03 ultra 88 excessive engine vibration

[chas]

Hi all- This winter I decided to replace the front motor mount, thinking it has a split in it and the cause of excessive shaking! Upon removing it I found that it wasn't split and looked ok. I have watched other vids of 03 ultras and they shake much less than mine does. Do I have to think about rear mount replacement to solve this problem, and is alignment something that I need to think about also? What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance

[kd]

Idle speed "shake" is normal for rubber mount engines. If the idle speed is too low (under 1050 rpm) the shake may be worse. Some aftermarket performance cams will have negative influence also.   Vibration at higher as in cruising RPM is a different cat.   Your description doesn't clearly say when.

[jamminhd2000]

In my experience 03 is one of the bikes that shake the most and not really sure why. I would love to hear people thoughts on it. If the windshield and fairing seem to be shaking check the inner fairing mounts I have seen alot of broken ones....jimmy

[Don D]

Shaking is usually crank runout or motor mount related

[remington007]

After riding 100's of HD's a year i can say no 2 are alike. Some are as smooth as glass others vibrate miserably. That said if your bike has not undergone a drastic change, its probably the way it is going to be. The early twin cams are quite smooth but the cranks were actually ballanced then, even the charging rotors were ballanced. Everything now is the luck of the draw.

[chaos901]

Back to what JAMMIN said about the fairing.  The fairing brackets back in 2003 were prone to break which allowed the fairing to vibrate badly, broke several myself.  The replacement bracket has been modified and is much stronger.  This of course would only apply if the fairing is the problem and not the engine.

[rking1550]

I feel your pain, I'm in the same boat. 01 roadking had original mount, replaced it this winter. Now a bad vibration off idle to maybe 1400 rpms, seems worse on decel, maybe because of spending more time in that range ?  Either way I'm following this closely and seriously considering trying another new motor mount. 

[koko3052]

Shaking is usually crank runout or motor mount related

  I think Don hit the nail on the head.. An easy check.

[Hossamania]

I feel your pain, I'm in the same boat. 01 roadking had original mount, replaced it this winter. Now a bad vibration off idle to maybe 1400 rpms, seems worse on decel, maybe because of spending more time in that range ?  Either way I'm following this closely and seriously considering trying another new motor mount.

Did you try loosening the mount a bit, start the motor, let it shake into place, and retighten it?

[Ohio HD]

Video it. Many of us can look at the video and see if it looks as normal, or suspect of other issues.

Curious, is this your first rubber mounted Twin Cam?

[chas]

I will loosen the mount, start her up and re-tighten.

[rking1550]

I feel your pain, I'm in the same boat. 01 roadking had original mount, replaced it this winter. Now a bad vibration off idle to maybe 1400 rpms, seems worse on decel, maybe because of spending more time in that range ?  Either way I'm following this closely and seriously considering trying another new motor mount.

Did you try loosening the mount a bit, start the motor, let it shake into place, and retighten it?

Yes, I did that, twice. Didnt have a torque wrench,  so it's not torqued to any specific ftlb.

[chas]

Jammin- You mentioned the fairing and windshield shaking from broken fairing mount. That gets me thinking that the shaking could be more from the fairing than the engine because the handlebars shake the most! Could you give me a link to the stronger fairing mount? I will take fairing apart and check the mounts

[twincam8888]

Back to what JAMMIN said about the fairing.  The fairing brackets back in 2003 were prone to break which allowed the fairing to vibrate badly, broke several myself.  The replacement bracket has been modified and is much stronger.  This of course would only apply if the fairing is the problem and not the engine.

YEP

[chaos901]

The H-D replacement fairing bracket is better than the original, it got upgraded after a few years.