shaking steering

[01gsxf600]

goin down the road the other day i took both hands off the handlebars at about 40 ish....my front just starting shaking left to right real bad but when i put my hands on it....its fine....i mean i know i hsould keep my hands on it but i dont want my tire to end up getting fubared up

i did replace the chain and i did align it when tightening the chain

[LordKeryth]

I am very curious about this too. I have ridden a few times for a little ways without hands before and about a month or so ago, that same thing happened to me. Scared the crap out of me. Don't konw if it was just a bad section of road or what. Can't see why it would only happen that one time and not the others.

[Mojoe]

some bikes are more prone to this than others. there are several reasons for it. bad tire.tire pressure, weak forks, out of balance wheel.

You can "rework" each ot those and hope it goes away, but there is a chance it might not as well and you might need a steering damper.

[LordKeryth]

What exactly is a steering damper? I was reading about that with the top speed challenge. I mean, I could figure out what it does, but what is it made of and where does it go?

[Mojoe]

What exactly is a steering damper? I was reading about that with the top speed challenge. I mean, I could figure out what it does, but what is it made of and where does it go?

it is basically just a hydraulic piston thingy like a shock......or like what holds up the hatchback of a car. It is not really like a shock though because a shock has internal pressure to keep the shaft forced out. The damper is basically a "free moving" shaft with just a wee bit of resistance. It applies no pressure on it's own. The "resitance" is what keeps the the wobble from happening. As you notice, it doesn't take much of a touch with your hands to stop it.....and the damper does basically the same thing through the resistance or "drag" of the shaft.

I never had a bike with one on it, so I am not 100% sure how they mount. Of course it has to be to the forks or triple tree.....and I assume to a point on the frame.

Don't quote me 100% on all this though. I might be wrong about the part about it not having internal pressure. It might.....but I think that would mean you could NEVER let go of the bars or it would turn the steering.
So I think I am right when I sat it is pressure free....and just works on resistance.

[noodlemice]

Mine does the exact same thing

[LordKeryth]

That was a very enlightening explanation. I was thinking it was kinda like the $1 upgrade you guys keep talking about. Still not sure about that either. (Not much experience with working on stuff like this.)

[noodlemice]

No the dampener are like mini shocks that attach from the forks to the frame, not sure exactly what they look like for a kat but ive seen them on other bikes. i think that would be a quick fix type of deal. Ive riden my friends bikes gotten off the throttle and let my hands go at 40+ and no shaking like mine.

Somethings out of balance.

[md86]

Not "dampener" , "DAMPER" .
And Kats do NOT need them . If you think you do , you have a problem with your bike . Could be any of the things Mojoe mentioned , or misaligned rear wheel , or crappy tire (stock ones "cup" easily if you ain't careful ....) , or probably a few other things I can't think of right now ....

[Carsucharda]

mine does this too but i desperately need tires. also i dont have a front fender or the bracket to hold the fender in. this may make for a pretty bad shake too.

[01gsxf600]

how do i go about checking the alignment correctly

[Mojoe]

for the record, I can let go of the bars on my 93 1100 at ANY speed, and it is smooth as an arrow. My 92 was the same.

However, there was a time with both that I was not able to do that. And both those times was when my wheels were balanced with conventional lead weights. I have never had the problem again since switching over to Equal. No....not the sugar substitute. It is a powder that goes inside the tire for balancing. Don't ask me to get into explaining it here. I have discussed it several times before, so do a search.

My forks are weak and I know I can use new stem bearings. and my front tire is 3 years old. Yet I can still let go of the bars at anything between a crawl and being blown off the bike if I do let go. I can honestly say it is mostly due to the method I use to balance my tires. I truly believe that because the balancing is "free moving", it compensates for everthing directly linked to the rotation of the tire.....from the stem bearings down. It's is cheaper than conventional balancing.....and much much cheaper than a new damper.

[md86]

I have pretty much ALWAYS been able to let go of my bars and not have the front end freak . I did my own front tire a couple weeks ago (mounted AND balanced) , and it was PERFECT . Cost me NOTHING to balance , just 20 minutes of time , if that . And it's SO easy , really .

[customcracka]

MIne always does that when low on pressure or the tire needs to be replaced.

[TheKlic]

also check your dampening setting on the tops of your forks