Front wheel shake on deceleration

[trick6]

i bought my 04 fz6 used this past january with 6200 miles from a girl in the air force who only rode it around base. i immediately noticed that if i take my hands off the handle bars when slowing down the front wheel starts to shimmy pretty good and gets increasingly worse until i grab them again. someone told me this could be the cause of bad head bearings?? i love riding bikes but i'm an automotive mechanic and kinda new to the street bike scene since i'm from the motocross circuit. any advice or pointers would be much appreciated!!!

 

[VEGASRIDER]

I'm not a wrencher myself. But you would think you have to start with the basics, like tire preassure and is the tire balanced properly? If the tires are the original stock tires, it's time to change them out anyways, being that it's over 5 years old, can't have much grip left in them.

 

[OZXJR]

I agree with Vegas,I had the same thing happen on my Z1000 and it was the tyre .It was badly cupped.

 

[BlueMachu]

You might also check the brake pad for warping. Or check the rim for being bent by hitting a curb, in a wreck, etc. Tires are always simplest though. If none of those, you gotta get into the bearing guts and hopefully that ain't it. Heck, the front wheel might not be gapped right and additional friction from the brake intensifies the gap wobble.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Tire cupping (worn out) is the most likely culpret. You may also want to jack up the front of the bike and check for any looseness in the steering stem/triple clamps. Simply pull/push the forks (while off the ground) and check for looseness,,,,.