Thread: Bike wobble
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Old 01-14-09, 06:15 PM
  #23  
yrrej
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I am not sure this is the same problem that bicycles have but...

Once upon a time I had a large heavy motorcycle and I was rounding
a slightly off camber curve and the handle bars started oscillating slowly
from side to side, within a couple of seconds the bars were rapidly
swinging from lock to lock as I struggled to keep the bike upright...

I could actually feel the frame flexing back and forth.

I was able to regain control without crashing, fortunately there
was no other traffic on the road.

The next day I replaced the tires and added a steering damper

I found that I could 'feel' the beginning of this phenomena and found
that if I unloaded the front wheel by adding throttle I could prevent
the undamped oscillations from recurring.

Motorcycles have a much more flexible frame, swing arms on the
rear and shocks on the front so I suspect that resonance is easier
to achieve then on a bike...

Jerry
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