Low Speed Wobble, but only when the bike is warm?

[geordie]

Hi All,

Reading through the posts about low speed wobble on here, and I can't seem to find anything that matches my problem.

Firstly, I really can't decipher whether it's front or rear wheel. It seems that at between 20 and 30 miles per hour, the whole bike is trying to weave left and right, in a kind of, constant oscillation.

Secondly, when I start the bike from cold and ride my 30 minute journey to work, it only becomes noticeable about 20-25 minutes into the Journey, which is annoyingly why I didn't pick this up when test riding and buying the bike...

I've checked my tyre pressures are as they should be, the tyres themselves are only a few months old.

Has anyone experienced this kind of wobble?

Cheers Everyone

Joe

Suzuki GSX500E 1998
Suzuki GSX250 ET 1981

[Iarn]

Have you checked the alignment of both the front and rear tires? Might want to make sure they're centered. Eyeball the rear for vertical alignment and if you have a pair of calipers, you can measure the rear tire alignment by measuring from the end of the alignment stud to the top of the nut that adjusts it.

[lucas]

How intense is the wobbling?

Does it happen on other routes as well?  There are some patches of road on my way to school that have grooves that cause my bike to weave slightly.

[geordie]

 Hey again,

Thanks for the replies. Yes the wobbling seems more profound on poor surfaces but definitely occurs on any route.

I have only visually checked wheel alignment, and ive run the rear wheel in first gear and there seems to be no sideways movement, or anything out of the ordinary at all.

I haven't checked the adjuster barrels yet however, I'll do that now.

Is there a way to check front wheel alignment? Chock up the bike and spin it?

[geordie]

Adjustment barrels match, and the adjustment markers on the frame side are also lined up correctly. The wheel looks like it's spinning fine, but the front is rubbing ever so slightly against the disc. I wonder if that could be it.

I'll try and use only rear/engine brakes tomorrow and see if it still happens.

Joe

[geordie]

Oh and in terms of the intensity of the wobbling - not so much.

It's more like a "veering"...hard to explain but it takes about 2 seconds for the bike to veer left then right again. When it's like this I don't feel comfortable taking my hands off the bars, whereas I normally would quite happily.

[fetor56]

The disk slightly rubbing against the caliper pads is normal.
Check both tires are correctly centered on the rims...there is a narrow marker line around the circumference of the tire to show this.

[Iarn]

I'm spit balling here. Are your forks aligned properly in the triple? Are each of your forks the same depth into the triple? Has the motorcycle been in an accident and you weren't informed? Perhaps your frame is damaged?

[lucas]

You may need to replace your wheel bearings and/or the steering stem bearings.  The bearings might be ok while cold so you may need to check them after warning them up with a 30 min ride.

It could be the front or rear bearings and I suppose it could possibly be the swing arm bushings.

Start with the steering stem bearings, there are probably several ways to check these but one way is to raise the front wheel off the ground and if of the handle bars "fall" to one side that might indicate bad bearings.  While the front is off the ground try to shift the front suspension around and see if there is any sideways play and/or clicking.

Holding the front wheel with two hands try to rock the wheel back and forth and check for play there.

[Big Rich]

You said the tire pressures are good, but what are they exactly? And after a longer ride, have you inspected them for any kind of manufacturing defect?

Only other thing that I can think of (that wasn't mentioned earlier) is your fork oil. Maybe one fork is low / empty / different weight oil compared to the other. I would think that would be noticeable all the time, but might be much worse when warmed up.

[geordie]

Afternoon all,

Lots to think about there -  tyres look fine, handlebars move smoothly all the way left to right BUT - I have a leaking fork seal. I have no idea how much oil has come out, or when, but it's pretty messy under the dustcap.

I've booked the bike into a shop. Unfortunately the mechanic reckons it will cost me two hours work for the seals, but I've got no garage/many tools/home comforts here, so has to be that way

Hopefully that will solve the problem...I didn't pay much for the bike but I don't want it to turn into a money pit...

Cheers,

Joe

[Iarn]

An understandable sentiment. The GS is a cheap motorcycle to own if you work on it yourself. The labor is what will be expensive. Maybe you can start to slowly acquire tools for each bit of maintenance your bike needs? If you're into that sort of thing, anyway.

[Adshed]

I had a low speed wobble straight after I replaced my steering head bearings. I just had the steering stem adjuster nut (the things that puts the preload on the bearing) too tight. But the wobble was at apparent even when the bike was cold.

Hope the fix isn't too costly and let us all know what the issue was.

[geordie]

Dropped off the bike and will pick it up tomorrow. Mechanic was happy there was no pitting to the forks. He said he'd charged €200 to do the job on a Transalp including rings, which I've provided, so I hope it will be a slightly quicker job than that.

I'm totally up for working on the machine myself, I've done a fair few jobs on my old GSX250, really got into it, but that was at home in my dad's garage, not in Berlin, on a busy street

So I'll hand this one over to him.

Hope that's problem solved.

Joe

[geordie]

Sorted. Job came in at EUR144 including oil, new circlips, dustcaps. Nice bloke, and I'm certainly happy with the result. Bike feels much better. Firmer. However, the wobble is still there. But much less so. Sometimes I barely notice it, it just gradually creeps on in slow traffic. Bike is fine at speed, cautiously took her on the Autobahn and was very comfortable.

Now I'm pretty sure the problem is coming from the front side, however. I'm going to follow the other posts with regard to tightening, or untightening steering head bearings. I have started to notice a little bit of friction when the bike is chocked up and I spin the bars side to side. Although it's hard to tell whether it's just the cable loom. The bearings aren't making noise for sure.

Adshed, which was too tight on your bike? Am I right in thinking I loosen off the forks, then loosen the bolt under the ignition ?

Cheers.