Felt like a flat rear tire?

[bigdogbites]

Hi Guys,

I had an unusual experience yesterday on my 2010 GW.
I was doing about 65-70 and got off the throttle after passing a car and the rear end of the bike started to wallow for about 3- 4 seconds.
It felt just like a rear tire blow out!
No road debris or other issues that could have caused it.
I was able to slow down and pull off the road .
Checked the tires and both were fine -not low -no punctures .and
I slowly continues about 10 miles home taking it easy at about 55mph with no further incident.

I put it up on the center stand and could feel no play in the rear wheel and all the lugs were tight.
Front and rear suspension was done in 2014 by Racetech and I had thefront fork oil changed a year ago.
I have never done anything with the rear shock since it was changed

Your thoughts?

[Andy Cote]

What tires are you running? Mileage? Pressure?

Possibly tar snakes?

[bigdogbites]

Running Dunlop Elite 4’s with about 3k miles on them
Front @ 38 psi / Rear had 40 psi (it was low about 2 lbs from 42)
No tar snakes / road debris/ level road.
Pre-load set to 25

I also checked the ride height actuator and it’s not getting a load until it hit #8
So I’m going to service the actuator and top it off.
Any other thoughts?

[Bertman67]

I also checked the ride height actuator and it’s not getting a load until it hit #8 ,,,,
How do you check this?

[GoldWingrGreg]

The E4s are very dependent on pavement conditions. Some won't use them because of it. I wonder if your wollow was caused from pavement conditions.

Other possibilities are loosness in the suspension.

[GoldWingrGreg]

I also checked the ride height actuator and it’s not getting a load until it hit #8 ,,,,
How do you check this?

The best way to check that is to side stand the Wing. This test is done while not sitting on the Wing. Then, in a quiet garage, turn the key on and lower the susension setting to '0'. While listening, push the "up button" on the suspension panel, and while watching the screen as the number rises, make a mental note when you hear the suspension pump begin to strain.

[Bertman67]

Appreciate the info!

[Jeffino]

My wife and I had the same thing happen to us the other day! Wife got off and watched the rear tire rotate as I crept ahead. There was a bulge that formed out of the tire! I got off and saw it too. Decided to drive it slowly as we nearly arrived, and the bulge disappeared along with the flat tire feeling.
I'm getting a new tire on there before we go anywhere else, obviously.
Thought I'd share.

[GoldWingrGreg]

My wife and I had the same thing happen to us the other day! Wife got off and watched the rear tire rotate as I crept ahead. There was a bulge that formed out of the tire! I got off and saw it too. Decided to drive it slowly as we nearly arrived, and the bulge disappeared along with the flat tire feeling.
I'm getting a new tire on there before we go anywhere else, obviously.
Thought I'd share.

You bring up a very important point ... a proper tire inspection. One way is to center stand the Wing in 'N' with the engine off. Then laydown behind the tire and spin the tire by hand watching for irragularities on both sides and in the tread.

[Terry D]

I run E4s on my 2005 and never have I had a wobble or wandering with my bike with those tires. I have run through a pouring down rain where I could not see 20 feet in front of me and I was so surprised that not once did I feel a tire slip or slide and that is with over 8,000 miles on them. I can say this, I experimented with a CT and felt very unsafe with it because it felt uncomfortable changing lanes on a freeway and or cornering in the Texas Hill Country. So after 800 miles on the CT, I went back to my trusty E4.