Front Wheel Shaking

[Sinker]

I have a 2000 Road King and the front wheel has begun shaking higher speed.  Up to 65 MPH when I look down at the axle nut area everything seems to be right.  At 70 it starts to shake and flutter.  At 75 it is fluttering really hard and the bike starts to feel a little loose.  Any ideas what the culprit might be? 

[smoserx1]

How worn is the tire?

[Sinker]

The tire is in great shape.  Probably only has 2-3K miles on it.

[Hossamania]

The tire may have broken a cord. A wheel weight may have fallen off. A wheel bearing may have failed.

[fleetmechanic]

I would definitely check the wheel bearings.  Particularly on the front wheels they are not a "lifetime" item.  Water, dirt and everything else gets into them. We have had some fail in winter use at about 1,000 miles on both sides of the wheel.

[calif phil]

Spoke wheel?  Could be loose spokes. 

Forks leaking?

[PoorUB]

The tire is in great shape.  Probably only has 2-3K miles on it.

Nearly new tire is no guarantee the tire is good. It wouldn't be the first "new" tire with something wrong with it.

Get the front end off the ground, Check wheel bearings, spokes, bent rim, messed up tire and may as well check the steering neck bearings too.

[mkd]

neck bearings loose?

[smoserx1]

While you are checking the front end stuff check the swingarm for sideways stiffness.  Your bike (and mine) came with "Clevebloc" swingarm bushings which are designed to flex and also the assembly attaches to the frame with rubber isolators.  It is not an ideal situation for handling as too much lateral give can cause a front end wobble (sort of  the tail wagging the dog).  Anyway if this situation just occurred recently I would be looking for a failure somewhere.

[chaos901]

Also, check the date on the tire.  More likely a weight or the bearing though.

[les]

While you are checking the front end stuff check the swingarm for sideways stiffness.  Your bike (and mine) came with "Clevebloc" swingarm bushings which are designed to flex and also the assembly attaches to the frame with rubber isolators.  It is not an ideal situation for handling as too much lateral give can cause a front end wobble (sort of  the tail wagging the dog).  Anyway if this situation just occurred recently I would be looking for a failure somewhere.

Agreed because I had a 2001 E-Glide that had a front end wobble when you took your hands off the bars around 35mph.  I adjusted the front fork neck bearings but it did not change the wobble.  Tightening up the rear swing arm fixed the problem, wobble went away.

[kd]

My 2011 RGU was starting to give me the feel it wanted to do that (hands off) a couple of years ago.  I had the swingarm off so put new stuff back on and that cured it so far.

[Sycho01]

If you search the forum topics there are posts of the Hd Touring bikes rear swingarm wobble which when real bad causes the front wheel to feel like it has a wobble. You can feel it in the handlebars.
On my '07 RK I pulled over thinking I had a front tire going flat. I found no problem so I repeated the ride and also had no problem the second time around. I blamed it on the tar snakes in the road. My RK was 3 months old at this time.
On another ride I was getting off the parkway going into a slow sweeping right turn on the exit and felt the wobble again. Definitly coming from the rear swingarm but not all the time.
I purchased a brace that installed between the frame and the transmission mount to stabilize the swingarm. I owned the bike for 2 years without ever having another problem.
My confidence in the handling of my RK returned.
I believe HD corrected this problem in 20009 with their new frame.

[JW113]

Another vote here to check the rear swing arm bushings. The bike is 20 years old, time to replace. Not a difficult job.

Also have a look at the front fork tube pinch bolts. The have a habit of coming loose or even breaking. Makes the front end feel kind of "weird".

-JW