Steering feels a bit loose, almost wobbly at low speeds

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romnation
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Steering feels a bit loose, almost wobbly at low speeds

Post by romnation »

At very low speeds, around 5mph, the steering feels a bit loose on my PCX and almost wobbly. It does not feel as stable and it seems to require more effort to get the bike to stop in a straight up position as opposed to wanting to fall to one side. Not sure what is going on here. i did hit a rather large pothole fairly recently, also I did have a minor low side on the bike (10mph) awhile back. Not sure if any of this could be related. What should be checked?
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Re: Steering feels a bit loose, almost wobbly at low speeds

Post by you you »

romnation wrote:At very low speeds, around 5mph, the steering feels a bit loose on my PCX and almost wobbly. It does not feel as stable and it seems to require more effort to get the bike to stop in a straight up position as opposed to wanting to fall to one side. Not sure what is going on here. i did hit a rather large pothole fairly recently, also I did have a minor low side on the bike (10mph) awhile back. Not sure if any of this could be related. What should be checked?

Tyre pressures first.
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Mel46
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Re: Steering feels a bit loose, almost wobbly at low speeds

Post by Mel46 »

Tire pressure.

X2
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Givi tall windshield & tailbox - Lots of extra lights
Custom seat from Thailand - Bad Boy Airhorn
Takegawa Lowering Shocks - Michelin City Grip Tires
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NCY variator, drive face, and rollers
romnation
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Re: Steering feels a bit loose, almost wobbly at low speeds

Post by romnation »

Same problem still exists with correct tire pressure it seems. What is the best course of action here? Anything else I can check? Maybe if I go to the dealer I can test drive a PCX and make sure I'm not just crazy when I go to drop off the bike? :lol:
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Re: Steering feels a bit loose, almost wobbly at low speeds

Post by you you »

romnation wrote:Same problem still exists with correct tire pressure it seems. What is the best course of action here? Anything else I can check? Maybe if I go to the dealer I can test drive a PCX and make sure I'm not just crazy when I go to drop off the bike? :lol:

Is the bike under warranty?
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Re: Steering feels a bit loose, almost wobbly at low speeds

Post by romnation »

you you wrote:
romnation wrote:Same problem still exists with correct tire pressure it seems. What is the best course of action here? Anything else I can check? Maybe if I go to the dealer I can test drive a PCX and make sure I'm not just crazy when I go to drop off the bike? :lol:

Is the bike under warranty?
Negative. :(
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Mel46
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Re: Steering feels a bit loose, almost wobbly at low speeds

Post by Mel46 »

Has it ever been wrecked? ...not a drop or a low speed anything...I am talking about an accident at cruising speed. If not, you just might have bent the front rim.

Here is a test to see if the steering is loose. Have someone hold the front wheel still while you try to move the handlebar left and right. It should feel tight, with no play...or you can take it to the shop and have the mechanic try the same thing.

Most of the PCX's seem to be able to withstand much more than just a minor pothole, unless it was a really big pothole.
Currently own:
Red 2013 Honda PCX150

Givi tall windshield & tailbox - Lots of extra lights
Custom seat from Thailand - Bad Boy Airhorn
Takegawa Lowering Shocks - Michelin City Grip Tires
Headlight assy upgraded to LEDs w/HS5 main bulbs
NCY variator, drive face, and rollers
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Mel46
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Re: Steering feels a bit loose, almost wobbly at low speeds

Post by Mel46 »

I did a quick search on the forum and came back with this link, though it may or may not pertain to your problem.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7175&p=97988&hilit ... ing#p97988
Currently own:
Red 2013 Honda PCX150

Givi tall windshield & tailbox - Lots of extra lights
Custom seat from Thailand - Bad Boy Airhorn
Takegawa Lowering Shocks - Michelin City Grip Tires
Headlight assy upgraded to LEDs w/HS5 main bulbs
NCY variator, drive face, and rollers
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Re: Steering feels a bit loose, almost wobbly at low speeds

Post by BRTID »

I have the same problem. I have owned numerous bikes and this really disturbed me the first time I rode the bike. I replaced the steering head/triple tree bearing straight away. Seemed to fix the problem for a while but resurfaced again after replacing the original loose ball bearing type with caged ball bearing type. Looking tomorrow to get a mechanic that will tighten the bearings to try and fix the problem. I think in general though, the fact that there is less weight on the front end, due to the upright riding position has a bearing (no pun intended) on the relative 'looseness' of the steering head assembly. A point worth mentioning is this, if my racing bikes were as loose as this in the track movement, I would be shitting myself everyday. Personally will be asking my mech to 'over-tighten' - bearing races be damned. I'd prefer to have some stability and replace the triple tree bearings every year than suffer the nervous wobbles that I currently suffer under power just before going around a bend.
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