Death wobble video

[Tourmeister]

I used to have a '79 Honda CB650 (sold it about 10-11 years ago). That bike tended to develop an unnerving front end shimmy about above 65 mph after I took the original Vetter-style fairing off. Who would have thought the weight of a fairing would have made such a negative impact.

It might have been an aerodynamic issue more than a weight issue. For instance, KLR front fenders pre '08 were notorious for flopping about once you started getting up over 65 mph. This could cause the front end to get real wobbly feeling. A common solution was replacing them with KTM fenders that were more rigid.

 

[tshelfer]

That could be. My solution was to sell the Honda - which was a beater I bought just to ease back into riding - and buy my first VStrom. My solution was definitely fun.

 

[JQ1.0]

Experienced what I referred to as a high speed wobble ( video refers to it as a weave ) many years ago on a SP370 at about 90 indicated. It was all I could do to keep it in a single lane. Off the gas it only lasted a few seconds but the memory has lasted a long time. Those of you that know what a SP370 is can estimate how long ago that was when I say the bike was only a couple years old. To the best of my recollection tires stock and in decent shape. High speed on a 370 is code for down hill and tucked with a tail wind.

 

[pdef]

May 2017 I had a tankslapper at around 70-80mph on a Buell Ulysses. I remember trying to throttle out of it. Apparently that was the wrong move. Anyways I went down with broken clavicle, 9 broken, ribs, punctured lung, and a hemothorax. I think the cause was me not having the right amount of oil in the forks when I changed it a few days before. It had been lowered by the previous owner and with the bike already having such a tight rake and short wheelbase it really messed it up with I gassed it to go around a car on the highway. All of my sport bikes in the past had dampers, not this one, unfortunately.