Last weekend the GF and I took a nice ride out to the hill country. On the way back, the bike just didn't feel right. Since this was the first time I had a passenger on this particular bike and the winds were pretty heavy, I thought it was just the way this one behaves. But about 50 miles out, it started getting worse, so I dropped the speed a bit and it got better. The next day I took it out by myself, and it wobbled, especially on deceleration. I checked the torque on the head bearing and put it on the lift and found no play in the wheel bearings. Now it was bad enough that 40mph felt like the end of the world.
Trailered it to the shop today. This sucked because I just don't take things to shops. The mechanic found some loose spokes on the rear wheel. Very loose spokes. Not enough to feel any play when it was on the lift, but enough that it didn't take the weight of the bike. Since I don't have a truing stand, I'm now paying someone to work on my bike. :( But, I'm glad to know that it wasn't in my head and there really was a problem. It's an aluminum hub and stainless spokes, so I really hope no holes got wallowed out.
