How much handle bar play should there be?

[jkoons]

2015 RTL - How much rotating movement should there be in the handle bars when the engine is not running?

 

[Lew L]

2015 RTL - How much rotating movement should there be in the handle bars when the engine is not running?

Not much, half an inch or so. Approaching 50k miles on the 2014 RTS.

 

[JayBros]

Not much, half an inch or so. Approaching 50k miles on the 2014 RTS.

There's well less than 1/2" on mine at 95.4K mi.

 

[jcthorne]

The joints in the steering shaft wear over time. When new, almost zero play. My 2015 with 108k miles on it had nearly an inch of free play measured at the tips of the handlebar. The fix is a new steering shaft.

 

[BajaRon]

What jcthorne said....

 

[jkoons]

Thanks to all, mine has maybe 1/4” or less with 20,000mi. I’m new to the RT, need a lot more miles on me.

 

[exbrc1]

Not much, half an inch or so. Approaching 50k miles on the 2014 RTS.

none

 

[Cobranut]

What jcthorne said....

Aren't the hiem joints replaceable?

 

[jcthorne]

The whole shaft with the joints comes as a single part. Not available as individual pieces.

 

[Cobranut]

The whole shaft with the joints comes as a single part. Not available as individual pieces.

Wow. That seems like a lot of work just to replace hiems.

When the time comes, I'll look into what it would take to modify the assembly to be able to use PTFE lined heim joints.
I've found good quality PTFE joints last nearly forever.

 

[rjinaz86323]

Many times this is caused by people moving a non running Spyder by pushing on the handlebars