3 questions

[Ped]

Drew Blanchard skrev:
>
> 2.  I've noticed a very slight head shake at lower speeds.  Barely 
> perceptible.   Keeping one finger on the bars is enough to quell it, 
> but taking my hands off around 35 - 35 immediately produces 
> significant wagging.  This /*may*/ have happened on my '95 as well, 
> but I don't remember clearly (hit on the head too many times).  Is 
> this a sign of head bearing or tire balance issues (or maybe 
> alignment)?  Everything seems tight.  Running to higher speeds and 
> taking my hands off the bars shows no problem until speed drops to 45 
> m.p.h.  This does not happen with any of my other bikes (the Super III 
> or the wife's Shadow 500).
>
Hey Drew,

This is a known 'characteristic' on this bike under certain conditions. 
It may occur if the head bearings are too loose. Shot head bearings 
could also be the cause. They were very sparsely greased from the 
factory, and I recall that applying more grease was a "must do" advice 
on this list when our bikes were newer, just like installing the fuel 
filter was a "must do" modification. Maybe the previous owner didn't pay 
any attention the the head bearings. Dismantling the whole front 
including the steering head sounds like a huge operation but actually 
it's not. If you have experience with 'do it yourself' stuff and have 
the manual you can easily do it in an afternoon. Before doing that 
though I would try to tighten the steering and see if it helps. Loosen 
the lower fork clamp bolts and tighten the stem a fraction of a turn. 
Fasten everything and take it for a ride, see if it helped. Repeat until 
the steerings begins to feel weird, then loosen it again to the step 
before. I'm pretty sure this will help. You may have to remove the upper 
and lower fairing and the tank, but you only need to put the tank back 
on before doing a test ride.

A worn front tire may worsen the problem. No matter the reason, on this 
bike you should never ever let go of the handlebars when decelerating 
through some 45 mph. Even though everything appears normal a small stone 
or uneven surface could set off a violent head shake.

Ped
'96 "Black Stealth" GPZ
Denmark