Front End Shake
 

Greetings all! Hope your holiday season is going well. I need some advice. The handlesbars/front end on my superhawk wobble when the handlebars are let go of. The problem seems to be worse at low speed and during decceleration. The tire is not new, but it is not quite ready for replacing. Should I go ahead and replace the tire? I was wondering if the bearings are bad, or could a warped front rotor be the problem....it does not appear to be bent. Any suggestions before I spend some $$$$$$$$ replacing stuff?

Don't ride with your hands off the bars! <smartass answer>

Yup, that's the way I'd attack it: tire first, bearings next, and then others (rotor/wheel/fork alignment, etc) last. A cupped tire combined with loose bearings usually seems to be the culprit.

I had the same problem with a new tire so it is very possible it's the tire. You should check for play in all areas first, (head bearings, wheel bearings, etc), because that's not effected by the tire. If everything seems tight check the balance if that's good then replace the tire.

Re: Front End Shake
 

Thanks for the advice. I took a real good look at the tire this morning and it is cupped in a few places slightly. I think I'll have the bearings checked before I replace the tire though. Any idea where to get a cheap throttlemeister once i get my shake problem solved?