More Wobble Woes and Clutch wierdness

[Kenneth Webb]

'Took my new 630 out and started a trip to a friend who lives about 30 miles away, all freeway. I hit a small piece of tire tread laying in the road at 65 mph and got a pronounced wobble in the bike. It felt more like a whole bike wobble than just head shake, but it may have been just the front end. I just turned around and took the bike back home for some work and checking. The front end has been carefully aligned and I found my sag at 3". I've increased sag to 3.75" to allow a bit more when all my gear is in place and I'll try again tomorrow. Today I gave the bars a little push at speed and instant wobble. Tires are the stock Karoos at Husky recommended pressures. I'm thinking that there might not be enough trail on this beast, and of course the increased sag helps that. I was considering the Kouba 1" lowering link but hate to give up the clearance. It would help to increase the trail a bit though. Looking at the tires I see that the Karoo front has a good size groove right down the centerline with no middle blocks. I have found on my street bikes that a continuous groove in the front is detrimental to handling and you get a weaving front end at some speeds, at least on my BMW R1100RT. The back Karoo has a groove too, but it is not full depth and I don't think there would be enough deformation of the large middle block to make a difference. The blocks on the front tire are tall enough to deflect a bit when moving the bars. Might the problem be the tire pattern? I'll be going to Dunlop D606s soon for trail riding and it will be interesting to see what the results are. I've posted the same thing over at ADV RIDER for additional input, and I read somewhere in this forum that a rider had a similar experience.

As for the clutch, my bike was purchased used with 1500 miles of pavement on the clock. I've just started riding it, like in the last two days. When engaging the clutch from a stop it takes up normally, but after the clutch lever is all the way out, there is a pronounced second snatch, as if the clutch wasn't fully engaged at first, and then the plates finally slam together. What? This is an almost new bike and I've never felt that before on any of my previous rides. I haven't taken a look at the clutch basket yet, but may have to. It maybe there is some roughness on the edges of the basket, or does this have to do with the tech bulletin on the clutch rod. Input very welcome and needed!

 

[johngil]

I've been dealing with similar clutch issues. I've got about 2500 miles on the bike and it seems to be calming down a little.
I just drink a few extra beers at night and keep that warranty paperwork handy.
No wobble for me, though.

 

[LawnDartMike]

My clutch seems like during the last 3/8 inch of clutch lever movement the plates grab. Very progressive like it should be up to that point and has done it since new. And it doesn't matter what rpm it is at. Annoying but I can live with it.

 

[ContraHusky]

Increasing trail will NOT cure a speed wobble -- it only slows down the frequency of the wobble, which can mask the underlying issue. A bike should not speed wobble, even with no trail. The TE630 has plenty of trail.

My wobble went away when I very carefully tuned the front end. Perfectly parallel fork legs; perfectly aligned axle holes; properly tightened head bearing. The final piece was aligning the rear wheel. The notches on the swingarm were not accurate -- off by about 1/8".

I can now ride my TE with the forks all the way up as high as they'll go in the triples, with 3" of rear sag. No wobble up to 90mph with stock Karoos. It also rides steady up to 90 with the SM wheels, which reduce trail even more. You've got more tuneup to do...

There is a warranty recall on the clutch push rod. Contact a dealer and you should be able to get that. My dealer mailed me a new one. The swapout took 10 minutes and I mailed back the old one.

 

[johngil]

Increasing trail will NOT cure a speed wobble -- it only slows down the frequency of the wobble, which can mask the underlying issue. A bike should not speed wobble, even with no trail. The TE630 has plenty of trail.

My wobble went away when I very carefully tuned the front end. Perfectly parallel fork legs; perfectly aligned axle holes; properly tightened head bearing. The final piece was aligning the rear wheel. The notches on the swingarm were not accurate -- off by about 1/8".

I can now ride my TE with the forks all the way up as high as they'll go in the triples, with 3" of rear sag. No wobble up to 90mph with stock Karoos. It also rides steady up to 90 with the SM wheels, which reduce trail even more. You've got more tuneup to do...

There is a warranty recall on the clutch push rod. Contact a dealer and you should be able to get that. My dealer mailed me a new one. The swapout took 10 minutes and I mailed back the old one.

I agree. Buy a chain alignment tool.
The marks on the swingarm are not accurate

 

[organ donor]

Justchanged over to winter tyres ... and got a very slight wobble. At approx 130 km/h. Not really worried as I don´t need all that speed in winter.

 

[SilverBullet]

I posted my wobble experience already on AdvRider. For me it was all a worn rear Karoo. Two different rear tires since stock rear replaced and my Karoobble is gone.

I feel a similar thing with my clutch but have always attributed it to the TE's "cush" clutch. I can feel it most when not optimum rev matching my shifting. I would still like to know how our cush clutch works. I looked at the parts diagram and can't figure out what's in there to cushion.

_

 

[Huskyfly]

Clutch issues, none.

Wobble, I had my rear tire replaced yesterday afternoon and while riding home at about 65-70......I thought it was just the road but now I'm wondering if I need to look at the rear alignment as the bike on the stock Karoo's didn't wobble at all.

 

[Kenneth Webb]

I talked to a mechanic at the dealer who sold my bike and he is a TE610 rider. His opinion is that much of the wobble is caused by too LITTLE sag! He said that when he tightened up his rear the wobble went away, and since he has increased the rear spring rate with the addition of an Ohlins rear shock his bike is rock stable up to 90 mph. He thinks stiffening the rear puts more weight on the front end and the front is just too light as delivered.

I did more checking this morning, loosening the forks and axle and aligning again. The forks had a very slight twist, but ever so slight. Checked the rear axle alignment and found it less than 1/16 off. Corrected. Everything is straight and true now, but I ordered a sheet of plate glass to use on the forks to double check the alignment and parallel. When loosening the front and pumping the forks I heard a slight pop. Something somewhere changed slightly. Still had to do a little tweaking to get the fork uppers straight by sighting along the tubes. The steering head seems tight, with no movement by grabbing the forks, but I will loosen the upper clamp and check the tighness anyway, just as soon as I can glom onto a 30 mm open end wrench to get the upper off without removing the bar mounts.

The dealer is checking into the tech bulletin on the clutch rod. Does anyone know what the rod change is supposed to fix! I haven't read anything about that anywhere.

The Atlanta dealer who originally sold the bike has the new wiring harness in hand now, and is prepared to change it out if I take the bike there. Wow, that's a long drive from Houston! Can't do it anywhere else. The burned harness cover where it comes so close to the header has been taped up and moved to the front of the down tube out of harms way and I have to decide if it is worth the gas and time, motel, etc., to get the wiring changed out. Much of the bike has to come apart for the work.

I still haven't made a test run with the new changes, but will this afternoon. I'll post the results later. This is all so agrivating! I went down on the WR one time on the TAT at a good clip, tweaked the front end, and rode all day with no adverse affects until I could straighten things by eye at the evening stop. Surely the TE isn't THAT sensitive up front. I'm thinking it's something other than fork alignment; tires, sag, spring rate, etc.

 

[CJBROWN]

Increasing trail will NOT cure a speed wobble -- it only slows down the frequency of the wobble, which can mask the underlying issue. A bike should not speed wobble, even with no trail. The TE630 has plenty of trail.

My wobble went away when I very carefully tuned the front end. Perfectly parallel fork legs; perfectly aligned axle holes; properly tightened head bearing. The final piece was aligning the rear wheel. The notches on the swingarm were not accurate -- off by about 1/8".

I can now ride my TE with the forks all the way up as high as they'll go in the triples, with 3" of rear sag. No wobble up to 90mph with stock Karoos. It also rides steady up to 90 with the SM wheels, which reduce trail even more. You've got more tuneup to do...

+1
Alignment, front and rear
Too much sag
loose headbearings
tires

Mine is a LOT better, no more wobble, just some hunting at speed. Trail is obviously sufficient - try turning the bars at speed and see how much resistance you have. At first I thought it was a lack of trail too but that's not it. I really think front and rear alignment are the primary cause.

Unfortunately they put a spring on this bike to handle a big rider or rider and passenger - about 275-300lbs worth. If you back it off to get a full 4" of sag it's too soft on the initial stroke 'till the spring takes up. I've tightened mine back up a bit to just over 3" of sag, and it rides better, still plush, and handles well. I think a softer spring probably makes sense for a single rider.

I was getting wobble at 65, now nothing up to 80, but I'm afraid to go faster on this bike, it starts to hunting back and forth pretty good unless the pavement is butt-smooth.

 

[Kenneth Webb]

More talk with the local Husky dealer. There are bulletins for the 2011 on the clutch rod and actuator (probably my issue exactly) and also for the rear sprocket bolts (also mentioned by others). I'll be taking it in for those items and continuing to try and adjust out the wobble. New D606's ordered, and Tubliss will be going in too. I really like them and they have been great on my WR. One flat on the TAT and I plugged it trailside then continued to wear out the tire. Balancing is a must however with the Tubliss if you are going to do any hiway work.