California Vintage

[Bingbong]

4 hours ago, gstallons said:

Picture #1 I have no idea .

 Picture #2 this is the turn signal flasher .  

You need a M/G wiring diagram for this particular bike to find out what's what !

Thanks GStallons

i got all this tidied up a while ago and now its better, I found out the bike has suffered a rectifier connector issue at some point and been “hot wired”. I am gathering a new loom and other essentials to fix it properly.

[Pressureangle]

20 hours ago, Bingbong said:

Thanks pressureangle,

yes I have tried sitting forward, having a very light touch on the bars, being aware of any body inputs. Tried screen off (actually slightly improved) we tried panniers and no panniers. It is as you say airflow related but it struck me as strange that after servicing it didnt happen. My buddy found the same thing. After collecting from the service the bike was good. 

Back in ol' Sportster days, every single one of them got loose stem bearings; there is a very specific procedure for tightening them and if too loose the bike would weave and worst case death wobble. Perhaps that got serviced? 

[Bingbong]

Thanks! Yes those steering head bearings were on my list too. I have checked them for play and notchiness and they seem to be good. I could try the loosening greasing and tightening but am keen not to add any issues. But i need to have a good methodical approach. 
I will do a thorough service fit new tyres and evaluate after that. 
I will record what happens here for anyone else comes looking for info 

[pete roper]

Sorry, I missed this.

Probably the reason they tend to weave and wobble at higher speeds is because their suspension is far from crash hot and those enormous bags at the back coupled with a big screen if fitted will make it very ‘Wandery’.

I have to say I’ve never been enamoured with the 1100 Calis. To be honest I’ve never been keen on any of the ‘Tall Head’ Tonti’s. They abandoned what made Tonti’s original design so brilliant, it’s compact nature.

[Pressureangle]

On 6/1/2025 at 6:15 PM, Pressureangle said:

I'll field this (not in Pete's place)

When you feel this instability, lean forward and push the bars forward to see if it stabilizes. 
High-speed weave is less a function of brand than of wind pushing you rearward causing you to pull on the bars, which are engineered to have some weight on them. The dynamics are aeronautic-level complex but not too hard to cure once you see the symptoms. You can find hundreds of examples of  wind-weave on YouTube- right up to 'tossed off hard'. 

Worst that can happen is I'm wrong.

To be clear, part of the discovery here is not simply to stop pulling backwards (light touch) but to purposefully weight the bars forward. As Pete has said, the windshield and bags which I hadn't taken into account may add more to the poor feel at speed. Give the bars as much weight forward as you would a set of clip-ons, that will tell with certainty whether the wind and your bar pressure are any or all of the problem.

[Bingbong]

8 hours ago, pete roper said:

Sorry, I missed this.

Probably the reason they tend to weave and wobble at higher speeds is because their suspension is far from crash hot and those enormous bags at the back coupled with a big screen if fitted will make it very ‘Wandery’.

I have to say I’ve never been enamoured with the 1100 Calis. To be honest I’ve never been keen on any of the ‘Tall Head’ Tonti’s. They abandoned what made Tonti’s original design so brilliant, it’s compact nature.

No worries, i didnt expect an immediate response (but frequently get one here )

I love the idea of this 1100 Cali but am getting increasingly frustrated with it. The suspension is certainly not up to handling the bulk of this thing. Removing the screen does help but i do use it on highways sometimes.

I think I have a choice here. make it as good as it can be and live with it or go back to what i know. I still want a Stelvio, not the new one. Or a V85TT if i cant find a good Stelvio.

Thanks Guys, will let you know if i get enlightened..