Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: front wheel wobble, wheel wobble, ducati 916

Question
hi,i have a ducati 916,i get the handle bars shaking between 40mph and 50mph,have had the front balanced and still does it,have tried my mate front wheel on it and no shaking, any ideas? Dave

Answer
Hi Dave,
I could do with a little more information about the types of wheel you've been trying. Is your wheel identical to your mates? Is the wheel alloy, spoked or cast?
Usually this is a case of having a buckle in the wheel, I remember having a similar problem on a CB750 in the eighties when 'mag' wheels were still new, it was solved, belive it or not, by my Dad putting the wheel, (minus tyre of course) in their chest freezer! Alloy wheels have a 'memory' and freezing it reminded it of its original form.
I would advise that you have a word with a local dealer, preferably one of the smaller garages who know more about specific problems than main dealers, that way you can have the wheel put on a spindle jig and checked for any signs of wander.
Let me know how you get on.

Andrew.