Topic: no hands ?

[Ernie]

hey fella's, when i ride with no hands on the handlebars i get a little bit of a shimmy in the front end, not so much that its uncontrollable but enough to worry about .is this normal or do i have some kinda problem in the forks or tripple tree not that i make a habit of riding that way but i do like to know the bike .also ive had it up to 85mph........ smooth as silk

[scondon]

 Loose stearing bearings and or notched bearing races?  Pretty common for these old bikes.   If it's just a loose steering head then tightening it up can take the shimmy away. If the races are notched/dented then tightening the steering can actually make it worse. It's not much work to test it out. If it really bothers you then you can replace the bearings with a tapered roller bearing set. Or just ride it as is

[kghost]

Wheel outa true will do that too

Spokes bent or loose too.

So will a scalloped tire and to a certain extent a wheel outa balance.

Some times extremely hard tires that have dried out contribute

[Gordon]

With bikes this old, there are any number of things that could cause this.  Best just to keep at least one hand on the bars at all times and enjoy riding!

[eldar]

If you must go no hands, try a few different roads. I ride smooth as silk on some and shimmy on others. Just depends on the road surface. Around here they cut smal grooves in the road to supposedly aid in traction in the winter. Well on a bike, things get kinda hairy.

[apormarkos]

i used to have a little wobble from the front tire, tread depth was good, but the tire was old.  i got new rubber all around, shimmy was gone.   never let go the handlebars at highway speeds, but the shimmy was apparent even at 20-30mph.  all gone now.
apor

[STLrocker]

had the same kinda shimmy. i replaced the steering bearings with rollers. problem solved. it made everything about the bike feel better.  its worth it even if your stock bearings are not worn out. 

[ElCheapo]

The wobble could be any number of things combined all of which have been covered here. I can not stress enough MAKE SURE THE WHEELS ARE TRUE. When you lean it hard they will buck like heck in the corners as they skip across the corner apex. Not good to say the least.

I have only taken my hands off the bars but a few times ever. My throttle slaps shut so hard I don't dare pull this too often. I trust the old girl to get me where I am going, but I don't trust her enough to take my hands off the bars for too long.

[Ernie]

thnx guys i'll check all the things you listed and let ya know how it goes