- Easyrider wrote:
- I went DS on my 2004 Swing with a Voyager trike kit. Not sure if the taller DS tire changed the rake which maybe causing some head shake. Will experiment with a MS tire when next I return to Idaho.
Your bike's head shake is probably not because of taller tire. Rake angle, depending on how much taller the car tire is compared to the stock scooter tire, is only going to change the angle possibly up to about 1 degree. (More likely less than that.) Think of/experience how much the difference would actually be by backing the rear tire up onto a 1/2 inch thick piece of plywood. (that would approximate a tire 1 inch taller overall) Not much different at all is it?
You might notice the problem showing up at certain speeds... avoiding extended time at those speeds might help. But with that said...
More plausible would be loose head bearings, bad front axle bearings or overly rear biased weight distribution. (front wheel not loaded up enough makes it more susceptible to instability that can make head shake more likely). But it could also come from the difference in the interaction between the tracking aspects of the front tire and rear tire. The front with its round profile tends to want to turn the bike even at small angles, whereas the rear is always trying to stabilize it upright. (perpendicular to whatever the angle of the road surface is anyway) Weight distribution and frame flex can add to the possibility of initiating and/or exacerbating head shake.
Making sure everything is tightened up correctly and having some weight relocated more forward and lower will help prevent the onset of head shake. If it is absolutely resolved by going back to a bike tire, then maybe that is what you should do. Maybe the fact of using the trike kit on your particular scooter makes head shake more likely. Darkside works, but perhaps not as well as hoped or expected for your set up.