2018 Honda Forsa 300 owners.

[BTB1977]

Just checking to see if anyone else who has purchased the new Forsa 300 are having the same problem I have. Just by accident after just 1,900 kilometers I happened to find that when you take your hands off the handle bars it turns into a tank slapper. The bars start to shake. I was driving along 30 or 40 and realised I had not buckled my helmet strap.  So I took my hands off the bars and the front end started to shake. I do not advise anyone to take their hands off the bars. But if you do you may have the same condition I have. Went down to the dealer and he ordered a new front tire . The mechanic said he knew what the problem was. I asked is this covered under warranty.  And he said I do not know. Guess I will find out before they do any work on it. I see Honda had a tire recall on some other scooters a few years back with the same problem. If anyone else has this problem with the same bike as mine please let me know. As we can bring this to the attention of Honda and other owners as this is very dangerous. 

[uwe_rayong]

It is a known issue, a lot of people reported that problem on the Forza Facebook groups. Usually Honda is straight forward to exchange the tire on warranty.  The rear tire also often develops cracks within the first 5k km.

 

If the tire is just a little bit underinflated the problem increases. I think many scooters have the shimmy, especially if they come with a heavy top case. I also have that on some streets if below 60km/h , but it is not a strong vibration and one finger on the handlebar is enough to stop the wobble. But other people reported stronger vibrations also at higher speeds.
Anyway, it is something which should happen only if you drive without your hands on the handlebar.

 

 

[Ahnsahn]

If Honda is aware of the situation and chooses to remedy the problem by replacing the front tire with a new one, does this mean that it's solely a batch of top quality performance tires from the reputable Perilli tire company that are at fault here?

Has anyone uncovered the specifics of the 'official' cause of the steering wobble in some models of the new Forza 300?

[BTB1977]

I will report back after I work it out with my local dealer. I think it is best to not let them touch it UNTILL they say it is covered under warranty.  Most importantly to make other 2018 owners aware as soon as possible.  Thanks. 

[thailoht]

Before returning to your local dealer, why not determine for yourself whether or not the vibration is caused solely by the OEM tyres? Simply replace (both) front and rear tyres with a different brand of tyres (IE., Michelin City Grips[?} - Radials, Bias?) and take your Forza for a ride. Reinstall OEM tyres, with the knowledge of your new observations, return to your local dealer.

[Thailaw]

I have both the older (2014) and the new (2018) Forza. The older Forza has the problem that you describe, and it is quite noticeable. The new Forza has only 530 km on the clock, and when I checked by riding without hands on the bars last week, there was virtually no shimmy at all. The 2014 Forza has about 8,000 km on the clock and still has the original front tire, which I will change immediately, hoping that will solve the problem.  While no one should be riding without their hands on the bars, it can happen for a brief moment, and the shimmy is a danger, which Honda should recognize as a "defect" and correct without question and under the warranty if the warranty is still valid (obviously, not the case with my 2014 Forza).  

[thailoht]

5 hours ago, Thailaw said:

I have both the older (2014) and the new (2018) Forza. The older Forza has the problem that you describe, and it is quite noticeable. The new Forza has only 530 km on the clock, and when I checked by riding without hands on the bars last week, there was virtually no shimmy at all. The 2014 Forza has about 8,000 km on the clock and still has the original front tire, which I will change immediately, hoping that will solve the problem.  While no one should be riding without their hands on the bars, it can happen for a brief moment, and the shimmy is a danger, which Honda should recognize as a "defect" and correct without question and under the warranty if the warranty is still valid (obviously, not the case with my 2014 Forza).  

First of all, congratulations on owning both generations of Forzas!
Secondly, if it only takes a tyre replacement to eliminate the vibrations noticed in the handlebar, then maybe there is no defect unless there is a faulty component causing the tire to wear abnormally.

vv ? vv  ?  vv  ?  vv

 

[Thailaw]

19 hours ago, thailoht said:

First of all, congratulations on owning both generations of Forzas!
Secondly, if it only takes a tyre replacement to eliminate the vibrations noticed in the handlebar, then maybe there is no defect unless there is a faulty component causing the tire to wear abnormally.

If, by replacing the tire the vibration/wobbling can be eliminated, then the tire is defective or has perhaps not been properly balanced. I expect that, like batteries, the warranty from the bike manufacturer on tires is shorter than on the chassis/engine of the bike, but there should be some warranty on the tires. And, if the problem of vibration/wobbling is brought to the attention of the Honda dealer within the applicable warranty period, it should remedy the problem under the warranty without charge to the owner.  The warranty on my 2014 Forza has fully expired, so any remedy/repair is my cost. But if my 3 week old 2018 Forza with only 550 km on the clock had the problem described by the OP, I would expect Honda to correct the problem and replace/rebalance the front tire without charge (assuming that is what is required to solve the problem).  This problem (other than it seems to be occurring on a very new bike, with new tires, etc.) does not seem to be unique to the Forza -- one internet source: 

"Handlebars wobble when I take my hands off. Anyone know why?

 

Question:  I ride a 99 Honda magna and if I take my hands off of the handlebars, they start to shake, very much like speed wobbles. I was thinking that maybe the handlebars aren't aligned straight enough, but they don't look crooked. Anyways, it's not a big deal or anything, I would just like to have the option to take both hands off. Any help would be appreciated!

Answer:  First thing you should do before checking the more complicated stuff, is the obvious.. check your tires.

They may be old, may have developed an uneven surface thats causing that wobble.

I had that same problem and thought it was a steering/alignment issue. Put new tires, motorcycle ran straight and true again ????

Answer: Ninja 250 Wiki: If you take your hands off the handlebars on your bicycle or your car's steering wheel, you'll notice that you continue going straight. If you do this with the Ninja, you'll many times notice the bars start oscillating to the point of violence and wanting to chuck you off the bike. 

Answer: Had the same problem once, changed head bearing and front wheel bearings just to find that the problem was due to a worn front tire. Won't make that mistake again. 

 

Answer: I was having a problem with the FJR very similar. it was in a range of about 40-55 MPH. Got new tires and it was worse.. was hacked off then decided it had to be the tires again..( I went Cheap). Got a set of michelens and the problem went away.. Just because it's a new tire, doesn't mean its a good tire.

Answer: I had the same problem, it was because my front tire was squared off. Try changing it if it's old." 

 

And there are many more like these....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[uwe_rayong]

 

I think most scooters have a tendency to develop that "no hands wobble". It is not really dangerous, as you can immediately stop it with 1-2 fingers on the handlebar.

If you have a scooter with a top box and you put some weight in, it is very likely you'll have that wobble effect but tire and tire pressure are also often the root of this problem.

If tire pressure (on my Forza 2018) is below 25 front tire, the problem is very noticeable similar to the video below. With 31 the problem is gone 95% of the time, but on some streets with a  speed between 70-40 km/h I still have it.

It can be provoked by going 80 km/h and then abruptly let go of the accelerator. 

 

The old Forza had the same problem and it was more severe. 

 

 

 

 

 

You can not compare "High Speed Wobble" with this problem, it is totally different as it starts with the hands on the handlebar and it is scary and really dangerous. 

 

 

[thailoht]

2 hours ago, uwe_rayong said:

 

I think most scooters have a tendency to develop that "no hands wobble". It is not really dangerous, as you can immediately stop it with 1-2 fingers on the handlebar.

If you have a scooter with a top box and you put some weight in, it is very likely you'll have that wobble effect but tire and tire pressure are also often the root of this problem.

If tire pressure (on my Forza 2018) is below 25 front tire, the problem is very noticeable similar to the video below. With 31 the problem is gone 95% of the time, but on some streets with a  speed between 70-40 km/h I still have it.

It can be provoked by going 80 km/h and then abruptly let go of the accelerator. 

 

The old Forza had the same problem and it was more severe. 

 

 

 

 

 

You can not compare "High Speed Wobble" with this problem, it is totally different as it starts with the hands on the handlebar and it is scary and really dangerous. 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for helping with the understanding and further detailing possible causes of the wobble experienced by some riders.

[NoshowJones]

My Forza is three and a half years old, on 30.000 Ks and still running on original tyres, just had the brake pads renewed.

[BTB1977]

On 1/3/2019 at 10:01 AM, thailoht said:

Before returning to your local dealer, why not determine for yourself whether or not the vibration is caused solely by the OEM tyres? Simply replace (both) front and rear tyres with a different brand of tyres (IE., Michelin City Grips[?} - Radials, Bias?) and take your Forza for a ride. Reinstall OEM tyres, with the knowledge of your new observations, return to your local dealer.

The bike is brand new.  1900 kilometer when I noticed this.  A little thing called warranty. So your idea is to spend I'm guessing 7 to 10 thousand baht to fix a factory defect that many other forsa owners have reported. Seams like Lot of trouble for a warranty issue. Best let honda handle it.  

[Thailaw]

On ‎1‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 10:35 AM, uwe_rayong said:

 

I think most scooters have a tendency to develop that "no hands wobble". It is not really dangerous, as you can immediately stop it with 1-2 fingers on the handlebar.

……………..

 

The old Forza had the same problem and it was more severe. 

 

You can not compare "High Speed Wobble" with this problem, it is totally different as it starts with the hands on the handlebar and it is scary and really dangerous. 

 

You can "compare" the 2 problems -- "hands off wobble" with "high speed wobble" -- as the root cause is generally the same -- improper alignment and/or balancing/wear problems with the tires (typically, front tire), although what brings on the problem (and its consequences) is obviously different. And, in most cases, replacing the front tire, balancing and/or realigning the wheels will remedy both problems. In most case, you can "live" with the "hands off wobble"; perhaps not with "high speed wobble". 

[BTB1977]

Just an update. They replaced the front tire with another factory tire and it still shakes. Next was replacement of both front and rear with another tire brand. (IRC) . Still shakes. Going on 5 months now and Honda still doesn't have a glue on how to fix it. 

[cornishcarlos]

20 hours ago, BTB1977 said:

Going on 5 months now and Honda still doesn't have a glue on how to fix it

 

Ask for a new bike...

[BTB1958]

Just an update. After almost 6 months it still shakes bad.  They changed the front tire.  Still shakes.  They changed the front and back with another brand. (IRC).  And it still shakes.  Now they want me to take it to Bangkok 3.5hours away to have an engineer look at it at the main Honda office here in thailand.  I told them they can take it themselves or have the engineer come here and repair it.  Just give me something to ride as this is my only transportation here in Thailand.  Still waiting for what they are going to do? Should have bought the Yamaha.  

[ktm jeff]

Honda was never able to fix , or even tell what was the cause of the wobble , on the ST 1100 bikes. Many were bought as police bikes ( England ) and 1 highly qualified police rider was killed , and more injured , on these Hondas. Under the "fit for purpose" act , honda were forced to buy back these bikes.  Seems they still havent learnt anything.

[BTB1958]

First off  I want to say AP Honda has gone above and beyond for finding the root cause of the hands off bar shake.  5 new tires,  2 new rims front and back.  Shipped up to BKK.  Tech made a trip to Hua Hin from BKK.  After all that my worries of something mechanical wrong were blown away only to find that if you take off the back box the shake goes away.  It is smooth as silk. Left the BKK mechanic scratching his head.  I suggested this about 3/4 of the way through all the inspections. Cut the electric wires going to the lights and put in a connecter. So happy ending in Hua Hin.  Love the new Forza.  Great bike 

[pbas400]

On 7/14/2019 at 10:04 AM, BTB1958 said:

if you take off the back box the shake goes away.  It is smooth as silk.

Are you talking about the top case ?

THK

[BTB1977]

AP Honda  here in Thailand has been nothing but great.  They have bent over backwards and than some.  My top box is/was hard wired onto my bike.  I sugested we take it off and see if it makes any difference.  Guess what,  no box,  no shake.  The bike it's self is mechanically sound.  Put the box on and it shakes with my hands off the bars.  Take the box off and it is smooth as glass.