New front tire head shake

[Floowid]

I got the Michelin on today and almost cried tears of joy when I ran it up to 50 and let it decelerate down to 35 and it was smooth as butter the whole way. Then I got brave and ran it up to 70 and giggled the whole time as it rolled smooth down the road.

It was a bad tire. No amount of fiddling or futzing was going to fix it. You can say all it needed was to be pulled off the rim and rebalanced, but I've been through this once before with a Vulcan 800 and two shops re balanced that tire before I gave up and got a new new tire.

I'm not saying all Shinkos are bad. Your mileage may vary. But this is the last Shinko I buy.

 

[CamaroEric]

I got the Michelin on today and almost cried tears of joy when I ran it up to 50 and let it decelerate down to 35 and it was smooth as butter the whole way. Then I got brave and ran it up to 70 and giggled the whole time as it rolled smooth down the road.

That's good news. I'll have to try another brand with the NC next time. I've used a bunch of Shinkos (even 009's) and so far all of the rest have been good but this is the only Raven I've put on the front of the NC.

 

[mzflorida]

I got the Michelin on today and almost cried tears of joy when I ran it up to 50 and let it decelerate down to 35 and it was smooth as butter the whole way. Then I got brave and ran it up to 70 and giggled the whole time as it rolled smooth down the road.

It was a bad tire. No amount of fiddling or futzing was going to fix it. You can say all it needed was to be pulled off the rim and rebalanced, but I've been through this once before with a Vulcan 800 and two shops re balanced that tire before I gave up and got a new new tire.

I'm not saying all Shinkos are bad. Your mileage may vary. But this is the last Shinko I buy.

I have a question. Can the head shake caused by a bad tire cause collateral damage?

 

[CamaroEric]

I have a question. Can the head shake caused by a bad tire cause collateral damage?

On a bike level, I doubt much if any other than wearing out steering head bearings a little faster. On a large level, you could wreck just from the shake or a bad tire could catastrophically fail and you would definitely wreck. I remember 705's were failing all over on the ADV forums maybe 10 years ago.

I also think that a major contributing factor is bearing adjustment and/or wear. A truly bad tire on its own? Definitely possible. A good Raven with poorly adjusted bearings? Definitely possible, but maybe the center groove does add a multiplier.

 

[yojimg]

Not sure whether this is helpful to the OP, but I'll add it anyways... The stock front tire on my 2018 had worn into a "scalloped" pattern, and -- unsurprisingly -- the bike had a low-speed head shake when riding no-handed. After I replaced the tire, this issue disappeared.

-Jim G

 

[mzflorida]

On a bike level, I doubt much if any other than wearing out steering head bearings a little faster. On a large level, you could wreck just from the shake or a bad tire could catastrophically fail and you would definitely wreck. I remember 705's were failing all over on the ADV forums maybe 10 years ago.

I also think that a major contributing factor is bearing adjustment and/or wear. A truly bad tire on its own? Definitely possible. A good Raven with poorly adjusted bearings? Definitely possible, but maybe the center groove does add a multiplier.

Thank you very much. The wreck part was clear. The bearing part was kind of what I was thinking but really did not know. Thank you very much!

 

[INTHEWIND]

Sometimes a bad rear tire will give you a head shake too.

 

[DCM]

Not sure whether this is helpful to the OP, but I'll add it anyways... The stock front tire on my 2018 had worn into a "scalloped" pattern, and -- unsurprisingly -- the bike had a low-speed head shake when riding no-handed. After I replaced the tire, this issue disappeared.

-Jim G

Maybe a newb question, but what causes a scalloped tire? I had this happen one time on front tire. Off balance?

 

[670cc]

Maybe a newb question, but what causes a scalloped tire? I had this happen one time on front tire. Off balance?

Out of balance could be one thing, but frequently using the front brake hard could do it. The tire shape deforms when you are braking hard, so the braking wear that is happening in that altered shape looks weird when the tire is normal shape. Some tires are poorly built, with their cords and belts out of whack, and that can also cause odd wear patterns.

 

[GLC]

I recently replaced both tires. I'm at around 6000 miles on the original tires and I replaced both front and back. I got Shinko 009 Ravens front and back and had them mounted and balanced by Cycle Gear. Now when I move through 35 to 45 mph the front end shakes side to side. It can be pretty slight, but if I remove my hands it is very obvious and probably pretty dangerous. I notice there is a lot of weight, more than I would think is usual, and it is opposite the valve stem. I've tried various pressures from 32 to 40 pounds and it seems to make no difference. The first time I called Cycle Gear they told me to give it a couple weeks to "break in." I did that but if anything it seems worse. It is just bad enough that I don't feel completely comfortable riding and its not fun. I called them again and I think they are trying to brush me off. I don't want this to be a Cycle Gear bash, I'm more wondering if anyone else has had this problem, if there is something else I should check, any suggestions?

For what it is worth I also have a new set of Shinko 009 Ravens, which I got a couple of months ago and now have about 1000 miles on them. I never had any issue at all and am very happy with them, much better than the OED tires which only lasted me 4200 miles front and rear! I suspect the balancing must be off to get such a wobble. I'd take it back and have them check it again, or go to another dealer and have them check it and if they find it off, have them document it and present same to Cycle Gear.

 

[bikemiser]

I have had many bikes with many brand tires. Some shake from new and some don't. I just put Shinko Ravens on my NC with no head shake. I will enjoy the ride while it lasts.
Thanks, Jim

 

[the Ferret]

My Shinko Ravens never had a head shake. The rear just didn't last long enough. I do believe the front would have lasted through 2 rears, but I change tires in pairs and now I'm on Pirelli Angel GT's.

 

[MZ5]

...frequently using the front brake hard could do it. The tire shape deforms when you are braking hard, so the braking wear that is happening in that altered shape looks weird when the tire is normal shape. Some tires are poorly built, with their cords and belts out of whack, and that can also cause odd wear patterns.

I think there could be something to this hypothesis, particularly (or at least) if one brakes hard while leaned over. I do not know that this is the case, but I do wonder about it.

 

[trjerm]

My Pirelli Diablo Rosso 3 just started a slight headshake today with about 800 fun miles on them , I'll check runout and steering head tomorrow . Hoping I get more than 1200 miles out of this front

 

[7ncx]

Glad this thread came up about the Shinko Ravens as was considering these for my next set of tires. I am aware of the the center groove in the front tire causing problems on some road surfaces. I remember years ago there was some problems with Shinko tires when they were first introduced in the USA anyway. Sounds like you tried most everything, all good advice before changing to the Michelins. The only other thing I would have suggested is to check the bead is seated especially the front tire. I have had some difficulty getting it seated, even though the tire holds air fine.
Thanks for posting so others are aware, like me of potential problems and cost. Currently on my fifth set of Metzlers of various "Roadtec" designations, no problems with any of them. When I first bought my 700X had some severe head shake problems due to excessive excessive fork dive under hard braking if hit an irregularity in the road. Changing the fork oil corrected it from whatever Honda used from the factory. Currently changed suspension to YSS fork kit and rear shock.

 

[Floowid]

I didn't pull the tire and rebalance it. Maybe could have, should have. I mentioned I went through this years before with a Pirelli tire on a Vulcan 800. It was the custom and had a 21 inch laced spoke front wheel, which can be its own kind of pain. In this case it wasn't a cheap tire but the newest "hotness" for cruiser bikes at the time. I bought it from my local shop and took my bike to them to have them do the whole deal. That tire had the same head shake through almost the same mph. I took it back to the shop and had them remount and balance. No difference. I took the tire off myself and gave it a go (I was younger then and had the time and patience for such efforts). Same. I took it into another shop in Salt Lake City that specializes in just motorcycle stuff (Wright's if anyone is familiar). I had their expert guy mount and balance it. By now I was way over $250 into this tire. I finally took the whole bike back to the first shop and had them replace the tire. I had to assertively encourage the shop manager to take my bike for a spin. He was being dismissive and a little insulting about the whole thing until he got back from the ride, took off his helmet and all he said to me was, "I'll get you a new tire." We put a cheap Bridgestone on and never had another problem.

I'm older, I like to think wiser, a little grumpier, and just didn't want to fuss with it this time. I just decided to skip to the next new tire and soak up the cost of the bad Shinko and the original mount and balance. I'm ok with that. I'm happy my bike is riding smooth and safe through all speed ranges. Maybe it was some single little thing - maybe one of the things that have been mentioned here. I tried all the things I have the energy or ability or desire to try, and know when to call it quits.

I still have a Shinko Raven 009 on the rear. It is working great. I'm ok with the mismatch. I've never understood the need to match the front and rear. Maybe for true performance riders it matters. For commuters and weekend farting around it doesn't make a bit of difference as far as I'm concerned. So I'm not trying to hate on Shinko or necessarily promote any one brand above another, just sharing my experience. I once had a bad Pirelli that I paid top dollar for, and now I've seen the same thing from an inexpensive Shinko. I still have a 50% vested interest in Shiko, hoping that rear tire provides a long and performant lifetime of good rides.

 

[670cc]

There is certainly reason to suspect your front Raven had a manufacturing defect that caused the head shake. I ran a front Raven for 15,000 very happy miles. I have another new front Raven sitting in the basement waiting for my Pirelli MT60 to wear out. Who knows how they'll work? You win some, you lose some.

 

[Floowid]

You win some, you lose some.

Ain't that the truth!

 

[7ncx]

Yeah, I'm older and grumpier too, don't care to be doing the same thing multiple times and gave up arguing, not worth the (my) time and effort, sometimes just get a bad tire. Tires are wear items anyway however, you expect a new tire to at least not create more problems. Not to go off on a tangent but my previous BMW R100GS Airhead which has a front 21" spoked tubless wheels, I once put a Metzler ME88 on the front and immediately had violent head shake only at a certain speed. Ditched that tire as never found out the problem and never used one of those again. Over the course of 30+ years and over 90,000 miles with numerous tire changes never had a problem with any of the Pirelli Scorpions tires I used on that bike. I have been using whatever Metzlers are available on the NC, think I am on my third or forth set with no problems but others on this forum have had problems with Metzlers. I usually go with what's available, and not particularly attached to any one tire brand. Still on the fence with the Shinko Ravins but would like to try Dunlop Mutants instead depending on my budget at the time. Thanks