust. Tapered roller bearings are the way to go as will they last longer and are much easier to set up.

 

[HONDABIKEPRO]

I have had many Gl1000, two with super chargers, and one i turbo charged, with cafe fairings and 400f handlebars, and water injection, running 15 psi boost. But i did brake four transmissions drag racing them. Dale

 

[Old Can Ride]

I agree with checking your steering head bearings. In my limited experience, head shake is caused in equal frequency by tires and steering bearings, usually in combination with each other. Our bikes have cheapo ball bearings which are very fussy to adjust. Tapered roller bearings are the way to go as will they last longer and are much easier to set up.

You are correct about the tapered bearing. I have used the Big Ball tapered bearing and solved a lot of front end problems on a lot of Hondas.

 

[Old Can Ride]

I have had many Gl1000, two with super chargers, and one i turbo charged, with cafe fairings and 400f handlebars, and water injection, running 15 psi boost. But i did brake four transmissions drag racing them. Dale

When first watching the movie "The World's Fastest Indian" I had this crazy idea of taking a GL1000 to the Bonneville Salt Flats. My wife some how knew what I was thinking about, as she turned in the theatre, and looked at me at the same time screaming "No Way".

Being I soon will be older than my hero, Burt Munro, the time is approaching. What I know about blowers and compressor pumps you could put in a thimble. At Bonneville I would need but a one gear transmission.

What kind of top speed were you getting at the drag strip with the GL1000? I have to become a member of the Bonneville 200 MPH Club and really want to do it on a GL1000. Time waits for no man, so I have to do it soon. Any ideas on the GL1000 would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

When first watching the movie "The World's Fastest Indian" I had this crazy idea of taking a GL1000 to the Bonneville Salt Flats. My wife some how knew what I was thinking about, as she turned in the theatre, and looked at me at the same time screaming "No Way".

Being I soon will be older than my hero, Burt Munro, the time is approaching. What I know about blowers and compressor pumps you could put in a thimble. At Bonneville I would need but a one gear transmission.

What kind of top speed were you getting at the drag strip with the GL1000? I have to become a member of the Bonneville 200 MPH Club and really want to do it on a GL1000. Time waits for no man, so I have to do it soon. Any ideas on the GL1000 would be greatly appreciated.

Hmmmm 200mph on an elderly Wing ridden by an elderly person.

I cannot for the life of me, see why your Wife is complaining. Here she has an ideal opportunity to dispose of you permanently without any blame attaching to her, and she is saying "No Way " ?? Thinking on it a little more though, the insurance companies might say "No Way" also when it comes to paying out on the life policies........perhaps she has a point. Please post on here when you are about to attempt this, and we can look out for GL1000 spares on ebay "slightly scuffed". However if you try it and succeed I cant wait to see the related giant smily.

Just wondering if you have started urinating on citrus plants yet ? Best of luck with this dream and hopefully it becomes a reality

 

[dduelin]

I agree with checking your steering head bearings. In my limited experience, head shake is caused in equal frequency by tires and steering bearings, usually in combination with each other. Our bikes have cheapo ball bearings which are very fussy to adjust. Tapered roller bearings are the way to go as will they last longer and are much easier to set up.

If you price them them from Honda or aftermarket you should find that caged ball bearings are far from cheapo. Tapered roller bearings are cheaper. The ball bearings are fussy to set up but Honda uses them because they last a long time. DIY and ham handed mechanics can get the pre load OK on a tapered bearing almost without trying but probably won't get a ball bearing set up right.

Loose bearings could be part of the OPs head shake but every new bike I've owned that exhibited decel head shake did it with the OEM tire and low miles. With a low mileage Honda on OEM bearings my money is on the tire causing it.

 

[L.B.S.]

This may not be in quite the right sub-forum. Sorry if it's not; move it as appropriate.

At least some of us have some headshake on our NCXs. On mine, it's always manifested during deceleration, starting as I coasted down through the 40 - 35 mph area. Generally it subsided by the time I got below 30-ish mph. It was never severe; more a curiosity and occasionally a mild annoyance.

Recently, I replaced the factory Metzelers with Continentals (the ContiMotions which there was a nice thread about last fall-ish), and the headshake is now gone. Is this reasonable? It's interesting to me, to say the least. Has anyone else experienced either the disappearance OR appearance of headshake when changing tires?

Curious, and just thought I'd share.

For the record, I didn't experience the amount necessary to term it "shake", mine was more of a gentle "weave" as far as oscillations and the front wheel go, with the OEM Metzelers on my bike.

After adding the hand protectors, I found it a bit more pronounced and seemingly wind affected when at highway speed.

This went completely away when I swapped to my TKC80 knobby tires.

 

[MZ5]

Thanks for all the responses, everyone! I've been doing my valve adjustment, oil change, coolant change, and spark plug check on the NCX today, and an oil sample on the pickup, and my son had a scout merit badge round-up today, too.

I have RideOn in the tires, and I had it in the front on the Metzeler, too. It shook anyway.

I have head shake in the same speed range as the OP. It's the Metzlers wearing. If you look closely, you will probably see the tread near the center of the tire is no longer a rounded profile (the edges of the tread "stick out" a bit). Rebalancing might fix it. It doesn't bother me (yet). I have enough RideOn to put in, but I just haven't yet...

I think you're right, draco. The section profile on that front Metzeler was certainly not round any more, even by the time I had just, oh, say a thousand miles on Wiley. Given that, plus the fact that the RideOn did not eliminate the shake, makes me think it was just that tire.

I'm glad I'm not completely insane (or at least no one can prove it by this thread!).

 

[showkey]

Loose bearings could be part of the OPs head shake but every new bike I've owned that exhibited decel head shake did it with the OEM tire and low miles. With a low mileage Honda on OEM bearings my money is on the tire causing it.

Agree.............decel head shake especially hand off the bars can be induced in just about any every motorcycle ever made. Inducing just take decel, hand off the bars and bump or knock on the bar end. Many decel shakes have a specific speed range where it might occur just has several posting mention. Tires and tire wear are a component in this phenomenon.

Decel head shake especially hand off the bars is totally different animal from things like speed wobbles, weaves high or low speed or other instability problems that can occur at speed. Tires and tire wear are also component in these phenomenon as well as steering bearing, swing arm bearing, wheel true and wheel bearing, suspension setup etc etc etc

All these instability issue can also be related to loading of the bike.........weight on the rear rack or in the rear boxes have a huge effect.

 

[GT928]

I also reported the decel head shake some time ago. Around 45-35 mph. I had the same thing on one of my Moto Guzzi's but much worse. A new tire solved it. I am hoping a new tire will do the same here. It's getting about time. Interesting about the Ride-On.