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fjmartin · 09-25-2017, 12:49 AM

I started to notice a couple of things of concern with my RX3 recently.

1) When going about 30 miles per hour if I loosen my grip on the bars they start wiggling back and forth and grow until I grab on.

2) When using the front brake the bike was shimmying forcing me to use mostly rear brake

3) Bike wasn't feeling steady going down the road.

4) slow speed maneuvering caused "head shaking"

So, I put the bike up on the center stand and put weight on the rear of the bike to keep the front wheel off the ground. I grabbed the front wheel and pulled it and there was movement and a clunk. I check the wheel bearings and shock and then the steering area. Turned out it was coming from the top of the triple clamp.

The maint schedule for checking over the steering bearings is 12000 miles and I'm at 13,6100. I wanted to wait until deep winter to do this project as I was a bit timid to work on this part of the bike.

But I decided to dive in and it only took 3 hours soup to nuts to get things fixed.

I started by removing my RAM mounts and then putting some towels around the tank and plastics. I marked the bars and clamp to make sure to get the bars back to the same spot. I unbolted the handlebar clamps and laid them down on the tank. I then removed the two bolts that hold the handlebar base. I then removed the two screws for the plastic cap around the ignition and removed the plastic. I unscrewed the silver cap and washer I then loosened the two hex bolts on each side of the top of the triple clamp holding the shocks. Once I did that I could pull up and remove the top triple clamp. Then I was able to remove the bearing pre-load nut. Once I did this the front wheel and forks dropped down. This allowed me to reach under and put a bunch of grease on the lower bearing and I removed the upper and put on a bunch of grease and then reassembled in reverse order.

The most important part of the reassembly was getting the pre-load correct to remove the movement and clunk but also to make sure the bearings moved smoothly side to side.

I took the bike out and can now ride with no shimmy and any speed, hard front braking is steady and slow speed riding is fine.

So I suggest checking your bike if you feel anything like I did. It progressed in amplitude quickly over about a week and could have been dangerous.

Happy Riding!

Joe

09-25-2017, 12:49 AM	#1
fjmartin Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Redmond, WA. Posts: 534	Wiggles and Shimmies I started to notice a couple of things of concern with my RX3 recently. 1) When going about 30 miles per hour if I loosen my grip on the bars they start wiggling back and forth and grow until I grab on. 2) When using the front brake the bike was shimmying forcing me to use mostly rear brake 3) Bike wasn't feeling steady going down the road. 4) slow speed maneuvering caused "head shaking" So, I put the bike up on the center stand and put weight on the rear of the bike to keep the front wheel off the ground. I grabbed the front wheel and pulled it and there was movement and a clunk. I check the wheel bearings and shock and then the steering area. Turned out it was coming from the top of the triple clamp. The maint schedule for checking over the steering bearings is 12000 miles and I'm at 13,6100. I wanted to wait until deep winter to do this project as I was a bit timid to work on this part of the bike. But I decided to dive in and it only took 3 hours soup to nuts to get things fixed. I started by removing my RAM mounts and then putting some towels around the tank and plastics. I marked the bars and clamp to make sure to get the bars back to the same spot. I unbolted the handlebar clamps and laid them down on the tank. I then removed the two bolts that hold the handlebar base. I then removed the two screws for the plastic cap around the ignition and removed the plastic. I unscrewed the silver cap and washer I then loosened the two hex bolts on each side of the top of the triple clamp holding the shocks. Once I did that I could pull up and remove the top triple clamp. Then I was able to remove the bearing pre-load nut. Once I did this the front wheel and forks dropped down. This allowed me to reach under and put a bunch of grease on the lower bearing and I removed the upper and put on a bunch of grease and then reassembled in reverse order. The most important part of the reassembly was getting the pre-load correct to remove the movement and clunk but also to make sure the bearings moved smoothly side to side. I took the bike out and can now ride with no shimmy and any speed, hard front braking is steady and slow speed riding is fine. So I suggest checking your bike if you feel anything like I did. It progressed in amplitude quickly over about a week and could have been dangerous. Happy Riding! Joe __________________ 2017 BMW F800GS Adventure
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