Shinko 244's and speeds above 60 - death wobble

[fjmartin]

I recently put on a set of Shinko 244's on my RX3. 5.10-17 on the rear and 3.00-18 on the front. Tubes are standard IRC...not heavy duty. I have a wheel balancing stand and got them perfectly balanced. I have the proper tire pressure for road riding of 33 rear and 32 front, I have verified that the chain tension is good and that the rear wheel is straight and that the axle nuts are torqued to 55 ft-lbs. They ride fine until I get up to freeway speeds around and above 60. They bike starts to do a wobble (slightly swinging left and right) which in the bicycling world we call a death wobble as it can get out of control and cause a crash. It goes away if I let off the gas and bring the speed down below 60. The OEM CST tires did not have this issue.

The only thing I can think of is I did not powder the inside of my tire and maybe the tube has a twist of something in it?

Any ideas or experiences that you can relay?

Thanks much!

[rjmorel]

Originally Posted by fjmartin

I recently put on a set of Shinko 244's on my RX3. 5.10-17 on the rear and 3.00-18 on the front. Tubes are standard IRC...not heavy duty. I have a wheel balancing stand and got them perfectly balanced. I have the proper tire pressure for road riding of 33 rear and 32 front, I have verified that the chain tension is good and that the rear wheel is straight and that the axle nuts are torqued to 55 ft-lbs. They ride fine until I get up to freeway speeds around and above 60. They bike starts to do a wobble (slightly swinging left and right) which in the bicycling world we call a death wobble as it can get out of control and cause a crash. It goes away if I let off the gas and bring the speed down below 60. The OEM CST tires did not have this issue.

The only thing I can think of is I did not powder the inside of my tire and maybe the tube has a twist of something in it?

Any ideas or experiences that you can relay?

Thanks much!

FJ, mine does exactly this also. Short term fix is to simply lean farther forward and wobble goes away. Front end is getting to light and wants to wander around just like me.
Long term fix games on and all things come into play. Balance between you sitting, how weight is arranged in your panniers if they are installed on bike, heavier on one side verses the other. air pressure in tires, how tight bearings are on triple clamp thingy, hand guards not mounted exactly the same causing air turbulence, tire tread pattern setting up a harmonic gyration. etc ,etc ,etc, blah , blah, blah so,
I just lean forward and take it as a built in safety device telling me to slow down I'm not a teenager anymore. rj

[fjmartin]

All super good info. I'll ride it cafe racer style :-) At the same time I switched to the Shinko's I put on the Tourfella luggage and it's wider and takes more air. They are fairly heavy but evently weight distributed and not above the max 10Kg per side. I also did adjust the hand guards so I'll check to see if I got them even. Thanks again! I keep seeing more and more folks with RX3's in WA. When's the WA RX3 rally?

[ben2go]

I had this problem on my CB500X.I upgraded to a stiffer shock,and the head shake/steering wobble went away.If the preload is adjustable,I'd increase it about two clicks and test ride.If it gets better,you know the rear is to soft,or has to much sag.

[rjmorel]

Originally Posted by fjmartin

.......... Thanks again! I keep seeing more and more folks with RX3's in WA. When's the WA RX3 rally?

Good question FJ. Some of the Wash. Guys did half the WABRDR this summer. I think it was hot and dusty. Not my cup of tea for the old lungs.
Maybe a meet and greet campout somewhere between east and west would be neat for going out on day rides, camping at same place , leave camp setup and cooking smores around the campfire at night.
I maybe heading to Alaska on my "other bike" middle of June to middle of July if life works out to do so.
Open for suggestions. I found that to plan a big "todo" type of ride usually gets to complicated and most people can't fit it into their schedule. But short weekend jaunts fit better into most peoples lives. I would rather do several small get together rides then a big long one that takes people away from family and work schedules. What say you guys? rj

[fjmartin]

I'm in. I'm recently retired which means my calendar is generally open. I do race bicycles so that is generally the only scheduling conflict I have as my sponsors want me at the events. I like the idea of doing some bike camping/day jaunts from some central place and kicking back to some smores and the occassional adult beverage. I'm good with east or west side of the mountains. If it's a long "drive" to get there I have a motorhome and a motorcycle trailer to haul it. Have fun in Alaska. I so want to make that journey some day!

[fjmartin]

I'll check that out. I need to recruit my wife to do some sag tests. She's used to helping me with that on my full suspension mountain bikes! I have to say that it felt great on the trails yesterday. Didn't feel the back end kicking or any bottoming out. Front end stayed connected well to the trail. And while it wasn't a technical trail I did go through some searious pot holes and some rocky sections to check it out. Thank you for the suggestions!

[Jay In Milpitas]

FJ, well done on doing the wheel balance, but did you check that the tire beads seated properly, both front & rear? Are the tires running true when you spin them?

Once those are ruled out as a wobble cause, try removing the Tourfella panniers and see if the wobble vanishes.

Mine's pretty much stock and I do occasionally get a bit of wobble at freeway speeds and I have to remind myself to relax my grip and get my elbows out to eliminate body induced inputs. Like magic it straightens right out.

[fjmartin]

I did check and they spin true and the beads are fully seated and even. I'll do some tests without the luggage and as a road biker I've experienced the death wobble when I am freezing cold and shivering and know to relax and even open up my hands to prevent me from causing it. That wasn't the case in this instance as I was warm and even went through my mental checklist to see if I was causing it. I'll report back!

[ben2go]

Originally Posted by fjmartin

I'll check that out. I need to recruit my wife to do some sag tests. She's used to helping me with that on my full suspension mountain bikes! I have to say that it felt great on the trails yesterday. Didn't feel the back end kicking or any bottoming out. Front end stayed connected well to the trail. And while it wasn't a technical trail I did go through some searious pot holes and some rocky sections to check it out. Thank you for the suggestions!

You're welcome.

[dh]

One thing I realized when I ordered Shinko 244s off Amazon... is that they have are not actually Shinko. I believe they are stamped "Golden Boy" brand or some other nonsense. Whoever made them, they seem to be holding up well on my ride.

[bogieboy]

I have noticed that as well, I believe shinko brands certain sizes as golden boy, and they used to indicate that on the shinko usa site... not sure if they still do... I knew before I ordered a shinko 244 for the rear of my kawi ke100 it was going to say golden boy...LOL

[fjmartin]

Mine also say Golden Boy...I figured that was customized just for me :-)

I did some testing today based on the great feedback from the group. First I pulled off the Tourfella luggage and hit the highway. Got to 73 and it was pretty stable. Put the luggage on...empty...and it was still stable. I loaded it up and it wasn't so good. So it is the fact that I have too much weight in the rear and it's lightening up the front end so it wanders a bit. That explains why lying on the tank helps some. I weighted what I had in each case and I had 18.6 pounds in the left, 21 in the right and 9 in the top. They are rated to hold 22 pounds in each side and 11 pounds up top. I'm going to go through my stuff and take out some of my stuff...I'm an over packer so I think I can knock it down a lot and then I'll test again...once the rain stops.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

[Jay In Milpitas]

Originally Posted by fjmartin

So it is the fact that I have too much weight in the rear and it's lightening up the front end so it wanders a bit. That explains why lying on the tank helps some.

Swap out the cute, dainty aluminum handlebar for a good, solid bar-stock iron unit, add some lead grips, you should be fine.

[NoVa Rider]

Originally Posted by dh

One thing I realized when I ordered Shinko 244s off Amazon... is that they have are not actually Shinko. I believe they are stamped "Golden Boy" brand or some other nonsense. Whoever made them, they seem to be holding up well on my ride.

I got a set of Shinko 244's from Revzilla, and the front tire was a Golden Boy. Did some internet research and concluded that this is probably an alternative brand name for Shinko. One thing I had not focused on, however, is that the Shinko 244 front tire that fits the RX3 (3.00-18) is "L" rated for maximum of 75 mph. The rear 244 (5.10-17) is rated "P" for 93 mph. I don't know if that has any bearing on the Golden Boy label.

Also, and I hate to admit this, but I did not bother balancing my 244's when I first mounted them, and I also experienced an unsettling high speed wobble. So I balanced the front tire, and the wobble was much less pronounced. But they are still not as stable at higher speeds as the OEM tires.