Ok, I'm a learning over here  :bikersmile:  What is 'wobble'?  I know that it's where your bike 'wobbles' and people usually bite it if this happens but, what causes it and how can you recover? I freaked myself out the other day because I was driving over a long road crack and I could feel my tire sort of following the crack.  Now, I know that isn't wobble, but I didn't like the feeling none the less....  SO!  What causes wobble and how does a person recover if they find themselves in this situation?? :humm_smilie:

wobble is usually caused by going too slow. The faster a bike is going the more stable it is. If you find yourself in a wobble, don't panic, just accelerate and the bike will straighten itself right out. Same with riding a crack; don't panic, don't do anything rash, just ride it out. Like James said, just put on a few miles and all this will be second nature; soon fourth gear stand up wheelies will be childs play! ;D Kidding, only kidding

QUOTE:
<br />wobble is usually caused by going too slow. The faster a bike is going the more stable it is. If you find yourself in a wobble, don&#039;t panic, just accelerate and the bike will straighten itself right out. Same with riding a crack; don&#039;t panic, don&#039;t do anything rash, just ride it out. Like James said, just put on a few miles and all this will be second nature; soon fourth gear stand up wheelies will be childs play! ;D Kidding, only kidding<br />

<br /><br />+1<br /><br />I put a Bridgestone tyre on the front this year and that tyre just seems to seek out the cracks in the road....it&#039;s nuts!!<br /><br />But, although it goes against what you know in a car, speeding up does help alot in situations like that. Also, if you&#039;re ever in a skid where you panic and your back tyre locks up, don&#039;t let go of that back brake until the bike is straight, if it&#039;s skidding and you let go of the rear brake when the rear tyre is off to the side, it&#039;ll grab and potentially jump you right off the bike (referred to as a highside).

What about wobble when you are going fast?&nbsp; I heard of a guy who was going over the bridge on the way to Moose Jaw and he started to wobble at high speed.&nbsp; He managed to ride it out but he certainly wasn&#039;t going slow....I&#039;ve skid my back tire before...not to be a jerk or anything, just figuring things out&nbsp; :bb_smilie: good info on the highside tho...didn&#039;t know that one.

maybe she&#039;s talking about a tank slapper???&nbsp; The only thing I&#039;ve ever high speed wobbled on was a skateboard.&nbsp;

It sounds like Jackie is talking about high speed vibrations in the front or rear tire that can lead to a &quot;tank slapper&quot;.&nbsp; What happens is your front or rear wheel is out of true when you are cruising down the road.&nbsp; Normally its the front tire that causes this, but not always.&nbsp; This defect could be because of a tire balance issue, defective tire (e.g. broken cords, bulge, missing tread, cupping), improperly loaded bearings, bent rim, bent or mis-aligned spokes, improper alignment of the rear wheel, incorrect rake setting, etc....<br /><br />Everything that rotates has a natural balance point where the rotation is smooth and even.&nbsp; This is why they add tire weights when they balance your wheels, they are trying to achieve this natural balance point where you have a smooth turning of the wheel.&nbsp; Because something has altered this natural balance, you end up with a greater load on one side and as the wheel rotates, it tends to pull towards that load.&nbsp; Since the wheel is turning, that unloaded point moves so what happens is it pulls at different points which makes the wheel want to move back and forth - the wobble.&nbsp; <br /><br />Now we add one final element into the mix, matching frequencies.&nbsp; Lets say your tire is out of round and has a high spot.&nbsp; When the tire rotates, as the high spot comes in contact with the ground, your bike is lifted by the amount of the high spot - lets say 1/2 inch.&nbsp; Lets now say that this happens at 40 miles per hour your bike tire does 6 revolutions per minute.&nbsp; So every 10 seconds your tire goes up and down - one cycle.&nbsp; Lets further say that the dynamics of your bike and the pavement you are riding on also have a frequency at 40 miles per hour of 6 cycles per minute and 1/2 inch.&nbsp; Picture the pavement as having low spots, high spots, low spots, (this should be easy to picture in Regina...).&nbsp; Well, if you are lucky, when your tire&#039;s high spot is coming to the bottom, you also just happen to be riding into a dip and the two exactly balance each other out.&nbsp; If you are unlucky, your tires high spot hits the pavements high spot (matching frequencies) and now you have 1 inch of movement.&nbsp; This makes the wobble.&nbsp; <br /><br />A tank slapper is just an extension of this.&nbsp; The wobble we just went over sends a corresponding movement into your handlebars and front end.&nbsp; Well, guess what, they also have a natural frequency that they move at.&nbsp; So, if the wobble being sent to your handlebars also matches the frequency of your handlebars, things start shaking really hard, really fast.&nbsp; It can get so bad, each end of the handlebars hits the tank, left grip, then right grip, etcs - the tank slapper.<br /><br />Most of the time, if you keep you hands on the handlebars, you&#039;ll never encounter this because your hands being on the bars changes the bars frequency of oscillation and the simple act of moving your arms also changes the resonant frequency on a constant basis.<br /><br />If you do ever get into a tank slapper, and you still have your hands on the bars, try to give the bike a bit more gas - move yourself at a different frequency - and the oscillations will stop.&nbsp; Braking is generally considered a no-no since your front tire isn&#039;t making full contact with the grouod and that leads to all sorts of issues typically ending in the bike and rider taking a spill.<br /><br />Factory bikes have engineers who spend inordinate amounts of time calculating rake, trail, tire dynamics, etc to offer you the safest ride possible.&nbsp; While rare, most tank slappers on factory bikes are caused by improper tire care.&nbsp; Running your bike on tires without enough air causes them to cup -&nbsp; a condition where you end up with ridges on the tires (remember the up and down example - then think ridges).&nbsp; It can also damage the side cords and now you have stiff and weak spots on your tire which can also cause the same up and down.&nbsp; <br /><br />On non-factory bikes, if the person creates a front end simply for looks, you can end up with some really interesting dynamics that can easily lead to a tank slapper - a not uncommon issue in the 70s when chopping bikes was cool.<br /><br />Anyway - off my soap box.&nbsp; If you have any additional questions on this, please let us know.&nbsp;

Nice to have ya here jamesgoodchild...I even learnt something...&nbsp;

WOW man, what the hell DON&#039;t you know!!!!&nbsp; :eeksmilie: You are now officially my &quot;go to guy&quot;