Thanks. I realize the point here is to learn to ride and ride safe. Not to ride a Harley and be cool.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, but c'mon.....a high-speed wobble was to blame? Are wheel-bearings disintigrating? Spokes collapsing? This sounds like utter nonsense. I've probably ridden 200k miles in my life on HD's. Never experienced any high-speed wobble or heard of anyone who did. My guess is your co-worker was riding with people that were unqualified to ride in a group and did something stupid.....or he did.

one of the first mistakes some new riders make is underestimating the need for proper gear. many see the price of a new helmet in the several hundreds and cheap out. I dont think our guys here would do that but it is far too common an occurence. my current lid is a Schuberth C1 that was $400 new.

You ride a harley so you are an expert?
I'm not making this up. There are al least two companies making a kit to try and change the geometry to prevent high speed wobbles. BTW high speed is a misnomer, we're talking about 70 or 80 mph here. I realize that may be a high speed for a harley but not for a modern bike.

Check http://www.goingfaster.com/angst/lawsuit1.htm
or
http://www.aimag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=500
or
http://www.cyclespot.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-2059.html
or
http://www.americanrider.com/output.cfm?id=1227961

I'm not making this up and just because you've put alot of miles on "A" harley does not mean you shouldn't do some research before suggesting I'm full of it.
It's real, it's happening, and pretending it isn't will not address the dangerous design flaw.

Some of the older BMW's had a higher speed wobble that could turn into a "tank slapper" if you were not careful. Threw off a lot of descent riders.

Turned out to be the setup of the front fork and nothing you could do about it until it was sorted out. Now we know what to do to set it up properly but 20 years ago it was not that way.

On-ramp, I'm glad to see you have deiced on starting on a small inexpensive bike.

If/when you drop it whatever breaks will be A LOT cheaper that Harley parts... and when you go to lift it back up imagine what lifting a bike almost twice it size will be like.

Like others have said buy good gear, starting with the helmet... a good helmet might run you as much as $500 but ask yourself how much is you head worth?

I did a full over the handlebars (endo?) and landed on my face on my dirt bike and walked away sore but uninjured (full face Bell helmet).

I see a lot RUBS with these little tiny helmets which are basically plastic yarmulkes. I say abolish the helmet law, but at the same time dictate that no helmet = no medical coverage.

Thom,

What are RUBS?

I agree with the goofy as skull cap helmet deals.

Bill

Rich Urban BikerS

Thanks Keith, I guess poor rural bikers never don a worthless or fake skull cap.

The amount of stereotyping taking place in this thread is absolutely mind boggling. Jesus, I hope all of the posters in this thread making "comments" don't live in glass houses.

Sorry Sammy, but I will have to side with Chocaholic and say your sources are flawed. Your first link is from a law firm that is looking for money out of H-D; probably the least reliable source imaginable for unbiased information. Your other links are from internet forums that undoubtedly have just as many, if not more idiots than this one.

I have been riding the specific model mentioned for seven years. 80,000 miles. I ride with a local club chapter with over 1,000 members, many of whom ride the FL series of bikes. I have never, nor have any of our other members ever experienced this condition. This is old news in H-D circles and has been thoroughly debunked. We have discussed and debated this ad nauseum in our club, as have many other chapters. No one personally knows of anyone that has experienced this, and that is from a database comprising tens of thousands of riders.

My bike is a 2000 model year. It does have a weaker swing arm pivot section in its frame than subsequent years, as H-D did find that it was capable of a little too much deflection in hard cornering, which does result in a noticable oscillation. I can make my bike do it at will. All it takes it dragging the floor boards when pushing it hard on the back roads. Tank slapper? Hardly. Not even approaching a loss of control for anyone with any riding ability whatsoever. In a straight line? I've cruised I-90 in eastern Montana for hours at a steady 110 on that bike; in a crosswind, over rutted freeway, over expansion joints, etc. with no indication of this "problem", ever. The guys that ride with me do the same thing. Never a problem.

The market is full of companies preying on morons. It does not surprise me in the least that a couple sell kits to "improve" steering head geometry to "correct" this "problem". They are clearly lacking in both engineering ability and integrity. The problem may feel like the steering head, or the steering geometry to the typical novice weekend badass; after all, it's the handlebars that wobble, so it must originate in the front of the bike, right?:rolleyes: These asshats deserve each other; these companies and their customers.

There are several hundred thousand post-'99 FL series bikes on the road today. There are a handful of "riders" (and I use that term very loosely) that have decided they have a problem. There are a handful of lawyers that see a big company with lots of money. Does that make this issue "real"? Not even close. You are the one who should be digging a bit deeper before posting this kind of nonsense.

Yeah, but was it uphill, both ways, in the snow?

I saw a Harley the other day with cupholders and a stereo; I think the shark has officially been jumped.

Tank slapping is something that will happen on any bike at some point. Its speed related, and there is no easy cure. A lot of sport bikes add dampers to try to control it, but beyond a certain point you start to transfer the energy to the rest of the frame. There is typically a range of speed where the vibration kicks in. The usual cure is just to ride through the range and not force it. The bike stabilizes on its own. I haven't heard of Harleys having this issue since I don't really expect that they are typically ridden at speeds that would cause this to kick in.

On-Ramp,

Good decision.

Last couple of cents. Just laugh at those who may try and deride you for chicken stripes, type of helmet (as long as it’s a good one, clothes, etc.

Lastly if you go the cruiser route and are thinking about HD then think about what you ultimately want. If a relatively stock HD is it then that’s fine. If you are thinking dress-up stuff then again ok. If you are thinking of adding power, wider tires, etc. then re-think it as you will not get your money out of it and past mild hop-ups you are better off with one of the specialty bikes.

S/F, FOG

Head shakes are pretty common as the front gets light when driving off a corner. The easy fix is to get it on the back wheel as you stand the bike up. The downside is putting the wheel back down into a heavy braking zone. That is how I wadded up my Mille. My blingtastic Ohlins steering damper was no match for that situation.

Most riders simply grip the bars too tight and fight the bike. The bike starts doing something they are uncomfortable with and they make it worse.

relax, enjoy the ride and never,ever give up.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1186765342.jpg

When riding on the street, I call them wisdom strips!

Good advice... uh, what are chicken stripes?

Typically, they are cuts of a chicken breast, deep fried, and dipped in your favorite sauce.... OH, "stripes", nevermind!

A rear tire that is severely worn on the center tread with no wear on the outer indicating you don't lean in the turns.

I'd never heard that before either, so in my mind, "chicken stripes" was referring to reflective strips on clothing, etc.