Motorcycle Repair: Honda that wobbles, honda nighthawk s, wheel bearings

Question
Chris, I bought a 86 Honda nighthawk s with 16000 miles on it and it runs great. My problem is it wobbles when drifting to a stop. The wobble starts about 40mph or so and is really bad if I let go of the bars. I've checked the steering bearings,tire pressures,swing arm ,shocks,etc... every thing seems fine. I was told that the 16in front wheel is the problem and that I'll have to simply live with it. What do you think? Thank you in advance. Russell

Answer
Hi Russell.
 Amongst all of the things you have checked, you didn't say if you had checked the wheel bearings or tire balance.

No bike should have a bad wobble like you have described.  I have never known anyone to complain about it in any Honda.

 Now, if this should be a design flaw, which I think you would have noticed right away as would the original owner (you would think he would have said something about it as it is a major safety issue), then the only option would be to get a steering damper installed on the bike.  That would eliminate over 95% of that wobble.

Good luck.
FALCON