My Bandit wobbles. Should I be toodling down the road and happen to take my hands off the bars and sit upright, she begins to shake her head. Not tank-slapper bad but bad enough that I don't want to do it. Easy solution then you say ... "Don't do it". Fair enough but there are some occasions when you do need to take both hands off. I do intend to see what I can do to fix this but my first questions is ... "Is it just my Bandit that does this or is it a design feature in the model?" There's no feel of any wobble at all when hands are on the handlebars, tyres are in good nick and the bike does not seem to have been dropped which makes me think it's just something in the geometry of the way the bike is made. So, anyone else out there have a 'Mr Wobbly' between their legs (so to speak).
Tried that with mine,doesn't wobble at all. Could be the steering head bearings are worn...?
Yeah, that's something I hadn't considered. (Hadn't started thinking of things wearng on it as it's only got 16000 odd ks on it.)
You can induce a tendency to wobble with too much rebound damping. What tyres? the Dunlops on 1250's are very stiff,but I haven't heard of any problems with them other than that. Sorry,I saw the low K's and six month ownership and assumed it was a 1250.Damping still applies. If the tension on the steering head bearings is correct,it should take 500 gm force on the end of the bars to cause the steering to move.(wheel in the air) Use a spring balance to measure this. Check wheel alignment withe string.Swing arm graduations can be inaccurate.
I remember reading a review on the Bandit which said rebound damping was too weak and should be upped. Possibly has been upped but overdone. Sounds like I might just refer it to the mechanic next time the bike is in the shop.
Be wary of magazine comments.Journos often don't know their arse from their elbow.
Interesting development. I went out today with Mrs Oakie on the back and wondered what would happen to the wobbles with more weight on the back, assuming it would be worse. So, I took a deep breath and took my hands off the handlebars. It wasn't worse. In fact, it was way better, to the point of being barely noticeable. So more weight on the back = negligeable wobble. Any suggestions as to what that means?
This indicates it is probably a rear suspension set up issue. Play with the damping
Another option is to take Mrs Oakie with your everywhere
I would say check the condition of the front tyre if it has been underinflated at some point the tyre may be worn and scolloped on the edges creating a wobble or poor ballance unless knotchy steering head bearing but i doubt it at that milage
It could also indicate the torque on the triple tree head bolt is not correct. You should be able to find out what it should be and put a torque wrench across it .. too tight is just as much a problem as too loose.
I'll have a nice new front tyre on it in a week or two so I'll see if that makes any difference.
Woohoo! New tyre ... no more wobbles! It was either out of balance or the tyre was damaged and not perfectly round.
Nice what a relief that would have been for you mate
