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Tracking road seams

kdaddy

kdaddy

Active Member
I was wondering if anyone else had issues with your bike feeling like a slot car when hitting the center seam on the interstate. My 05 Electra Glide almost feels like it gets stuck in the groove with an initial wiggle then I have to force it out with another wiggle to get out of it. I could certainly feel the groove on my Fatboy but not like this bike.

I also was curious about wobble or rear steer. I have ridden this bike fo two years and never an issue until yesterday. While riding a 2 lane in rural Tennessee with rolling hills and sweeping curves i came upon a 90 degree curve that quickly intersected a new small town bypass. There was no curve sign and I was running about 55 when I realized I was going too fast. a layed over hard and realized I could not keep from crossing the yellow line when I tapped the rear brake. When I did the tire grabbed and squealed a bit and I let up off the brake as the back started sideways. I went into a rear end wobble and the handle bars started slapping side to side. just as it eased off where I felt I could gain control again I eased on the back brake again, same wobble and slapping until I could get it slowed enough to correct it. Needless to say I fought it under control, stopped on the side of the road and gained my composure until my hands stopped shaking and took off again.

There is nothing loose on my bike, rear to front alignment is good and the front end passes the swing test like a champ.

Never had an issue like this before on the softail, is this a touring issue or did the hard breaking start the tankslapper.
 
On the center seam issue it might help to know what brand tire your running and the mileage on the tires. On the rear steer since it just happened I would say the event sequence caused the wobble. You still want to check the shocks and make sure they are in serviceable shape. Tire wear could be part of the cause for the wobble or low air pressure.
 
Running dunlop 402's with about 50% wear and you may be right about the sequence of events on the wobble. Running 40 psi front and back
 
If it were me I would make sure the wheel bearings are sound and I would remember that curve. I run Avon tires and I have had them track the joints on the interstate so I'm not sure if there is a fix for that problem.
 
When i was riding my 04 Eglide Classic, the tar snakes and metal bridges made me pucker even as a seasoned rider, I changed to Dunlop Elite 3 front and back and the pucker factor was gone. I could actually ride the snakes and feel very confidant. Last set before I sold my 04 front lasted 18,000 back I got 14,500 out of ( semi aggressive riding sometimes)... Overall i would recommend these tires...
 
This can happen on all motorcycles. It just seems worse on a 800+ pound 2 wheel touring rig. By your description this does not seem like the typical wobble characteristic of the 2008 and back Glides. That usually happens in high speed sweepers. As already have been posted which are excellent ideas, the one thing I would like to add is are both tires on your bike the same make and model and have proper load rating with rec air pressure????
 
On the seam/groove following issue, it is my experience that this is almost completely tire related. My experience has been that the OE tire on the touring bikes(Dunlop 402), is the worst offender in this. The Metzler ME880 does much better about not tracking the seam, but I felt like the rear grip was less and the tire wear about equivalent to the OE tire. The Dunlop Elite 3 seems almost impervious to the seam tracking issue, grip is very good and tie wear is somewhat better than OE tire. The Michelin Commander 2 also does very well with the seam tracking, but feels loose on tar snakes. Tire wear is significantly better than OE. Your experience may be different, but that is a summation of what I have found over a couple hundred thousand miles on Electra Glides.
 
I believe it to be more of a tire wear issue. My pretty wore out Dunlops definitly don't handle the tar snakes, grooves and road conditions like they did when they were newer.
 
jsvt184 said:
I believe it to be more of a tire wear issue. My pretty wore out Dunlops definitly don't handle the tar snakes, grooves and road conditions like they did when they were newer.
Click to expand...

Dunlop what? The 402's have a significantly different tread pattern from the Elite 3.
 
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