Vaquero front end wobble

[IL Vaquero]

Hey guys I know this has been covered before but I need some serious input. I have a 2011 vaq and had mich comm II put on at 6400 miles sence then I have had wobble in the front end 35 to 60 cruz on or desell. if I take my hands off the bars for 5 sec it starts to wobble if I did not grab the bars I would end up wrecking. I'v heard all I need to about dont take your hands off the bars it still maens someting is wrong. Does anybody have any ideas what might be causing it. The shop that put the tires on says steering head bearings need to be replaced with tappered bearings. Thats hard for me to belive just becase I changed the tires I need new bearings any help would be greatly appreciated. I have tryed different air presure doesn't seem to help has dlna beeds in the tires a dealer said the back tire is a different size that stock could cause it. Thats all I know Thanks Guys

[Terry Hoover]

40 PSI in the front mostly eliminated that problem in my '09 Voyager. I am running E3 on front and American Elite on the rear. This is assuming the steering head bearings and wheel balance are OK.

[davidsheek]

It's just too easy to say " well steering head bearings need to be replaced". It's such a cop out. My bike is over 3 years old with about 14000 miles. Yes I've had the wobble sometimes when road conditions are just right or back when the tire was well worn it seemed to do it more. As soon as I put a new tire on it was gone. Sometimes on certain roads around here just cause it to wobble. I am a rare one that does not believe these bearings are causing it. I have checked the front end for looseness without taking it apart. It is in fine shape. These bearings like the belt will last for years to come.I have read post where guys were having problems like that with their new COMM ll tires.
So I'm just saying unless it wasn't assembled properly from mama KAW (unlikely), it won't be the bearings. Besides if the steering head bearings was so wore out I believe you would hear & feel it in that area. I'm sure there will be some guys that disagree with me.

[rusty_is_riding4life]

Hey IL_Vaq, if you have access to a bike jack, get it of the ground and see whats going on. There is nothing wrong with the steering bearing, thats a near new bike! lol, sounds like the shop did not install the wheel rite or left a bearing out or did not do a good balence on the tire. Anyways, get it up off the ground and have a friend firmly hold the handle bars, and you grab the front and rear of the tire and check for a loose fit by moving it back and forth. Next spin it as fast as you can while looking for un-eveness in the distance of the contact part of the tire to the rim. Hopefully at this point you should be able to see the problem. If nothing after this, then i say spend 70 bux and take it to a Kawi dealership and have it checked out. If they cant duplicate the problem they usally will not charge you.

good luck!

[matt7even]

I've read a couple of reviews about the Commander II where bike owners have experienced wobbling but don't know if it had any thing to do with the tire. I'm putting one on the front my Nomad shortly so I will let the forum know if I notice anything.

On a side note if you are running a car tire on the rear, I have noticed a tendency for the bars to wobble slightly at certain speeds if I don't have a grip on them for so long. I think it has to do with the the slight sway of the sidewalls. I've noticed that increasing the PSI usually reduces it.

[SSS]

Originally Posted by IL Vaquero

Hey guys I know this has been covered before but I need some serious input. I have a 2011 vaq and had mich comm II put on at 6400 miles sence then I have had wobble in the front end 35 to 60 cruz on or desell. if I take my hands off the bars for 5 sec it starts to wobble if I did not grab the bars I would end up wrecking. I'v heard all I need to about dont take your hands off the bars it still maens someting is wrong. Does anybody have any ideas what might be causing it. The shop that put the tires on says steering head bearings need to be replaced with tappered bearings. Thats hard for me to belive just becase I changed the tires I need new bearings any help would be greatly appreciated. I have tryed different air presure doesn't seem to help has dlna beeds in the tires a dealer said the back tire is a different size that stock could cause it. Thats all I know Thanks Guys

IL Vac, you state that the bike shop said you need to replace with tapered bearings, they are already tapered, all head bearings are. Now, they could be dry. A few years back had the same problem as you state, opnened up the head bearings on my meanstreak and they were bone dry, had started to etch into the races even, a little bit of work but worth it to check, just say'n

[Old BLue]

My 09 voyager does it as well anytime it decels. I still have the stock tires on it. Changing the air preasure didnt seem to change much for me.

[IL Vaquero]

Well went and alked to the shop owner and he said if the berings don't fix the problem which he says he belives 99.9% thats whats wrong he will replace the front tire for free and hunt till he finds the promlem. I replied he will get the tire for free he is only out the labor to install it. And I wanted him toinstall my pcv for free and he agreed. hope all works out ok will let you know next week an't do it till then. Thanks for the help

[twowheeladdict]

I tried an E3 on the front and didn't like it after some miles were on it. Put the Excedra Max on the front and the bike is stable. I did service my bearings at 30,000 miles and there was no sign of wear.

[IL Vaquero]

Well guys just got off the phone with michlin tire company and the person on the phone said the commander II has not been tested on vulcan newer than2006 and was not recommended for the vaquero so proble not the nomad or voyager. So if the bearings do not fix it i'm sol and back to the old bridgestones. Hope bearings fix the problem.