Hello Ulli
Mine shakes it's head too, my front wheel has a slight buckle and is OK until the tyre wears down and starts to wear out of round then the wobble starts.

Rickmeister,

I would have thought about tyres and steering head bearings straight up.  I expect the wear in the tyres relates to certain brands when they become excessively worn, may contribute. 

Also, how much weight were you carry on the rear of the bike, as in camping gear etc?  Did you jack up the rear suspension another notch?  If not, then the weight differential between front (worn) and rear tyre may be out with possibly more weight on the rear leading to a lightening of the weight on the front. 

As you were "coasting" down hill and not under power with the rear suspension compressed, my guess would be a combination of these factors.  It is probably more pronounced at certain speeds and conditions than others. 

Solution would be to replace tyre(s), take weight of rear of bike and accelerate.  Possibly change brand of tyres.  Is there a grove in the centre of the tyre like as in the earlier Metzlers?  I think this groove contributed to straight line stability in previous generations of thinner tyres.  At a certain wear limit it was less stable. 

Does this make sense as I am not sure I explained it properly? Others may have other ideas. 

I hope this was the only downside of the weekend. 

Cheers, Dave.

Mine used to when fully loaded, mate, especially with the tyre was worn down, but remove everything off the back and she would just go back to the normal bike I rode to work every day, mine exaggerated also due to the lack of a fourth cylinder out front, I guess if I'd had a spare pannier for the front shed have behaved fine. When shes gets a new front it will feel magic again mate

looks like another successful Tablelands adventure for the Krew. good to see all have survived the weather conditions over the past few days and enjoyed a great trip away.
Uli , I encountered similar wobbles whilst coasting with Rosskko and Waz out to Tottenham ,
 I could only put it down to excess gear on the rear end which lightened up the front . 
Hope you find this is the case for your wobbles.
good to see Rosskkos mechanical gifts bringing Smurfette to the party , and well done Gaz for a tremendous effort after your return from the eccentrics.
a great turn up by all.

charlie99 wrote:just home now smithy

low cloud lifted nicely the other side of Ben Lomond

hope the southbound Krew got similar relief

beautiful riding weather along the path till about Warwick when the sun appeared almost full view ...then the heat came back as a reminder to just a day or so ago ....the descent into the Brisbane valley brought unwelcome humidity  and at home was 27c ...not too bad but a  stark contrast to last nights celebration of yet another fantastic event held by the Smithy's

was absolutely great to catch up with so many of the east coast members ...and sadly we missed many because of circumstances outside their control ..maybe we will bump into each other on the next k bike events


thanks again for hosting the event and  to Kay , Warren for the fantastic support ...many thanks indeed

It's been a whiteout here all day and still is, just as well the ride was on Saturday!

Also home safely after 7.5 trouble and police free hours

Absolutely knackered.
Top weekend. Thank you to Kay and Craig for their hospitality and breakfast skones this morning.
I probably have a photo or video to post.
Tomorrow.
Night all

Looks like a good weekend, wish I could have gone.  Any reactions to all those Ks riding together?  But it's probably good that I didn't go in the end as I had something else I needed to do.

Thursday I got a call to book me in for a pre-employment medical for a job where I was successful at interview.  I've been walking lots everyday to bump the last few kgs off as I need to weigh less than 100kg clothed. I was hoping for another 2 weeks and I know I'd be fine at my present rate of weight loss. At the moment I'm just over that most of the time.  So this weekend wasn't wasted, lots of walking that wouldn't have happened if I'd gone to Guyra. I'm sure my weight would have headed the other way with a bit of enjoyment over the weekend.

Then I can ride a red Honda for a living, get to ride on footpaths and all!

Another 5km around the rowing lake at Penrith first thing tomorrow morning.

Al

That sounds like a really excellent meet up. Keep them up too, you only live once!

On the handling I had similar issue with known good head bearings, wheel bearings shock and tyres and loaded with camping gear. I am 90kg in full gear. Rear tyre pressure cured it. A loaded K is at a rear tyre weight limit so needs to be hard. I had to go 46psi. Front I went to 40. Using tank bag and keep top box light helps a lot. I only use BT45. I use K for work and often have the same weight on board.

Put a new tyre on and then we will continue this conversation. As for don't let go I can ride for miles with my cruise control on and arms folded and steer by shifting weight on either footpeg.

of corse there were the famous "smithy's scons "



straight from the oven

didn't last long either

just to add some  pics to the post ...from my perspective

great weekend

over several mountain ranges

Hello!
Looks like you had a great time,
a lot of bricks! :-)

Cheers espresso

AL-58 wrote:
Then I can ride a red Honda for a living, get to ride on footpaths and all!

Al

Congratulations.
You should have come Al. Would have been good training based on past events.
Rain, hail or shine and this year heavy mist and blinding heat.
Will you be working with DaleRT?

rosskko wrote:

AL-58 wrote:
Then I can ride a red Honda for a living, get to ride on footpaths and all!

Al

Congratulations.
You should have come Al. Would have been good training based on past events.
Rain, hail or shine and this year heavy mist and blinding heat.
Will you be working with DaleRT?

I can deal with anything except blinding heat.  Friday was bad, around 41C here.

Will try for next year.

Al

The worst heat I got was Friday at Junction Hill just north of Grafton 44°C at about midday but 42°C was the usual temp. Then at around 2 PM right at the bottom of the waterfall way my fuel pump died and I had to wait for an hour for the fuel to cool enough that I could get my hand into the tank to work on the pump. I still have a burn on my right hand like sunburn. Fortunately I had a pump with me only because it has happened before on very hot days.
Give the K1100 it's dues even towing the  camper the temp only got slightly above where the needle sits normaly and even climbing the ranges it never needed the fan to help it along although it did get hotter than normal where some slower riding was necessary behind some trucks and slow cars.

Looks like a good time was had by all - well done K riders! Hope to make it to next years run!

Except for the ride down from the North Coast on Friday with Charlie  (around 39°c at lunctime) I didn't think the heat was too bad. 

The Saturday ride (520klm) was comprised of a good mix of highlands, escarpment and coastal, providing a nice range of temps (neck was a bit chilly going back up in the afternoon). The panoramic scenery, especially up in the highlands was awesome and at times dramatic as moist clouds rolled in over the ranges in the afternoon also creating some damp conditions at the campsite at smithy's.

Riding throughout the day was spirited and I enjoyed everyone's company out on the road but particularly keeping pace with charlie, rickmiester, smithy (& Kay)..... and trying to catch rickG :pirat:. Some good boot scraping corners going back up via Nymboida to Ebor in the afternoon was a lot of fun.

Had a nice cruisey day on Sunday heading down to Newcastle with Tom along the heavily patrolled New England Hway arriving at 3.30

A really big thanks to Craig and his family for their great hospitality over the weekend.

I have some pics to post but not possible atm from my tablet. Will get to a PC later (laptop away undergoing resurrection due to win 10 issue).

Great to read and see such positve vibes from the gathering. I had been called up for jury duty and after much tooing and froing from the slow wheels of justice the judge eventually dismissed us. The parties decided to sort it out between themselves. I will try to make it next year.

G'day Al, sorry you did not make it to Guyra. I hear a rumour that you are about to join Australia's biggest motorcycle club.??? Cheers Tom

I may have been watching posts from a beach. I really wanted to be there this year. We are hoping to be able to join in on the fun again soon.  Really miss the riding. 

Good to see there is still a strong contingant.

Albyalbatross1 wrote:I may have been watching posts from a beach. I really wanted to be there this year. We are hoping to be able to join in on the fun again soon.  Really miss the riding. 

Good to see there is still a strong contingant.

good to hear alby mate ..
cheers from down here

the loop for me this year

and yes it was very hot in casino

Rickmeister wrote:Got home at about 14:30. The Yellow Peril developed a weird front end wobble. When coasting down a hill at say 60Km/h, and I take both hands of the handle bar, the whole front end shakes violently from side to side. Checked tyre pressures when I got home...all OK. There is no "slop" at all in the swing-arm or the front head-stock bearings. Nothing obvious leapt out on initial inspection. Tyres fairly well worn. Will replace them and get a proper wheel balance done, before delving further. Curious if anyone out there in K-Land has experienced this. It's quite scary!!

Anyway, I would also like to again thank Smithy and Kay for their v.kind hospitality. It certainly was a great weekend.

Cheers, Rickmeister.

I've had that twice Ulli and did a post about the first one. It gets wild very quickly but it is also very surprising how little pressure it takes on the bar to stop it. 

I put it down to scallop wear on the front as it disappeared once the tyre was changed on both occasions.

Gerty and my old girl resting in the shade outside the Lunatic Hotel at Drake while Charlie and I enjoy an ice cold lemon squash inside. Temps around the very high 30s. From here it was up the hill to Tenterfield thru 30klm of twisties.

Arrived safely at Tenterfield for lunch after a bit of hard throttle coming up the hill.

The campsite at dawn on Saturday morning

The line-up at Griffiths lookout near Dorrigo

Smithy and Charlie taking cover from the hot sun at Griffith's lookout

Bella kitted out for the ride in Sean's Rocket III with sidecar (ATGATT)

Lunch at the Coffs Harbour Surf Club

Good to see that Bella is still enjoying life.  

Paul.

she has a companion these days Paul
"shamus"  a widdle wee dog  with immense attitude belonging to "Kerry " seaniis "other half"  now




black and white ...and originally scared by blokes ...the first few times that we met the "hillbillys "  sean's colloquial naming for the pets in the sidecar

of corse bella has always been the "superstar in doggles" ,,,attracting many strangers to the sidecar

 

was great to meet up with seanii on this ride yet again

it seems that many cycle associations are a bit parochial as to associations of bike manufacturer ,,types ...but seanii is always welcome with us lot ..no matter what he rides ,,,he has been an inspiration for many things out here

+1 Charlie, there's no reason why Sean shouldn't be here...we miss him and Bella (and Kerry and Shamus)

Paul.

Well, I managed to get lost after the weekend and travelled North instead of South!

Having met up again with Charlie and Dave at Tenterfield, said goodbye to Charlie and continued with Dave and some reprobate who didn't have the taste to own a BMW (Kawasaki KLR? 650). We had lunch at the Lunatic at Drake. Seems to be an appropriate place for me. 
Lost Dave at Casino, then through Kyogle and over the hill to the upper creeks of the Tweed catchment. Said Kawa reprobate is actually my favourite cousin, and I had a couple of very pleasant days with him and his wife. 

Finally got my directions correct and started traveling South on Wednesday, overnighting at Kempsey. Continuing South today with a stop at the Nabiac motorcycle museum. One glaring omission - I could only see one blue and white propeller logo!

Crazy hot traveling today, and got windy as the day progressed. Thermometer behind the fairing showing up to 47C!
The good Tom has come to the rescue, and I have taken refuge at Newcastle for tonight. 
So after 8 days, I will finally be home tomorrow, having covered about 2700km. 

As always, the fellowship and kameraderie has been second to none. 
Thanks to all for your kompany, and especially to Kay and Craig for your hospitality and organisation of the weekend. (Craig, you'll really have to consider a change to the first letter of your name.)

Bill

That's a rather nice trip and off again to Gaz80 for December 5th. Excellent stuff indeed.

As for 47C my favourite time on the K is 47F, with a clear day and sun shining, the warmed petrol tank being great central heating, then sit outside snug in the bike gear and a good mug of tea.....so we can ride all year and enjoy every minute of it!.

A warmed petrol tank definitely wasn't on my good list today! And I was kicking myself for not installing the fuel cooler I've had kicking around the shed for months. 

Still hoping for a return visit, Olaf, but not sure I'd have been happy to inflict a number of 40+C riding days on those more familiar with 40+F temperatures. 

Bill

Well Bill the red green carpet is out for you. At 47C the only cooler of interest here would a beer cooler. Trying to interest an Eccentric in a fuel cooler at 47C would be a major challenge.