Handlebars shaking

[Chill]

I was cruising down the hill by my house and decided to fix my jacket. I have see no hands plenty of times so I decided to try it. I was doing about 25 MPH and after a few seconds, the handlebars started shaking like it was gonna loose contol. I felt like the bike was not very stable at all.

Is this normal or should I have my front end checked out?

[*chamorita*]

Was the pavement bumpy?

[KJNRIDR]

well considering you weren't braking then you can count your brakes out, but yea was the pavement bumpy? Just one could've caused a chain reaction.
Have you felt it shaking since?

[ZX14BEN]

My 14 will do it some times when i am cruising no hands. I right it off as a little tire wobble and no weight on the front end. I dont like it, couse what comes next is the tank slapper.

[Chill]

I dont like it, couse what comes next is the tank slapper.

That is exactly what I was thinking when it happened. "Oh hell no! Not today" (That's gonna be my new saying )

Des and Brandi, I don't really know it the street was bumpy. I will check and let you know.

Thanks

[KJNRIDR]

Cool,

If there is tire wobble you really should check your wheel rim runout and tire balance. Motorcycles shouldn't really wobble with no hands there are usually built with this amazing balance and an amazing capacity to drive themselves. I'd check that rim runout if I were you.

Brandi

[Jello_Biafra]

You bent your front rim with all those wheelies you've been doing. ;)

[Chill]

Well you know Kyle, I never considered that. :?

Oh well, I guess I can just make it my stunt bike.

[KJNRIDR]

Most likely it's just the fact that you have no hands on the bars, Any bike will do it a little when no hands on bars are involved but if it's there with your hands you may want to check somethings.

I'd say you're fine until you feel it when riding.

Brandi

[Chill]

thanks a bunch for the help guys. Ill try it again and see what happens

[Big Cory]

are you the original owner of your bike? If not, was it a salvage title. I had a bike back in the day that would do that and it had some frame damage. How hard were you coming down when you were attempting your stunts, lol?

fyi, right before you come down, twist some more throttle, it will make your landing softer

[Chill]

Man...I probably only got it up a couple of inches. It didn't even scare me. Haha..... Didn't feel like it came down hard at all.

I bought it new but, my brother rode it a few times and knowing him...he did something crazy on it.

[Jello_Biafra]

You should be fine. Probably just the tires 'tracking' on poor pavement or perhaps you shifted your weight enough to induce a wobble. As has been said, any real suspension or frame ills would be apparent whether your hands are on or off the bars.

One thing that you may check if your tire pressures. A low front tends to flop side to side. It's especially noticeable when turning into slow corners around town, the bars will try to turn instead of the bike leaning.

[skarkburmer]

Is the bike lowered? What kind of bike is it?
That sounds like the classic symptom of a poor lowering job, which i have seen plenty of.
If the forks were slid up in the clamps you might have changed the rake/trail balance which will cause handling issues. Dog bones in the rear will also cause similar issues on some bikes, but thats more rare.

check your head bearings, and make sure your front axle is tightened correctly too.
Or it might be any number of other things mentioned above, a single bump just right can easily do that.

[Chill]

My bike is all stock. EX 500 to be exact. I tried it again and no shaking. It must have been the road like you guys said.

Thanks again,