darkside tire, front wheel wobble at high speed (80+mph)

Hello all!

I've been riding with an achilles DS for a year or so, but recently had to go back to a Pirelli while I awaited a replacement.

With the Pirelli, I had no problems with going speeds up to 100, however, now that I'm back on the dark side, I get a bit of handlebar wobble on deceleration after I've crossed 80 mph.

I had previously had a similar problem, but it turned out my rear wheel nut had come loose. That is not the current cause, as I have retorqued the nut.

currently running at 35 psi on the rear and 25 on the front.

Does anyone have any ideas? I've searched the forum, but only found info on the swing's low speed wobble (which seems part in parcel for the bike).

For the weight of the bike I would think that 25 psi is too little for the front. I run 30 front and 36 rear but that is with motorcycle tires. Perhaps someone on here will chime in with info on DS tires. Good luck.

GHM-PM wrote:

For the weight of the bike I would think that 25 psi is too little for the front.  I run 30 front and 36 rear but that is with motorcycle tires. Perhaps someone on here will chime in with info on DS tires. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply Glenn! I was thinking it might be too low, but didn't have a problem with it when riding both MC tires. I'll take it up to 30 and see if it fixes it, though, I'm curious why it would make a difference.

How do you go around corners?

Totally unrelated topic…what saddlebags are you using on your SWing and do you have to use mounts under the bags or just an over the rear seat Velcro attachment? Those look good in your avatar pic.

Hi Kuna... I run standard specified psi on my front tire and 40 on my rear darkside... never had any problems...

I can't confess to having any visits to the Dark Side. Although the recommended psi for the front is 29 I can't imagine 5 psi causing a wobble on throttling off.

Could it be a question of balance?...i.e. the extra load on the front wheel when decelerating from 80mph+

De-cel steering wobbles can/do happen on two wheelers at times.

Kunamika Hoppe wrote:

With the Pirelli, I had no problems with going speeds up to 100, however, now that I'm back on the dark side, I get a bit of handlebar wobble on deceleration after I've crossed 80 mph.

I'm taking this 100 mph nonsense with a very large pinch of salt.

Erdoc48 wrote:

Totally unrelated topic…what saddlebags are you using on your SWing and do you have to use mounts under the bags or just an over the rear seat Velcro attachment? Those look good in your avatar pic.

I'm not sure what model they are, but they're giving universal bags. No mounts, just the velcro straps.
Thanks! I'm a big fan, so long as I don't have to leave them on the bike unattended.

[/quote]
I'm taking this 100 mph nonsense with a very large pinch of salt.[/quote]

I don't know how optimistic my speedo is, but a couple freeways here get up to 75 mph, and people drive 90-100 on them. my speedo says 100, and I keep up with everyone else, but idk

DickO wrote:

Hi Kuna... I run standard specified psi on my front tire and 40 on my rear darkside...  never had any problems...

I'm still not sure what the physics are, but I pushed it up to 30 before going to work, and the issue seems to be resolved.

Loosemarbles wrote:

I can't confess to having any visits to the Dark Side. Although the recommended psi for the front is 29 I can't imagine 5 psi causing a wobble on throttling off.

Could it be a question of balance?...i.e. the extra load on the front wheel when decelerating from 80mph+

I didn't think 5psi would make a huge difference at that range, but it seems to have been the issue.

john grinsel wrote:

How do you go around corners?

cornering is smooth

did you know that car tire beads and motorcycle beads are different?

john grinsel wrote:

did you know that car tire beads and motorcycle beads are different?

I did!

I don't understand the physics of psi and balance though(obviously).

were you riding when bikes came with steering dampers? Wheel balance---my experience most shops do not/can not balance small scooter wheels. "Ride On" works well as balancing aide---not cheap but wors well in scooter wheels/tires.

john grinsel wrote:

were you riding when bikes came with steering dampers?    Wheel balance---my experience most shops do not/can not balance small scooter wheels.    "Ride On" works well as balancing aide---not cheap but wors well in scooter wheels/tires.

I was not. I've only been riding for about 7 years now, and only 3 of those are on the swing. I'll check out "ride on". Thank for the suggestion John!