Death wobble

[sparkey]

What I mean is when I loosen my grip on the bars the bars and front end start to shake rt. And lt. Violently.  This just started the other day.  I figure something is either worn out or loose.  Any ideas as to what to check first.

[easyricer]

First and most obvious is going to be tire pressure and condition. If your front tire is scalloping it will start the oscillation.  Next is alignment, then spokes, wheel bearings and then swingarm and fork bearings.
EASY

[76shuvlinoff]

Yeah easy's got it. It can be a bear to track down.
Recently for me it was a matter of snugging up the neck bearings. 17 seasons ago when I got my 76 I found the swingarm bearings were not just toast, they were wrecked. Worn out tires, loose spokes, all of that can stack up.

[sparkey]

Thanks Easy  I checked the front tire and it does have the scalloping going on.  All the spokes on the front wheel checked out ok but I did find one stripped out and loose on the rear wheel.  I planned on doing a lot of maintenance on her this winter.  All I have been doing lately is riding the Damm thing!

[billbuilds]

     Sounds to me like loose or warn neck bearings. Get the front end off the ground, stand in front and reach around and grab each of the the lower legs just above the axle. Give the front end a good towards you then away from you shake. Any play tells  you that your bearing preload is loose.  If you've never had the triple trees apart it would be a good idea to put checking the condition of the steering head bearings and races on the "to do' list this winter.  Good luck, Bill

[FLTRI]

Assuming you are referring to <40 mph decel wobble, a quick way to test for front tire causing the issue is to over-inflate it by 15-20 lbs. This changes the way the tire meets the ground and firms up the side walls which will change or eliminate the wobble.
If the wobble gets better it's the tire. If not keep looking.
HTH,
Bob

[easyricer]

Sparky, both of these cats bring up some good points. With a scalloping front tire, it's time for a new one, period. (your life is worth much more than a $200 tire)
Like Bill said, check the front end out, if it's even slightly loose, fix it. It takes less than 5 minutes to tighten a steering head while the front tire is being changed.
EASY