Hey guys, How am I supposed to deal with/prevent the event known as speed wobble. Ive crashed plenty of times because of it and its becoming annoying now. What should I do in regards to weight shifting, suspension adjustments, and riding style?
It has been my own personal opinion, that if you are battling the wind or a cross wind, like I experienced on my trip to Nebraska, as well as Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and even here in Arkansas, you sometimes have to lean forward to make yourself more aerodynamic when you are on a motorcycle, or even leaning into the curve when going around a corner, but for me the way I handled the cross winds was not only having a "white knuckle grip" on my bike to where it took a herculean effort to keep it straight despite winds coming out from the north and south when I was going west on I-80 going about 75 mph, The one thing that helped me buffer the wind was pretty much a semi tractor trailer from either one side or another to block the wind, but you can get blown around if you are in a downward jet stream from the semi as well. I do have traction control on my bike, so that helps somewhat, as well as ABS, but the biggest thing that you can use is your judgement in trying to keep the bike stable. You really have to a firm grip on the handlebars, but not too tight, and not too loose, and the biggest thing to do is to decrease speed a little , and like dandolittle says is to "Ride to your ability." Shifting your weight is only good, in my opinion when you go into a corner. Suspension adjustment would have to do with more of the comfortable riding position, and how well it absorbs shocks like going over a bump or a pothole. To me the lighter the bike, the more you have to compensate for the wind factor, while a heavier bike, you pretty much have to compensate for a much more less wind factor. My bike weighs a little over 700 pounds, so going into the wind can be somewhat of a challenge, while a lighter bike has a greater challenge, in my opinion.
but yeh steering dampner will be the best bet if your not sure what you are doin thats causing it.
