wobble when leaning left

I'm still a relative noob when it comes to riding. I've been trying to improve my cornering and a couple of times have experienced a significant wobble if I lean particularly far left. I haven't noticed the same on the right but it could just be I'm not leaning as far over on the right.

The wobble rates about a 9.8 on my "oh sh!t-o-meter especially given that I'm leaning as far as I ever have when I experience it..

Any suggestions about what might cause this?

Assuming no fasteners are loose and that the rear wheel is properly aligned - I would check the following:

Tires
Steering stem bearings / adjustment
Swingarm bushings/bearings
Rear shocks
Fork oil type/freshness/level

Any of the above can cause erratic handling. Ed

Thanks Ed. I just got new fork seals and oil. I know they're good.

I did just tighten my chain today and it's possible the rear wheel is not 100% aligned.

Any tips on making sure that's as good as it can be?

Usually I sight down the chain and eyeball it straight. I also pay attention to the notches on the side of chain adjuster, but honestly they don't seem super accurate.

Just found this video. He uses a caliper to align the rear wheel. And he's got a sweet vintage Kaw! :woohoo:

Some folks measure from the center of the axle to the center of the swingarm pivot bolt. If both sides are the same distance the rear wheel is properly aligned. Unfortunately, there may be bike parts in the way preventing a straight line measure of this on one or both sides. I always use the little notches on the swingarm, and so far they have proven to be accurate, but this may not be true on every bike. Ed

air pressure ?

Have you put armor all on the tire sidewall? Maybe you got a little on the edge of the tread.

Have a close look at your rear shocks, as 650ed suggested. Are both set to the same pre-load? You could take them off and check them for re-bound dampening, or swap side to side to see if there is a change.

To expand the possible wobble causes:

I copied this from a post from Jeff Saunders (owner of Z1 enterprises)

Motorcycle Wobble Causes

There's a LONG list of potential area that can cause this.

These are not in any particular order

Wheel bearings

Steering bearings - repack grease, check tightness

Swing arm bushings/sleeves/bearings - replace if worn, repack grease

Fork springs aging - check spring length

Unequal fork oil - if seals leak, then your damping can be ineffective

Rear shocks aging, damper leaks - if you have oil leaking from the seals, the damping is toast.

Worn Tires/Mismatched tires/tire pressures/wrong size tires
Wheel alignment - don't trust the chain adjusters - I visually align the wheels.

Bent rims/broken spokes - get the wheels off the ground and spin them - check for runout / damage

Front disc warped - check for runout

Steering & swing arm bearings are very common problems, but so are tire issues (pressure/mismatch) and wheel alignment.

Thanks for the advice guys. I worked on my rear wheel alignment today. Using the caliper like in the video I found didn't work for me. When I got the chain adjusters to the point where I had the same measurement on both sides, it didn't look right. On the left the chain adjuster notch was dead on the third marker (from front) and the right was at about 3 1/2. And the chain looked slightly off too. So I set them both right at the third notch, chain looked right, decided to ignore the calipers. I went for a test ride and it's definitely wobbly.

I'm due for a new rear tire and I'm going to start there. The wear indicators are all gone and the tire's got a little squareness to it (I told you I'm a noob). So I think I need to replace the tire first then try to troubleshoot after that's taken care of.

Thanks!

Tire is the most likely culprit, especially considering what you just stated.

Yeah the tire will make it sketchy, ask me how I know.