kgdykes (08/02/82)
The following was my mail reply to the Kawawasaki request, however
i used "reply" and didnt notice the nasty foreign network reference
in the address, needless to say it got bounced back to me.
re: high speed wobble
i have no kawasaki experience, but general experience says the following
a) is the wobble front or rear? a good question to ask yourself when
trying to track it down
b) any wobble can come from wheel BALANCE as well as ALIGNMENT
c) bearings too can cause problems, ie: worn or not installed properly
(for instance after getting new steering head bearings installed,
they "settled in" after a day or so and quite a bad front wobble
set in on my 350 at anything over 60 mph, just a simple tightening
of the big nut on the steering column to properly seat the bearings
did the trick)
also worn wheel bearings themselves cause trouble
d) also how fast do you go before the wobble starts? for instance i would
strongly believe that anything over 90mph is greatly affected
by aerodynamics, ie: a PROPER fairing becomes a "must"
e) the "alignment" my be all right but the wheel may be out of "true"
ie: a warp over a short arc of the wheel affected by things like
spoke tension, being bent (replacement time!), etc.
f) over-inflated front tire may cause a wierd feel that could be
confused with wobble depending on the bike's overall construction'
g) other vibration rather than real-wobble effects come from things
like loose engine mounts, worn sprockets, crankshaft bearing failure
,bizarre wind patterns (aerodynamics again...)
h) swingarm bearing/bushings too (forgot this when i mentioned other bearings)
i) bad shock absorbers
j) it's a kawasaki (couldnt resist that one since i ride yamahahahahahas)
good luck!
....ken (decvax!utzoo!watmath!kgdykes)
addendum for Honda 750:
my guess is that since it occurs in Deceleration, it might be suspension
related (ie: shocks, swingarm bearings, etc) since deceleration tends
to put the suspension to work.
This would also agree with the mechanics statement in some way that it
was a "design" problem -- ie: you cant afford even minor wear and tear
on your shocks,bearings, etc.