Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

hi guys
My bike(r60/2) wobbles a little on the freeway.
I usually slow down to 50 mph and hug the tank with my knees.
I have avon roadsides 90 /90-18 on the bike
Will tightening the steering damper when you hit those grooves help , or is it just because the tires are small?
Any help appreciated

Has the bike always wobbled? What tires have you used in the past? Does the freeway have any grooves in it or has it been ground in a way to create lines in the pavement (eg concrete) running down the road.

You say Avon "roadsides"...do you mean Avon Roadriders AM26? Pictures of the tread on these tires show a bit of a central channel running around the circumference...not fully but some. Tires with some kind of central channel can move around if present to a pavement with grooves in it. I run Metzler Block C in front which have a major central groove, but I don't have any issues with wobbling...most of my roads are asphalt.

The steering damper is really only for slow speed running over very rough road. Using in a situation like this is covering up for something. I think you need to consider the tires and roads they're on, tire balance, air pressures (something like 32 front 36 rear), steering stem bearings, shocks, wheel bearings. How are the steering stem bearings? If you raise the front wheel off the ground and give the bars a slight push from the center position, do they speed up and prang off the stops or do they stay where you push them to?

Make sure the easy stuff is correct and go from there.

Yes,
You are correct Avon roadrider
The road has been ground to have the lines in the cement. On asphalt, no issues whatsoever.

I will check all your notes above. Looks like a good start but thanks for clarification on what the steering damper is for

This should tell you what you need to know about steering dampers and more.

https://w6rec.com/friction-hydraulic-steering-dampers/

Take Kurt's advice and eliminate the possible causes that he mentions. Then, if you explore past threads, you'll find a lot of discussion of this problem with grooved surfaces ("rain grooves"). It is most pronounced with tires that have a linear groove that goes all the way around the circumference of the tire. I always choose tires that don't have this feature. Metzeler and Heidenau both offer good options. The last time I checked, the preferred Metzelers were hard to find in North America, but Benchmark Works has a large selection of Heidenaus.

I have this problem on a stretch of freeway near my home . The bitumen has been grooved to clear the water away . I run standard Heidenau tyres Front 3.25 x 18 K34 and Rear 3.50 x 18 K 35 . Tyre pressures Front 32 PSI and Rear 34 PSI . My bike is a 1961 R 69S at first it scared me . What I do now is relax and let the front move around a bit . I used to own a Yamaha TRX 850 with wide tyres and that was never a problem .I also have a 1991 Honda CBR 250 RR 4 cylinder 250 and it also has wider tyres than the R 69s with no reaction from the grooves . I have never used my steering damper . Hope this helps .

If your tires have the classic grooves that run parallel to the road, try gently weaving left and right in your lane, so that your tires are not parallel to the grooves as much. This may feel awkward at first, but after a while you will get the hang of it. It works and will become second nature after a while.
As always, pay attention to vehicles around you.
Steve
R50/2
R90/6

I have Heidenau K36 on my R69S and they do NOT weave on the grooved pavement, they are perfect in every way IMHO. BUT!

I have Heidenau K34 on my R51/3 and they weave on anything the bike can find. They are all over the place on grooved pavement. Steve is right that by performing a slight weave on the grooved pavement it stops the tires from grabbing the edges.

I had the same problem on my R51/3. While renewing the front tire, I checked the bearings, and they were a little loose. New bearings cured the problem.

I had Metzlers that tossed me around. I switched to Mitas H02 with center lugs and it sure helped!
Brian