Unless you are doing stoppies(endos), you DO NOT need a damper on the 14. IMO

This is the most stable bike I have ever ridden, you can try to induce headshake, and she stays smooth, even under hard acceleration over ruff road..

Has anyone suffered a tank slapper on the 14???If so, explain the conditions.

Also have you noticed how stable the 14 is in cross-winds???

yeah, I have. I was in second gear wot and hit a rough patch and the front started dancing pretty hard. scared the crap outta me!

My son-in-law bought my 06 Zx1400 from me and he came off a ZX9. The first thing he complained about was the headshake going through sweeping bends. I did not know what he was talking about as it never happened to me. Talking to various ZX 1400 owners in SA, they say to fit a damper. This apparently cures the shake. Tyres are expensive here, so we have to ride them untill they are 'well worn'. I rode the 014 tyres for 18000km's on my 06, and then replaced them with 021's, which work ok but do not brake very well when going for it. I have an 021 rear on my 07/08, and have done 4000km and it still looks good. Maybe halfway worn across the WHOLE tyre! Front discs, not good. Someone else mentioned a wobble/warp, this happened on my 06, but I did ride it harder than my new one. Great talking to you. Cheers.

Sorry, the front tyre for 18000km's. Rear, between 6 and 7000km.

BG, tyre beads have just arrived in SA. I do not know if you have them in the States, but apparently you squeeze them into the tyre and they balance the wheel while you ride. Check out the Bike SA website on Google. Cheers.

make sure that your taped on wheel weights are mounted as centerlined as can be.
If possible divide up the weights and place them on both sides of centerline..
The best wheel weights are the ones that cramp onto the rim...like those that came with a brand new bike.

I have the same problem and it's always resolved with a new front tire.

My front BT-014 did the exact same thing as everybody elses...started to very slightly shimmy, and was so bad I couldn't take it at about 2500 miles. I suspect the incredible brakes on the 14 tend to cup and show any weaknesses in a front tire VERY quickly. I'll give feedback on how my pilot road 2 front does as it wears. So far with about 2000 miles its still smooth as glass

Minerman wrote:
Unless you are doing stoppies(endos), you DO NOT need a damper on the 14. IMO

This is the most stable bike I have ever ridden, you can try to induce headshake, and she stays smooth, even under hard acceleration over ruff road..

Has anyone suffered a tank slapper on the 14???If so, explain the conditions.

Also have you noticed how stable the 14 is in cross-winds???

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My busa has a steering damper, it makes the bike feel stable as a brick, at the expense of a little agility in the corners. My 14 has never headshaken, but without a damper and under power the front end gets light and twitchy enough that I'm not quite as keen to throw it around in the curves...even tho it feels literbike agile compared to the busa. I suspect that for some guys a compromise between my busa's stiffer damping and the 14's lack of damping might be a good thing.......in fact if I was into blasting corners more it might be a good investment for me as well

I've been on the throttle pretty hard a few times and i've experienced some steering wobble my next major purchase will be a GPR steering damper.

Extra weight on the bar ends might work. Try a couple of 2lb salmon weights. They sell them at the Harley shop with leather tassles attached too.

I just wanted to post a follow-up to this thread. I replaced the tires last week and the wobble is completely gone. Must have been a bad front tire, as you guys said. Same guys installed and balanced the new tire as the old ones. -bg

I have a brand new (like less then 50 miles) shinko front on mine and its doing this..

Bummer. Wonder if the place you bought if from would take it back... If it really is a bad tire causing this behavior, seems like we should be able to get it replaced. -bg

Since ALL of our bikes seem to do this-to one extent or another-I have an OBSERVATION.My front tire(DiabloStrada)has approx.7-8,000 miles on her-and IS NOT WOBBLING.Okay,saying that-EVERY other front tire(diablo stradas)that I've had on the front have "wobbled"at varying mileages.What's the common factor here(in my case at least?).Those that wobbled-I did the "heat up the tire swerves" as I rode.Every ride.Some times more than others,but every ride.These present tires-I have NOT done the "heat up the tire deal"They run as straight as an arrow.So...........I can only think that this may be causing the weird jiggle.

I agree 1miner. I thought my ZX11 was stable in the front end, but my ZX14 is even better.

She moves some in strong crosswind gusts, but not much. The ZX11 moved more. Once I rode the 11 down Autoroute 10 in Belgium. Headed due south from Assan, Holland and trying to get to France that day. So I was doing 120+ down 10. The Federal Police with their orange Porsche Carreras just sat on the side of the road on their little concrete pads and ignored me.

When I got slightly south of Brussels, a strong storm came up. The wind was so strong the rain bit through my Aerostich suit like being shot at with a nailgun. Every 30 seconds or so, the crosswind would gust, right to left, and move me from the far right lane into the center lane. Fortunately, I had almost no traffic, I guess everyone else was smart enough to stay off the road. I HAD to get to France. Heh.

I bet the ZX14 would have been more stable in those same crosswinds, based on the ones I've experienced in the passes through the mountains around here at times. Never a hint of headshake, and still on stock tires (barely) at 4,200 miles. They are worn all the way out to the sidewall ridge, too.

Interesting, blue. I think I'll not be doing those swerves any more... -bg

I'd say try it and see-can't hurt?