What causes a Harley Davidson steering head to wobble?

What causes a Harley Davidson steering head to wobble?

Steering Head Bearings Incorrect neck adjustment will cause wobble, on deceleration or at high speeds. A loose neck is the most common culprit of wobble after tires and wheels. Neck inspection and adjustment is an important service point on a major service that should never be overlooked.

What kind of steering head geometry does a Harley have?

The FL rubber mounted family of Harleys don’t have a “fall away” type of steering head geometry. They have the “self centering” type where you check the amount of “swings” to determine what adjustment you do. Too many swings & you tighten the steering head, too little of swings you loosen up the steering head preload.

What are the common causes of steering problems?

Bottom line is, you need to track down the root cause of the problem before you begin to fix poor steering performance. We’ve covered oversteer and understeer as separate issues, but we’ve included 10 other common steering problems and their likely causes below.

What causes a shimmy in the steering wheel?

Shimmy is basically the wobbling of your front wheel on its steering axis, leading to a distinctive side-to-side shake at the front end of your vehicle. Possible Cause #1: Uneven or low tire pressure. Possible Cause #2: Loose steering gear or linkage. Possible Cause #3: Loose ball joints.

What happens when you take steering lock off Harley Davidson?

Removing the Maxi-fuse prior to lock removal will keep the battery from wearing down while the lock switch is in the accy. position. Also don’t disturb the switch internal alignment while the lock is out and replace the lock exactly as it was removed.

Steering Head Bearings Incorrect neck adjustment will cause wobble, on deceleration or at high speeds. A loose neck is the most common culprit of wobble after tires and wheels. Neck inspection and adjustment is an important service point on a major service that should never be overlooked.

What’s the best way to adjust steering on a Harley Davidson?

For example, Harley-Davidson recommends letting the forks swing from left to right and back again, and counting how many bounces it takes. 2 3⁄4 is about right, for a dresser. Other manufacturers recommend using a sensitive (and expensive) torque wrench to measure the turning effort.

The FL rubber mounted family of Harleys don’t have a “fall away” type of steering head geometry. They have the “self centering” type where you check the amount of “swings” to determine what adjustment you do. Too many swings & you tighten the steering head, too little of swings you loosen up the steering head preload.

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