low speed wobble

Hi everyone, I have a 76 kz900....What would cause a low speed wobble.. at at under 30 let go of the handlebars and it will start to wobble.......thanks

Loose bearings (steering head or wheel)
Bent wheel, defective/worn tire. Low pressure

Like what was already posted, I would start with checking tire pressure, then putting the front end up and re-cheching the steering stem preload. While the wheel is up tape a pencil to the fork leg and check for trueness of the rim.

Your fork height will have an effect of stabiliy too.

I almost guarantee it's worn out steering head ball bearings. The balls wear into the races and at low speeds the balls want to roll in and out of these little recesses.

To find out if this is the problem, put the bike on the center stand and have someone hold the rear tire on the ground so the front wheel is unsupported. Turn the bars slowly back and forth and you should feel the bearings "bumping" as you do.

Take the front end apart and throw the stock bearings and races into the bush as far as you can throw them then replace them with a tapered roller bearing kit.

Its probably a good Idea to also check the swing arm bushing/ bearings as this can cause handling issues as well.

I'm in agreement with Terry K. My KZ 650 wobbled at about 40 mph. I took the front end apart and found the lower balls were all rusty. I replaced them with the tapered bearings and all is well. No wobble even up to 100 mph.Bob

A lot of those other problems usually happen at higher speeds. The ball bearing thing usually happens at low speeds.....although really bad cases will show up at any speed.

I'll go with low tire pressure, my 750 Ninja did that to me! At high speed my wobble was due to a cracked frame on my 73 Z1.....

Dave

id suggest the omr steering head bearing mod myself

Steering stem bearings; irregularly worn tire(s); swing arm bushings.