Fuji1986

I've been thinking of moving on from my 1989 Miyata 618GT, which took me cross-country but complained all the way with a constant shimmy under a 40-lb load (front and rear panniers + handlebar bag). But recently I came across a thread somewhere about how the later Miyata touring bikes were "low trail" bikes. I got to thinking that maybe a different approach to packing could make a difference. I've always packed it mostly 80/20 or 70/30 rear/front, but don't "low trail" bikes do best with a front-biased load? (Or is that just for 650B?) Has anyone had success with, say, a large front platform bag and small rear panniers on their Miyata 1000/615/610? It would be easy to just toss my bike and get a more stout modern steel tourer, but let's hold on a moment . . .