Wobble, Wobble, Bagger Wobble! Pt 2 - Frame Brace ...

In the previous installment, Wobble, Wobble, Bagger Wobble! Pt 1 - Frame Brace, I went through the story of discovering that Bagger Wobble really exists, at least on my 1999 Road King. I also found that others had the same experience, and that solutions existed. In fact, there's a cottage industry out there with companies selling various, albeit similar, frame/engine stabilizing systems to take out the horizontal movement of the rear wheel/swingarm assembly on pre-2009* Harley touring bikes.

This assembly is all rubber mounted, allowing the swingarm and rear wheel to flex, effectively allowing the rear wheel to "steer" independently of your desired path of travel. And I don't care who you are, having your back wheel wobbling while you're in a fast turn ain't no fucking fun.

And no amount of muscle on the handlebars gets it under control....All you can do is ride it out while slowing down. The problem is under your ass, and not in the front of the bike.

Now, let me restate the condition: I am NOT talking about handlebar or front fork shimmy as a result of air turbulence on the fairing or windshield. I am NOT talking about loose spokes or unbalanced tires. I am NOT talking about getting blown all over the road by a semi. I AM talking about an oscillation while leaning into a fast turn in which the rear wheel seems to move somewhat slowly, left to right, as if on a pivot, while you're holding the front forks steady. In fact, they are on a pivot...a rubber one. It sorta feels like a tire is low and the bike wants to slide out from under you.

So my search for a fix wasn't a search for a magic bullet that will take away front-end shimmy resulting from air turbulence, or a bike that was immune to ruts in the road. That ain't happening. I was, however, looking for a solution to keep my back-fucking-wheel in line with the frame.

I'll add that my son's 2007 Street Glide has the same problem, and he describes the condition in exactly the same terms. And Kenny has been riding and racing bikes since he was 5, first racing Motocross and then running superbikes on a road course. He knows what he's talking about.

So that's the issue, and my path finally led to getting a True Track 20-00 stabilizer from the folks (Ron) at True Track. $380 bucks, or something close, shipped priority mail to my door. Made in the USA and the device even has a frickin' serial number.

Machining is second to none, and they even build their own Heim joint hardware out of stainless steel. Except tools and Loctite, everything you need is in the box. The cage is actually machined out of one solid block of aluminum which itself tells a story. It's far easier (and cheaper) to make something like this out of components, all bolted or welded together, but an assembly like that would be subject to distortion and would loosen and/or break over time. True Track didn't take the cheaper short cut, doing the work the hard, proper way.

Ron said he could install one of these braces in 15 minutes, and that being mechanically inclined, I'd be done in half an hour. I was. If I hadn't already straightened out the crossmember, it would have taken about half an hour more. See the previous Pt 1 post for info about fixing a bent crossmember or click here for a link to a tool to do the job.

It's possible to do the True Track installation while the bike's on the side stand, but I put the Road King up on a lift for easier access. First remove the five 1/4-20 socket head cap screws from the oil pan using a 3/16" extra long Allen wrench or extended socket.

No, the oil pan doesn't leak...not a drop. Clean off the mounting surface at the bolt holes with a wire brush or something...Scotchbrite would work too.... and start the long stainless steel replacement screws (supplied) using a couple drops of blue Loctite on the first couple threads.

Then slip the two pucks on top of the cross member, spigot side down, letting them plop down into the large crossmember holes. The slot in the outer diameter of the puck on the right (actually they both have slots, but the right one has nothing to catch on.) will catch onto a steel dowel that's welded on top of the crossmember. If there's a plastic wire tie mounted to that dowel, pop it off and toss it. I had one, though no wires were attached. A screwdriver popped it right off. The pucks need to sit flush on top of the cross member or you'll cross-thread the bolts.

Flip up the dog bone that mounts to the crossmember, looking up through the mounting holes into the threaded puck holes. If the holes aren't aligned, turn the adjustment screw on the Heim joint until the holes are in line. Then put some blue Loctite on the first couple threads and snug up those bolts by hand, with a light touch on the Allen wrench. I think they should thread in easily, and if not, something's not lined up. Check it again if necessary, but don't force the bolts.

Now torque down the cage and dog bone mounts per the supplied instructions. This is no time for a 3 foot piece of pipe on a wrench. Careful! You sure don't want to strip these threads!

OK, back to that adjustment screw on the Heim joint/link. It should be in a neutral position. To me, that means not pushing in one direction or pulling in the other. Use an open ended wrench if necessary to turn it to a position where there's a tiny amount of play in either direction. Just a small fraction of a turn. That screw has left and right hand threads. Turn it one way and it pushes the mounting points away; turning in the other direction pulls it together. Like an old drum brake adjustment screw.

When you find the sweet spot, dab a little blue Loctite ( I LOVE blue Loctite. I don't chase parts down the road any more!) on the tip of a matchstick or sliver of wood and rub in on the threads where the lock nuts will seat. Then lock up both sides. In case you're wondering, I used the matchstick approach for applying Loctite to the threads since getting the squeeze bottle to function, upside down in tight quarters, didn't work out.

Ok, that's it. Now the tail end of the engine/swingarm assembly is solidly linked to the frame, horizontally. The fit was flawless, and there were no surprises or "Oh Shit" moments. It looks good too, though I was a little worried that the right side stuck down too far and might drag in right hand corners. I dropped the lift and took off for the Interstate.

Early results:

• Generally, the bike feels more solid and in control.
• No noticeable new vibration as a result of adding that link. The tail of the engine can still move vertically. It's only restricted horizontally.
• The fairing/windwhield wiggle when around trucks is still evident; I had some unrealistic fantasy that it would go away. That said, the bike feels more stable and easier to hold now while wallowing around in the turbulence.
• The bike is far more stable encountering grooves in the road parallel to the path of travel. Doesn't feel as squirrelly. Again, any bike will follow a rut, but my Road King had more of an issue with ruts or road grooves than my Softail or my Nightster.
• There was no dragging of the mount on the right side, even when I seriously laid it over in a turn. 
• Fast turns carrying a lot of weight has yet to be tested, but I have been around a few corners with a passenger, and there wasn't the slightest wobble. I'm optimistic that this condition of Bagger Wobble is under control.
• I should add that I didn't try to convince my passenger that they were going to participate in a high-speed cornering test to see if a life-threatening wobble was still present. Or put another way, Donna would have killed me, even if the wobble didn't! LOL
• And of course, I found out that going first to the high-end True Track vendor would have saved me a lot of time and grief, which would more than cover the extra $100.00 their unit costs. But that's your checkbook and your decision. If you do decide on a True Track, and I highly recommend it, you won't be sorry.

I'll report back in after the next run when the bags are loaded and I run into a corner hard and fast. And it'll either wobble or it won't (and I'll still be able to write or I won't! LOL), but given how solid it feels around town and on the interstate, I think that's one problem I no longer have.

* THIS JUST IN! A Must-Read for 2009-up touring bike owners; From Ron at True Track:

"One should note the swingarm set up on the new frame 2009 - present hasn't changed though Harley has done a great job in marketing the public to believe they have. The swingarm is still rubber mounted and still has horizontal movement. Our part number 20-00-09, supplied for all 2009 -present framed Touring model Harleys, sells just as often as the earlier frame model True-Tracks. Just a heads up.

Thanks for the great write up - it's always appreciated and keeps us going!

Ron

True-Track, Inc |  Rear Suspension Stabilization Experts

Direct: 818-623-0697 | Fax: 818-623-8705

sales@true-track.com | http://www.true-track.com/

"

So it's not just the pre-2009 Touring Harleys that have this issue. If you have questions or are uncertain about your bike or have special issues, I highly recommend picking up the phone and calling Ron at True Track. He's knows this stuff and is eager to help out. Great guy and great service.

Cowboy

PS Here's a link to the final post, Bagger Wobble, PT 3

Wobble, Wobble, Bagger Wobble! Pt 1 - Frame Brace Upgrade for Big Blue

On a recent ride from Alexandria, Virginia, to the Outer Banks, North Carolina, making friends with my newest bike, a 1999 Road King, I got a thrill ride I wasn't expecting. Not expecting it at all.

I was running fully loaded, rolling southeast on 295, bypassing Richmond, and running pretty fast. When exiting I295 onto 64 eastbound, I leaned hard into a fast sweeping left turn. What should have been easy and fun turned into something entirely different when the bike started a strange wobble. It wasn't like a front end shimmy, but instead felt like the front and rear wheel were twisting in opposite directions. Weird. I let up quickly on the throttle, gently squeezed a little brake, and settled it down just in time to lean it to the right where the ramp blends into 64. Damn if it didn't start again. To be honest, it scared me a little. I thought I had a flat or something had broken.

I slowed up a lot, waving the traffic around that was piling up behind me, finally getting over on the shoulder. A girl driving the car immediately behind me pulled over too. I began checking tires and anything else to see if something was obviously wrong. The girl that had stopped came up and asked if I was OK, and said she thought I was going to go down. Even she could tell I was having a tough time holding onto it.

I couldn't find a damn thing wrong. Tires looked good, the front forks seemed to still be attached to the frame (LOL), and the swingarm wasn't visibly broken, which was something that crossed my mind. I thanked the young lady for stopping, fired up the bike and went on down the road, but I made it a point not to run the bike hard into any more sweepers. (.....and of course, I spent the next 100 miles wondering if I should have asked where SHE was going!)

Though I didn't pay a lot of mind to it at the time, I also noticed that on 64 east, a concrete road, the bike seemed to like following the grooves and irregularities in the road...more than normal. All bikes do this of course, but I usually notice it with the front wheel, and this felt a little different. Like the tires were going in slightly different directions, or angles, to the direction of travel. Or maybe I was still freaked out and over-sensitive due to my "wobble experience".

The rest of the trip was thankfully wobble-less, but the experience bothered me, and more than a little. I run bikes hard into corners, and running quick around long sweepers is something I enjoy, costing me more than a few sets of footpegs, etc. over time. It's money well spent, and cheap thrills in my book!

So I came home, and did what I always do. Hit the internet and google around to see if what I experienced had been noticed by others. BAM! First GOOGLE search on "Bagger Wobble" turned up hit after hit, describing exactly what I felt including the tendency to follow grooves in the road. I even found a horror film on YouTube that captures an even worse event, although not by a hell of a lot. My "adventure" was a lot like this one. Click here: YouTube video of an extreme case...

After reading lots of accounts, including some that say this wobble thing is a myth, I found that the supporting evidence seems to far outweigh those who haven't had bad experiences. And I damn sure didn't imagine my own, so I looked into why it happens, and set out to find a solution.

Interestingly, Harley Davidson seems to deny there is a problem, much less offering a "cure". Still, I wasn't imagining things, and the cop in that YouTube video wasn't faking it, so maybe there's a little something to the claims, right? And if not, some folks have sure built a thriving cottage industry creating elaborate solutions to a problem that, according to Harley, doesn't exist.

The first thing I learned is that this issue is limited to Touring Harleys, and not Softails, etc. And some say Ultra's seem to be more prone to having issues than other models. I don't know about that part, except to say that my Road King has it, and the cop in the video was probably on a Road King too.

I then learned that the frickin' swingarm isn't directly connected to the frame, but instead is linked to the rear of the transmission/engine which is completely rubber mounted, free to move independently! Really HD? Therefore any slack, wearing of parts, misalignment of wheels, etc can exaggerate a design issue (flaw?)(fuckup?). My bike has 56,000 on the frame so a little looseness is entirely possible.

In addition to looseness of other parts with a little age to them, the condition can also be amplified by carrying weight, higher speeds, and having an aftermarket fairing or windshield. In short, the condition might not be a big deal or not even noticeable if you're running light at easier speeds, if your bike is in factory stock configuration with low mileage.

Of note, this is possibly a much less serious or non-existing issue on newer bikes. Harley completely redesigned the touring chassis in 2009, so this problem reportedly either goes away on 2009-up bikes or is certainly less of a concern.

There are several aftermarket solutions for the wobble, with prices ranging from $180 to around $500. Just about every solution seems to do the same thing: Provide a third link that ties the tail of the transmission/oil pan to the frame crossmember or to the passenger footpeg mount. Same difference, really, with one being (the foot peg version) a far less desirable option, at least to me.

They all attempt to control lateral movement, while allowing vertical movement which reportedly minimizes transferring engine vibrations to the frame and rider. And of course, since the swingarm is mounted to the rear transmission area, the back wheel is no longer free to roam independently.

Solutions:

One real cheap solution is to slow down. After ruling that out, I looked at mechanical fixes.

True-Track, on the high end of the cost spectrum, makes a very nice looking system, and there's another one on the lower end, Progressive, that just doesn't look as effective or clean since it's hanging outboard, mounted behind the passenger foot peg.

The Bagger Brace from Bitchin' Baggers caught my eye. Nice looking machine work, solid engineering, and the design distributed the load across a wider mounting area, much like the True-Track system. It seemed like a great compromise in cost and function. I'm a machinist and engineer, with a ton of years in the rocket business so I think my opinion counts. If it was junk or poor design, I'd spot it in a heartbeat.

For the record, True Track, from everything I've gathered, is the creator of the first Bagger Wobble fix system (it's patented), and everything made by others is a knock-off of the original design.

Here's a sampling of what's out there with approximate prices as found on 5/10/2012. Prices you find may vary...check websites or eBay.

True Track @ $380

Bagger Brace @ $290

Gray Area @ $175

Progressive @ $200

Ron from Bitchin' Baggers, aka Phoenix Customs, the maker of the Bagger Brace, gave me a lot of tips and insight after a information-gathering call. Based on the conversation, I placed an order with him for a Bagger Brace, and I was pleased to see a very nice looking chunk of machining and engineering arrive in the mail just days later.

So off to the garage.....

The very first thing I found out was that installation requires the crossmember to be flat, and mine was bowed up in the center due to the bike being improperly jacked up sometime during its life. From what I read in HD Forums, this is a very common issue, so when jacking up that heavy-ass bike, DON'T jack it up in the center of that cross member.

This crossmember should be straight, with the top edge even with the frame rails. See the comment below about straightening.

So I had to straighten the crossmember out. Using a pry bar between the crossmember and the cast aluminum oil pan looked awful tempting. Just a couple grunts might have done the job. But it also might have cracked the fucking pan, resulting in a VERY expensive repair job that was avoidable if I remained patient. I needed to take my time and find a better solution. Patience isn't my strong suit, but this time I turned out the lights in the garage and hit the internet....HD Forums....again.

Almost immediately, I found mention of a tool made by the True Track people....see above....and called them up. My 20-00ET crossmember straightening tool was in the mail that day. It's a damn simple solution and worth the 40 bucks, even if you use it only once. I'm sure oil pans cost far more. Hell, the 20W-50 synthetic oil cost more than 40, right?

So back to the garage.

20 short minutes later, my crossmember was pulled straight and the tool was back in the box and stored on the shelf. The tool worked great, and no oil pans were harmed during this phase of the operation.

About straightening: You should be able to lay a straightedge across the frame rails, and the crossmember should be, within reason, perfectly flat and level with the frame rails. None of these kits that link to the crossmember will fit properly if it's bent. And a bonus is that when you use one of the kits that mount to it, the dog-bone portion of the brace will strengthen the crossmember. Then it won't be so prone to bending, though I still wouldn't jack the bike up on it. Jack on the frame rails instead.....do it right!

I eagerly grabbed the Bagger Brace, and was very disappointed to find out it didn't fit. Boo. And after all this screwing around.

This wasn't a total surprise. While waiting on the tool to arrive, I spoke to the always-helpful Ron at Phoenix Customs who looked at a couple pix of my bent crossmember. Ron observed that I had a non-standard crossmember that he had only seen a few of on 1999-era Harleys. He told me his Bagger Brace wasn't going to fit after all. It seems Harley used a couple older style frame elements (95 maybe?) on newer bikes in '99, or that's the way it looked. He said he'd seen a few others like mine. I held onto the thought that I could make it work, but I was wrong. Ron was 100% correct, offered to give me a refund, so I shipped it back.

To Ron's credit, he also directed me to a competitor, recommending a unit that would do the job. Not everyone would do that, so three cheers for Ron at Phoenix Customs.

An hour later, I spoke to (another) Ron at True Track out in Burbank, CA. He's the guy that sold me the x-member tool, and Ron II helped me get a P/N 20-00 frame brace on order.

I'm waiting on that delivery as this is written, and I'll update the blog when it shows up. Suffice it to say that this fast and easy upgrade hasn't been either. Stay tuned for Wobble, Wobble - Part 2.

True Track, P/N 20-00

Cowboy

Update:
Here's a LINK TO PART II of Wobble Wobble.....

And here's a link to Part III of III...Bagger Wobble

OBX, Get Outa Jail Free

Yet more OBX stuff, but it's all for a worthy cause, 'specially if you, like me, get caught zooming through Kill Devil Hills on the beach road.

In spite of all my claims of blindness to bikers by OBX cops, I found out that they take a very dim view of wide open launches from a dead stop, even if it was to give a little boy something to tell his friends about.

Or put another way, I now know I can hit 52 (in a 35mph speed zone) just as I get into second gear on my Road King...Big Blue is quick. $212.00 worth of quick.

I'll give the cop credit for not being a jerk, and he was actually very cordial and friendly, but not chummy enough to let me slide. I even got a "Welcome to Bike Week" along with my ticket. Mind you, this all happened within 5 minutes of leaving the hotel, first thing in the morning, on the first day of OBX Bike Week. Hell, I might have received the very first ticket! That oughta be worth something, right?

But I came home a little worried about points on my Virginia license, and yes they transfer up. Just days later, I got a nice note from Bernard "BJ" McAvoy who has a law firm in Kill Devil Hills. Apparently, traffic tickets get you on the public record, and BJ picked up that I had a ticket.

First inclination was to toss the note, figuring a ticket is a ticket, and it's best to just pay it. I was caught dead wrong, and I couldn't even get creative enough to make up a story for the judge. And I'm here to tell ya: With all the practice I've had in 44 years of riding, and maybe getting one or two tickets, not being able to come up with an excuse...even a lame one... was a "first" for me. So I let the note lay there on the table for a few days, just for the hell of it.

And a few days later, I called and got through to BJ who hooked me up. After listening to my whining, he said he could help me out, getting it knocked down to a non-moving violation with no points!

Really, I said!?

Yes, really.

Cool!

And the price was right. For just a couple hundred bucks, I was going to keep my driving record clean. Easily worth the small investment, at least as far as I'm concerned.

Another bonus was calling back and getting to chat with Sheryl on the phone. She's not only sympathetic to the cause, but I happened to find out she's got her own helmet! Just sayin........

So if you find yourself in a jackpot down in OBX, Bike Week or not, I highly recommend a call to BJ and tell him Cowboy sent ya! I promised him I'd put in a plug for him on the blog, so here 'tis, and well earned.

Bernard "BJ" McAvoy
2600 North Croatan Hwy
Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948
Phone: 252-715-0267 Fax: 252-715-0269
mcavoy@theobxattorney.com
www.theobxattorney.com


Ride Safe!
Cowboy