front end wobble 2004 softail standard

[ΚĜΗΟŜΤ]

I have a 2004 softail standard with the Harleydavidson after market tripple tree with the Willy G skull machine in it, installed on '05. Original tires had no issue, in 2007 ish I had metzler ME 880's installed front and back. First ride the front end woblled horribly especially on Deceleration around 35 mph. Brought it back to shop, we trued the 21 inch spoked rim to ~ .010" total wobble/run out. Best we could get. Road test showed no difference other than a litle higher MPH before condition showed up again. Shop reccomended to increase air pressure from the 42 lbs reccomended on the tire to 44-45 psi. I did this and the problem pretty much went away. Well I chocked it up to a bad tire and lived with it.
I just purchased a brand new Metzler ME 880 21 tire as the other one wore out in the center of the tire (I believe due to the higher pressure). I purchased the tire and had a local shop do the dismount and remount I brought the wheel/tire to them.
Watched them do the change, good job and balanced it and all looked good (40 PSI). Brought it home, installed and went out for a ride, Same issue as before, front end wobbled terribly. Stopped and put some more air in it ~ 44 psi and the issue again pretty much went away.......When I got home I retightened the steering bearing nut down a bit more and will re test ride later today after work. This one is a bit different as you have to remove the upper part of the triple tree to gain acess to the tanged nut underneath. Need to use a brass heavy duty drift pin and hammer to tighten.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what causes this issue. Any idea are welcome.

Thanks

[04 SE Deuce]

I assume you are experiencing the wobble/handlebar flutter on decel when you have no hands on the bars,  which is not uncommon.  If you feel it with hands on bars I would switch to a different brand tire.  Keep in mind that a rear tire can induce a wobble depending on wear/condition.  I occasionally get a little "no hands" bar movement on decel (35ish) depending on the synergy of front and rear tire wear,  1 finger on the bars and it stops.   

You can set the neck bearings on the snug side but I don't believe in trying to turn them into a stabilizer by over-tightening them.   Rick

[messed up]

I know on my 02 standard its a pain to get pinch bolts spread and tubes broke loose, neck bearings tightened down a lot better with tubes loose. Had a high speed wobble in my rear and found a defect in axle going through belt tensioner, looked to be adjusted even but wasn't new axle took care of it.

[jammerj]

Check the rear swing arm (or what ever you call it on a softtail) for play.

[Admiral Akbar]

I have a 2004 softail standard with the Harleydavidson after market triple tree with the Willy G skull machine in it,

What I want to know is how do you know it was Willy G's skull still machined into it?  He's still alive..

Trees have any rake in them?

Max

[88b]

I'm assuming you never had a problem with the original Dunlop, then you did with a Metzler, then you buy another Metzler . I bet it's a Brazillian made Metzler. My Glide rides so much better on Dunlops than the Metzlers it had.

[ΚĜΗΟŜΤ]

@ max....Frame is stock, no rake changes, tripple tree is a harleydavidson upgrade offered in the parts and accessory catalouge. Ya maybe wrong description, the skull parts assortment this is one of em.....

@ 88B, Yes you are correct, Metzler change is when the issue occurred. original dunlops did not have this issue and NO other changes were made. I purchased second Metzler due to rear is still good. By the time this new front wears out the rear will also need replacement so I will change brands on both. I agree!!

Follow up:, Well after tightening the neck bearings and reducing tire pressure to 42 (tire spec) road test was very good.

Only once did I experience a very very slight wobble so I am satisfied for now with the results.

@ 04 SE deuce, Yes to all you said, same conditions and same results.

In the end I beleive it is the tire and was the tire when this first occurred. The fact that over pressurizing it (44-45 psi) clears up the condition kinda tells me the tire is at fault.

Thanks foir the responses.......

[black]

I'm assuming you never had a problem with the original Dunlop, then you did with a Metzler, then you buy another Metzler . I bet it's a Brazillian made Metzler. My Glide rides so much better on Dunlops than the Metzlers it had.

I had the same story went back to dunlop problem solved

[88b]

KGHOST mine had new Metzlers on it when I got the bike , first time I rode it I thought it had a bent frame. A few weeks later I rode it to Austria to a rally, Metzlers had a stand there, one of their techs told me it needed 50 in the front and 52 in the rear for the first 100 miles then drop each tyre 2 psi. So I upped my pressures to 48 and 50 psi, it was better but after about 4000 miles I junked them. The fact increasing the pressure improves things tells me the side walls are not up to the job.

[04 SE Deuce]

ΚĜΗΟŜΤ,  The Dunlop E3 in a 90/90-21 is a nice tire,  doesn't chase/track grooves/irregularities in the road like a 402,  is more stable at max lean whether hustling a corner entry or coming out of a corner under power,  and gets 20-25% more mileage.    Rick