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Rear Wheel Wobble

cowboyup3371

cowboyup3371

Forum Guru
Past Site Supporter
I was told I had a rear wheel wobble while on a ride with Steve's son in January. Today I tried to figure it out by attempting to twist the wheel side to and top to bottom (did not do it as many times as I was told to do though). The entire bike moved when I did so I assumed nothing is loose. I also found the two marks were off by a half mark but even after adjusting the wheel it looks to me like it is still wobbling.

I posted a video to Youtube taken from behind the bike. It looks to me the wheel is wobbling like a fish tail but I can't tell for sure. Does it seem to you that the wheel is wobbling?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-46USH9d9c&feature=youtu.be
 
Clean the mud off the tire and take another video, with close up pic of the wheel turning slowly. Can't see Jack in that video except the muddy wheel going around.

Did the bead pop onto the rim uniformly all the way round the tire? Is the rim straight?
 
Steve mounted the tires and yes I'm sure it popped uniformly. I also believe the wheel is straight from what I saw.
 
I will try to get over there tomorrow if the weather doesn't get too bad.

I found a couple of articles that made mention of tire pressure. I didn't check the tire pressure today before doing this but if it was low, would that affect how it runs even without something holding down the rear end?
 
Is it more noticeable when you apply the rear break? If so the wheel is not aligned properly.
 
Thanks guys, will do that tomorrow if I can get over there before it gets too nasty (if it does).
 
Okay, I placed a sharpie on the left side of the tire today and it's only marked in one location. I then put the sharpie on the wheel too but it stayed on all the way around so I don't think there's anything wrong with the wheel itself. I also removed and reinserted the tire into the swingarm making sure I torqued it to 80 foot pounds as per the information in my Clymer's; for reference, I hand tightened it before I took that video. However, while the Clymer's specifies a difference between the 77-82 550s (62-83 ft-lb) and 83-84 (36-58 ft-lb), the service manual just says 36-58 ft-lb. I wonder if I tightened it to much this time?

A friend of mine says it doesn't look to be too much of an issue but suggested I ride and see what it feels like. I'm probably going to do that tomorrow but am uneasy with the overall issue. Despite the bearings being only 3-years old, could they still be the cause of my issue?

Sorry, but I didn't take a video of it today; I'll try to do that tomorrow.
 
One thought I had while trying to read up on Google for the causes of this problem stems from bad bearings both in the wheel and the swing arm. Now, I replaced the wheel bearings 3 years ago and the swing arm bearings last year when I did this maintenance. Yet something that happened during the swing arm bearing replacement is coming up in my mind and I'd like to put it to rest.

When trying to remove the old swing arm bearings, I was able to get one side out fairly easily. However, the opposite side, the left side I believe, gave me a large amount of trouble and I took it to the base auto hobby shop for assistance. They finally got it out by heating the end of the swing arm but in the process deformed the tube when prying the bearing out. They told me to bring it back after I powder coated it and they would fix it.

Fast forward to putting in the new ones. The auto hobby shop reheated the deformed side and rounded it off again. I then installed the new bearings but installed one backwards by mistake by placing the flat side of the bearing is to the interior of the swing arm and not the outside.

Could the bearing sitting backwards cause my sort of problem?

How does that small lip on the bearing work as far as pressure against it?

Would the heating of the swing arm cause a problem despite being put back into position?

I didn't see any out of roundness after they fixed it and didn't think it would cause problems but is it possible?


EDITED to add: For reference sakes I have tried grabbing the swing arm and moving it side to side; I had no perceptible movement when I did it.
 
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Scott,

Swingarm bearings are not the reason for the wheel wobble. Wheel bearings maybe, but not the swingarm and/or the bearings.

You might want to do as Dave suggested and perform wheel runout check; tape a piece of metal or plastic next to the wheel edge, next to the polished surface, and then spin the wheel. Watch to see if there is any wobble. That will help you decide if it's the wheel or the tire that's wobbling. I assume it's the tire, due to inconsistencies in the way the tire fits on the wheel, or maybe the tire is just out of round some. At any rate, you first need to isolate the problem to the root cause.

Good luck
 
After reading/viewing your posts for the past 2-3 years, have you considered another hobby that might not get you or one of your children killed?
 
GSX1000E said:
After reading/viewing your posts for the past 2-3 years, have you considered another hobby that might not get you or one of your children killed?
Click to expand...

Another snarky comment from the internet tough guy.:(
 
GSX1000E said:
After reading/viewing your posts for the past 2-3 years, have you considered another hobby that might not get you or one of your children killed?
Click to expand...

Who the hell are you to act like that? Are you married and do you have kids? If so, follow your own damn advice
 
Nessism said:
Scott,

Swingarm bearings are not the reason for the wheel wobble. Wheel bearings maybe, but not the swingarm and/or the bearings.

You might want to do as Dave suggested and perform wheel runout check; tape a piece of metal or plastic next to the wheel edge, next to the polished surface, and then spin the wheel. Watch to see if there is any wobble. That will help you decide if it's the wheel or the tire that's wobbling. I assume it's the tire, due to inconsistencies in the way the tire fits on the wheel, or maybe the tire is just out of round some. At any rate, you first need to isolate the problem to the root cause.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Thanks Ed; I more or less did that yesterday and found the tire moved but not the wheel. How does a tire get out of round especially if it was used one year then sat in the garage the next while the bike was rebuilt? Could the weather changes affect the rubber enough to cause this?
 
Most likely Scott, the tire was never properly seated on the rim, or maybe it's just a bad tire. I doubt it got worse with time, most likely you just didn't notice the wobble.
 
I think reseating the tire wouldn't hurt. Clean the rim really good on the inside and use real tire lube when you go to seat the bead. It often takes upwards of 60 psi to seat the tire. Don't think I'd go beyond this though without some further study.
 
cowboyup3371 said:
I then put the sharpie on the wheel too but it stayed on all the way around so I don't think there's anything wrong with the wheel itself.
Click to expand...
That tells me your wheel/bearings/swingarm are OK
Nessism said:
maybe the tire is just out of round some.
Click to expand...
and so is mine. Ive been trying to isolate a high speed wobble and wheel/tire runout is one thing Ive been checking. My rim is pretty true but Ive checked 3 rear tires and all three have slight runout when mounted and spun on that same wheel. I think we need some measurements. Are we talking 1/32"(which is about what mine is) or 1/2" (which is probably unacceptable).

FWIW: Dont want to stray from the topic at hand... but check to make sure your chain does not have a frozen link which can cause the swingarm to flex.
 
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