when riding the woods the front wheel seems fine, but when i get on a dirt road and ride fast the handle bars and front wheel shimmer left and right uncontrollably. It hasn't caused me to crash (yet) but it definately makes me feel like i'm about to. Is there anything i can do to fix this w/out having to buy a steering dampener? what causes this to happen? Is this sort of thing normal? I noticed it a little bit depending on the surface w/ my kdx200, but never did it make me feel like i would just get ejected off the bike.

apprech.

 

What you're experiencing is called head shake, and all bikescan do it to a point. It should not be anywhere near what you're describing though. Did this just start, or has it done it for a while. Did you recently changetires? Are the wheel bearings shot? Axles tight? How about the steering head bearings - any play in them?

Any kind of play above the norm is a bad, bad thing. If you recently changed tires, theycould be out of balance. I had a set of Pirelli's do that to me - they didn't shake left-to-right, but instead went up and down like the tire was out-of-round. They only did it on a hard-packed surface, though.

 

Well if all bikes experience head shake then I'm still waiting. 5-70 mph and I haven't' felt that. Yes check that the steering bearings are tight enough, and the axle bolt is tight. You may have a tire that is coming apart, and last but not least, make sure your rotor is not slightly bent, if it is, it will rub on the pads and heat up and get worse. I had a weird weave problem last year and it turned out to be steering bearings that were in need of grease in a bad way. Let us know if you figure it out.

 

Mine did the exact same thing. I wouldn't notice it at first but as everything got warmed up it would start. The only time that it would do it was on dirt roads and it scared the crap out of me. The thing that I figured out is that it is related to steering geometry and is effected the most by the rear spring pre-load. The more pre-load on the spring, the worse it gets. I ended up backing it clear off and it went away but the rear end was way too soft. I ended up replacing the fork springs and the shock spring for my weight, adjusted the sag to spec and problem solved.

Before the new springs I was scared to go over 35 on a dirt road. Now 50 is no problem unless it gets really soft. It's more stable in all terrain and have not bottomed out since the change. It cost about $275 through http://www.moto-pro.com/default.asp

Good Luck.

 

Has your bike got a tyre clamp fitted, as mine used to do exactly the same and i agree that it can be slightly
un-nerving at speed. what i did to prove the point was to remove the clamp and tried riding the bike without it, head shimmy disappeared, so i then took the front wheel out and drilled the rim andadded anotherclampopposite the first to balance the wheel, problem solved.

Simon L