Lately I've noticed that my steering gets a shaky (side-to-side) at 40-45mph. Not faster, not slower. It's most pronounced if I'm not touching the bars. I rebalanced the wheel, checked the triple tree bearings (by steering side to side wheel in the air) and it moves smoothly. Air pressure is 42/42 in both tires. I've replaced the fork oil and the seals last year... Any suggestions what else can it be? And why only at that speed?
ST1300 Headshake
- Thread starter FastST
- Start date
Any weight in the trunk should be against the back of it, closest to the seat.
This happened to me after I replaced the head bearings and they got too loose. Might check the triple tee bearings again by trying to move the forks front to back
What brand of tire are you running? I have found when running the cheaper tires that I have found the same problem with knowing that my head bearings are good and adjusted properly. I put on a different tire and problem gone.
The steering bearings can be too loose as well. The test I've done is to get the front off the ground and tip the handlebars from center to each side. It should move freely, and not bounce once it hits the stop. If it bounces it's too loose, if it doesn't move freely, too tight.
I'm running Shinko for many years and no problems. Ran Bridgestones before and Shinkos are as good.
Did that and nether tightness nor bouncing
My bike did that when I put a Shinko Verge on the front.
The only head shake on my ST1300 was from running a Shinko tire, I have 317,000 miles on my bike so I have used one or two tires.
Could just be the tires, then. I've had a similar feeling and a new front tire solved it. Unsure if the tire was bad/had a defect or if my bike (an 1100 at the time) just didn't like that tire.
Any balancing beads in the tire?
the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
If you google head shake or front end shimmy at 40-50 miles an hour while decelerating with hands off the bars you'll see this is a common issue addressed on all models of motorcycles on all forums. The most common cure mentioned (even by manufacturers) is don't take both hands off the handlebars at the same time.
This...^^^ keep your hands on the bars.
This topic sucked so much oxygen out of the room in the early days of the ST1100 Owners Club (usenet and Steiner Fromme's site), that I had to separate myself from the conversation as it devolved into a nearly non-stop flood of opinions, anecdotes and 'data' bereft of any foundation.
The 1100 responded favorably to upgrading to taper roller bearings in the steering head (which I did) and certain tires were more prone than others (Metzler Lasertec tires helped mine).
But, as I recall there was no solution - parts replacement or adjustments - which ever eliminated it (on the 1100 as of the late '90s; my 1300 experience is not as extensive).
The conclusion I and others seemed to find the most acceptable is that, modern performance motorcycles - and we placed the 1100 into this category as opposed to cruisers and full boat tourers - operate near the edge of stability in many situations. Decelerating through the 40-50mph speed with hands off the bars is one of those situations and revealed the compromise between rock solid stability and sport bike nimbleness that Honda made.
Loading in the saddlebags and tail trunk influences the bike's behavior significantly and can cause a well handling bike to become downright scary if over loaded or poorly distributed, as also noted earlier by @Larry Fine.
I have this bike for over 6 years and it was never happening before. Nor that I never experienced that on any of my others bikes. Therefore, something tells me that it's NOT a norm.
Furthermore, I have no tendency to take hands off the bars, however I do feel the shaking even hands on bars (not as much yet still bothersome) and it noticeable especially in the twisted turns.
I took the wheel weights off and used liquid balancing which reduced the vibration considerably. I also increased the tire pressure a little. Together those thing helped a lot. I have used Shinko tires on a dual sport and they worked well but I will not be using them on the ST1300 again.
If you have made no changes to the bike (tires, suspension, adding weight to panniers, etc) recently and this change has been creeping up on you, then it is most likely due to gradual wear of components. In order to get the bike back to where it was a few years ago, you will have to go over the suspension (rear shock), tires, head bearings, etc. Since you are chasing an elusive gremlin, it is likely to be either expensive (should you decide the rear shock needs to be replaced) or involve a fair amount of work (replacing head bearings w/ roller type). Since a number of things can cause this behavior, you will have to make changes one at a time and then test the bike. It could be as simple as changing the tires or as cheap as changing rear preload. The only thing that could be worse would be an intermittent problem. Good luck and keep us posted.
I just had a thought, and do not mean this in a derogatory manner. Have you gained weight that might have changed the balance of the bike? I've seen guys in our mc club put on significant waist inches after they retire over a few years. I have no idea if putting a spare tire around one's waist will affect handling on 1100's but what you describe is probably the sum total of a number of incremental changes to the bike.
I just had a thought, and do not mean this in a derogatory manner. Have you gained weight that might have changed the balance of the bike? I've seen guys in our mc club put on significant waist inches after they retire over a few years. I have no idea if putting a spare tire around one's waist will affect handling on 1100's but what you describe is probably the sum total of a number of incremental changes to the bike.
the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
Not saying it's normal... just saying it's quite common
and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on what cures it
regarding the headshake controversy on the 1100, I was one of those owners who had headshake occur, and as I recall it first showed up as the OEM front tire reached its end of life. A new tire reduced the effect, but it didn't go away completely.
At that time the tapered roller bearings seemed to be the consensus cure, and it worked 100% at curing mine. It was a bit of trial-and-error to get them adjusted just right, and the window for just right was extremely narrow, but it absolutely cured my issue. What didn't seem to get mentioned then, which I've now heard over the years, is that I probably could have cured the problem just by adjusting the stock steering stem bearings. The races definitely get pounded into the stem over time, and on a brand new bike they apparently do seat themselves a little tighter over the first year and probably need re-adjustment. The ST1100 factory manual suggests they be "inspected" at the 600 mile service, and every 8k miles. I also seem to remember that with the tapered bearings I had to re-adjust them once after 6-12 months because they had seated just a bit tighter as well.
If the front tire can be ruled out because its neither brand new, or heavily worn, I'd recommend that the OP at least attempt to adjust the steering stem bearings. Its not hard to do and there's nothing to lose. Mark the original orientation with a sharpie, and try tightening them a little bit at a time. I'd also add that grabbing the forks and shaking them or moving them side-to-side isn't sufficient to judge if they're not exactly right. If they're off substantially, then you will definitely feel it, but if they're close, but not perfect, you may not feel anything.
My experience is only on the 1100, not the 1300, so take that for what its worth, but I'd bet they're more similar than different.
Having ridden about 200k miles on several sport bikes in the era before/after the ST1100, the ST1100 wasn't in the same universe as sport bikes of that era for handling. The phrase "sport bike nimbleness" does not apply to the ST1100 in any way, shape, or form. Also, I've owned too many bikes without ANY headshake, to know its not a normal or unavoidable handling trait, even on bikes with far steeper fork rake and much shorter wheelbase than the ST.
At that time the tapered roller bearings seemed to be the consensus cure, and it worked 100% at curing mine. It was a bit of trial-and-error to get them adjusted just right, and the window for just right was extremely narrow, but it absolutely cured my issue. What didn't seem to get mentioned then, which I've now heard over the years, is that I probably could have cured the problem just by adjusting the stock steering stem bearings. The races definitely get pounded into the stem over time, and on a brand new bike they apparently do seat themselves a little tighter over the first year and probably need re-adjustment. The ST1100 factory manual suggests they be "inspected" at the 600 mile service, and every 8k miles. I also seem to remember that with the tapered bearings I had to re-adjust them once after 6-12 months because they had seated just a bit tighter as well.
If the front tire can be ruled out because its neither brand new, or heavily worn, I'd recommend that the OP at least attempt to adjust the steering stem bearings. Its not hard to do and there's nothing to lose. Mark the original orientation with a sharpie, and try tightening them a little bit at a time. I'd also add that grabbing the forks and shaking them or moving them side-to-side isn't sufficient to judge if they're not exactly right. If they're off substantially, then you will definitely feel it, but if they're close, but not perfect, you may not feel anything.
My experience is only on the 1100, not the 1300, so take that for what its worth, but I'd bet they're more similar than different.
Having ridden about 200k miles on several sport bikes in the era before/after the ST1100, the ST1100 wasn't in the same universe as sport bikes of that era for handling. The phrase "sport bike nimbleness" does not apply to the ST1100 in any way, shape, or form. Also, I've owned too many bikes without ANY headshake, to know its not a normal or unavoidable handling trait, even on bikes with far steeper fork rake and much shorter wheelbase than the ST.