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Rebel 500 Death Wobble? Shimmy Shake?

21K views 41 replies 21 participants last post by  Reigny16 
#1 ·
When I let go of the handlebars, and ride "no hands", the front end will gradually begin shimmying, getting worse and worse, until it gets crazy scary. I should try to get video of it, but it's insane. Letting go of the bars is downright scary on this thing.

I realize you're supposed to ride with both hands on the bars, but to test how balanced and aligned everything is, I always thought a bike that went straight and rode with no-hands easily, was a good sign. My other bikes, I can ride no-hands for days. Set the cruise and lean back, no ill effects at all. This Rebel though, it starts shimmying straight away, and keeps getting worse until it's a death wobble situation.

Oh yes, this happens at all speeds. I ensured the PSI in both tires are at spec. I tried leaning forward and backwards with my weight, but that had no effect! (it did not affect it) I hope this can be figured out, because I love this bike so much already.

It seems fine if I keep a hold of the bars. You would never know there was any shimmy shakes if you never let go of the handlebars. Is this weird? Is this normal? Any help much appreciated, thanks.
 
#5 ·
Just a question.. was the wobble there before or after mounting a small car to the back of your bike? Because I can honestly see that potentially causing some stability issues being that it's so high up catching drag and putting less force on the front tire.
 
#6 ·
I have a slight wobble as well, I took it to the dealer and my front tire has a small ‘hop’ to it, and they also added some weights to the front tire to balance it. The wobble is still there but it went from kind of annoying to liveable.

Line others have said, those three options are most likely your culprit. I may also add that it could be the tires. Some bikes with tires that have a center line type tread down them like these Dunlops can cause a wobble. I had Bridgestone on another bike with a similar tread style and had a wobble also, with everything else checked and square.
 
#7 ·
It looks, that our bikes are very sensitive to weight and bulky items over rear wheel. I've had exactly same problem but I have rather big saddlebags (full of things!!!) and a bag strapped to passenger seat, all in all, maybe 20kilos. But when I unloaded all this crap, bike's behavior returns to normal; and as I can see, you put so big (sail- like) bag well behind rear wheel... and here's result. And how bike performs, with no rear bag?
 
#12 ·
Bike! It starts shaking violently at that speed, and since I was novice rider at the time, didn't feel anything, before handlebars started shaking (both hands on the bars!), and soon after whole bike.
But, OK, if you guys tells me that this is not case here, just told you my experience, it's your bike, anyway:wink2:
 
#16 ·
I have experienced this. Then it went away. I think my problem was my tool bag on the front forks with too much weight to one side. There's not much rake to these Rebels, so small variations probably do a lot more to shake it up than they should. Now I try to make sure my tools are evenly distributed in the bag and I haven't had a problem since.
 
#18 ·
rebelution-any news? I haven't had one issue that you described, though only a few hundred miles til this point. i think if I did i would take it right back to the dealer and say "fix it" cause this isn't right :surprise:
 
#19 ·
I drove a very long ways to buy the bike, and don't really trust the dealer at that. But, no, I have not found a fix.

EVERY time I take my hands off the bars, it starts, and keeps increasing... I really need to mount up my helmet cam to document this - I will, just been busy.

It sucks, and my head-bearings are good, the tire pressures are good, the rear tire seems straight enough, so I dunno. I still love riding it, but my other bikes can ride no-hands all day. I set the cruise on the Indian and can just steer with my knees for hours. The Rebel starts shaking almost immediately, every time.

I guess you're right though. I guess I better plan on having some kids who work at a dealer look at it, since it's under warranty, but I just don't trust other people touching my bikes. It rides great as long as I hold on!
 
#24 ·
Hello there has anyone resolved this issue i have a 2019 with same problem.
Thanks..
I'm pretty confident it's a tire (tyre) issue. I had a very slight shimmy if I let go of the bars on the stock Dunlops (not enough to be concerned about though) , as soon as I put a new set of tires on it was smooth as glass and if I let go at highway speeds it was steady as could be. Whether it was the tires themselves or just poorly balanced i'm not sure but it definitely was corrected with new ones.
 
#27 ·
Hi, new Rebel owner here still in the first week. I love the look of the bike and the performance in general is great. The handling however is a bit of a worry, the Dunlop tyres seem to really struggle in cold weather with all sorts of squirelly weaving on anything less than perfect roads. I have just got back from a 50km ride in 10 deg C temps at highway speeds, between 80 - 110 kmh the tyres are still dead cold. I had similar handling on my previous Virago and I replaced the rock hard Shinko tyres with Metzlers, it was like a new bike. Has anyone tried softer compound tyres or different brands out there? Particularly in cold climates?
 
#39 ·
When I let go of the handlebars, and ride "no hands", the front end will gradually begin shimmying, getting worse and worse, until it gets crazy scary. I should try to get video of it, but it's insane. Letting go of the bars is downright scary on this thing.

I realize you're supposed to ride with both hands on the bars, but to test how balanced and aligned everything is, I always thought a bike that went straight and rode with no-hands easily, was a good sign. My other bikes, I can ride no-hands for days. Set the cruise and lean back, no ill effects at all. This Rebel though, it starts shimmying straight away, and keeps getting worse until it's a death wobble situation.

Oh yes, this happens at all speeds. I ensured the PSI in both tires are at spec. I tried leaning forward and backwards with my weight, but that had no effect! (it did not affect it) I hope this can be figured out, because I love this bike so much already.

It seems fine if I keep a hold of the bars. You would never know there was any shimmy shakes if you never let go of the handlebars. Is this weird? Is this normal? Any help much appreciated, thanks.
Bumping an old thread because I have the same issue. Did you figure out what it is?
 
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