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decel wobble and left side cupping

3.1K views 21 replies 18 participants last post by  jzeiler  
#1 ·
help, gotta decel wobble starting at 50 miles an hour. im sorry i meant a violent tank slap. DEALERSAYS. its the nature of the bike and that they all do that , WOW i said didnt read that in the brochure was that a add on i didnit know about.UN F-IN REAL. I,ve got left side cupping front and rear .DEALER SAYS, that i must be riding with my weight shifted to the left all the time . WOW i could not believe he said that what a idiot.i have 44 years ridin mostley H D this is my first bmw i love it but if this is how its gonna go i,ll sell and buy a g wing . i have a 06 lt with 9800 miles on it with brigstone tires they have lots of tread left. HELP does any one know whats happening here love the bike but something realy wrong . i have never ever had these problems cupping of any kind or decel tank slap. :mad:
 
#2 ·
If you buy a GW you may just wind up with the same problem. This is somewhat of a common problem with the larger, heavier bikes. Mine would do it at about 45 mph if you turned loose of the bars. Scared the HECK outta me when it first did it. I had the Bridgstone 020's and thought I still had a LOT of tread left. Actually, when I looked at the tire from the side, there was major cupping. Replaced it with an Avon....check the pressure regularly (42 fr. and 48 r) and have not had the wobble since. It is NOT that you ride with your wight on one side...that is ridiculous. Some try to blame the "crown" in the roads -- could be. But, bottom line is...you gotta keep really good tires...properly inflated on this bike. The bridgstones really stunk for me and I'll never use them again. BTW...don't turn loose of the bars in that speed range. Oh yeah...I'm sure I didn't have to remind you of that! ;)
 
#3 ·
Solid data, Brother Jack.

Victor, check this site out. You'll see some good info.. My LT ate the front tire every oil change (6000 miles)... they were Bridgestones.

I'm now running a Dunlop front.. it is barely cupping... but the lousy rain handling mixed with the rear Bridgestone, has me puckering hard... Peobably going to go with Metzlers...

Welcome aboard.. learn the unique troubles you'll see on these bikes then just ride it.
 
#5 ·
A number of us have the problem, Victor.
I'm still waiting on a warranty replacement of the steering damper, hoping that might help alleviate it. I run on Metzellers, and have never had any "cupping". Tyres at 42/48 (most of the time)...

Been thinking I should try to get my video camera on the bike and videotape it, just so everyone understands how BAD it can be, and that we shouldn't consider it "normal"....
 
#6 ·
Victor,
My K1200LT with B Stone 020 radials worn to the wear indicators has never had even an inkling of a wobble. Perfect manners. I get 10,000 miles on the fronts and my last rear got a wopping 22,000 miles. I know I r & r them myself. You should do a check on wheel alignment because the oem allowance is too generous for me (imo). Have your dealer pull a wheel from his stock and check its balance and you go for a spin with that wheel/ tire? Check your steering damper too.
The real check of a 2 wheeler is to mount a sidecar and watch the wobbles appear................... not here, as I have a sidecar on it now and it has zero wobbles. And, I think the B' Stone 020 radials are very good in the wet too. I do not believe you should have any wobbles. Period. There is a reason you have this (dangerous) condition and needs to be found. Don't put up with this nonsense! :bmw:
 
#9 ·
I had head shake from new and cupping around 6K with the factory Bridgestones, went to Metzeler's and no more head shake and they seem to be wearing great so far. My previous ZZR1200 had the same B020 Bridgestones and did the same thing from new, went to Metzeler's on that too which cured the problem.

Try not to get too discouraged with the LT. Put on some new rubber and see how she treats ya. Just my 2 cents. :)
 
#10 ·
Hi,

My 07 suffers from the shake when decelerating from 70 kph, this was with only 100km on the clock. Since then I have decided not to let go of the handlebars when slowing down.... On previous bikes I have had cupping on the front tyres, on the right hand side.

Cheers,

Brendan
Sydney
Aus
 
#12 ·
my 06' is in the shop for this issue

My 06' is actually at Blue Moon Cycle being looked at for the wobble and they're waiting to hear back from BMW. I was running tire pressure 40/46 to reduce the wobble but they told me that was too high and they're trying to find a solution for it. I told them the higher tire pressure helped reduce the wobble but they're trying to find a better solution. The steering dampener is fine they said so they're looking at the ball joint I think as well as communicating with BMW. At least they're recognizing it is an issue. They told me that there were a batch of bike recalls for certain bikes with this issue and were looking to see if this was one of them.

In my opinion that must be a lot of bikes. A friend was really excited about getting an 03' and test drove it while we were at a dealership open house in NC and he noticed the vibration right away and it freaked him out. I test drove it myself after checking tire pressure on the Metz's and talking to the tech staff there and found that the 03' had the same vibration my 06' did which blows away the theory that changing the front fork brace to a pre 05' version would fix this issue. Both the 03' being sold at the dealer and my 06' have Metz 880's in good shape. I believe that part of this is tire related, but part is also that the bike has basically no tolerance or allowance for tires that aren't absolutely balanced perfectly or once they've got a few thousand miles on them it's not happy.

Well, I have hated not having my LT for this last couple weeks while they've tried to fix this issue on mine, but on the plus side at least I have a new 07' 1200GS to break in. I'm hoping they find a solution to this soon so that I can pass it on to everyone.

I think the LT's are fantastic bikes other than this 40 MPH wobble on deceleration. Yes, you should have your hands on the bars, but then again the damn thing shouldn't be shaking either. That particular issue feels like the 1000 LB gorilla in the room that BMW has been ignoring. If that 03' hadn't done that my friend would have snatched it up in a second. Had mine initially had the issue I'm not 100% sure if I would have paid what I did for it myself, although now that I did I'm glad cause I love the bike. Anyway, if they get this fixed on my 06' I'll let you know what the deal is. If they don't, I'll still love my bike and still be embarrassed that it wobbles when decelerating and be mad that I can't hold my SO's knee because I'm afraid of what could happen.
 
#14 ·
harrowbmw said:
Sorry to hear about all these misbehaving late mode LT's. Perhaps you all should sell them and hunt around for a '99 like mine. Impeccable manners at all times and speeds.
Careful with thine tongue (fingers?) young Paul, lest ye suffer the fatal rear-drive of an earlier vintage... :eek::abduct:
 
#15 ·
No wobbles in my '05 KLT. Wobbles in my (former) '04 GL1800 were cured by (A) 2 pound overinflation of the front tire, (B) switching to Dunlop E3 tires, (C) adding Ride-On water soluble anti-flat goo to my tires. It actuallly helps wheel balancing Link: http://www.ride-on.com/ , (D) avoiding riding in no-hands mode and (E) keeping head bearing at correct torque.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Steering wobble video

harrowbmw said:
Point taken Chris, perhaps I will keep my mouth shut and my fingers crossed that those early LT problems don't come to haunt me... ;)
Nah, keep 'em coming Paul, its all good fun. We all have to wear what happens to us one way or another, I doubt a few comments here will increase the chance of failure (of the bike, that is..) :p:p

Back to the guts of the thread....
For those who haven't seen the wheel wobble and how violent it can be... I took the LT for a quick ride this morning, lady on back with video camera, specifically to catch it happening. Wasn't sure it would happen the same 2-up, but sure enough it did. Hit 80kph (50mph) on a straight stretch of quiet road, eased off grip on handlebars, and within 2 secs it started.
Video here (the gal does need some more camera lessons): http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p196/cws127/K1200LT%20steering%20wobble/?action=view&current=K1200LT_steering_wobble.flv
Bike goes in on Tuesday 15th for 30k service and a new dampener, and I'll get the wheels rebalanced at same time I think.
 
#19 ·
Bike and Tyre Design

Hi Victor
Well the sad news Victor is that there are to many brands of bikes out there that have this same problem.

I Have a 06 k1200lt and after a month of talking to tyre and bike mechanic's and manufacturer's below a broad answer of sorts

Bike manufacturers and Tyre manufacturers are in the same boat, a blend of handling and weight issues to change the handling of a heavy bike in slow turn's the geometry of the front steering has to be changed hence coming off throttle produces a wobble in the past the bike has been hard to handle at low speeds now that has changed but in effect it has caused such pressure on the tyres.

each different brand will handle this differently but the case being that tyre design has not kept up with bike design as in car tyres they have a huge range of tyres in bikes that has not been the case you have few choices


There it would seem to be a few solution's that have been touched on. Everyone knows that their bike handles slightly different from the next.
and choice of tyre is down to how you feel or how the bike handles and you alone will find what is right for you as we do not ride or have your style of riding.

some like Dunlops or the Avon then again the metz 880 so the choice will be what suits and gives you the best feel and wear. but certainly the Metz at this stage has the goods and tyre pressure is a key to the tyre life and responsive handling.

But above all do not give up on the Bike as I have been though the same and have found my middle ground with the bike and love affair continues

regards Kevin
 
#20 ·
fixed?

BMW just called me to say they fixed the shake on my 06'. I'll be on my way to pick it up and test this out for myself and if it is fixed I'll pass along the solution for mine.
 
#21 ·
Never had any issue with my 99 and the Metz tires.
Never had the issue with my 03 and BT020s
Never had the issue with my 05 and BT020s...
Keeping fingers crossed!:p