| Author | Message | ||
     Acav80 |
Lately I've noticed that the Uly feels like it's more eager to dive into right hand turns than left. I just went to a parking lot and confirmed...turning right, mid-turn the front end feels like it's trying to carve even deeper. Turning left feels normal, smooth and predictable. Anybody got suggestions as to causes? Seems to me maybe compression damping is softer on the right leg, but I'm certain the adjustments are set the same. Thickening the plot, I did go into the ditch with the bike back in the spring, but I don't think it's related to that because I've ridden several thousand miles since the get-off and I'm only noticing this recently. Thanks for the help! acav | ||
| Hughlysses |
My first guess would be a tire issue. Check for uneven wear or other tell-tale signs. You should also give the bike a thorough inspection if you didn't after your get-off, paying particular attention to the front and rear isolators and tie bars. Something could have been damaged that didn't fail completely until later. | ||
| Etennuly |
If your bars bent or the forks twisted in the triple trees they can throw you off. I had a buddy years ago, who was having a similar problem after an easy get off, the bike would turn in one side better than the other. He spent a bunch at the dealer trying to figure the bike out. I had a opportunity to ride behind him one day, where I noticed he was setting off to one side. When I mentioned this to him he said that he sets that way because his hip was sore from when he went down. He hurt it picking the bike up. When he was setting off to one side the opposite side was already leaned in. | ||
| Acav80 |
Tire wear appears normal, equal depth on both sides. Best I can tell the bike did a front-flip into the ditch and caught the impact on my rear rack, then did a 1/2 roll to land back on two wheels. I superman-ed into the ditch and landed mostly unhurt thanks to my gear. My CeeBailey was shattered and handlebars slightly bent, which I replaced. After the crash I gave the bike a going-over as best I could (not much of a mechanic really) and didn't find anything obvious. IIRC, the manual says to loosen the axle pinch bolts and compress the forks to allow legs to align, which I did. Wouldn't surprise me if something is tweaked up front, though. I wonder if it could be up top at the triple tree, and how I would find the problem if it is around there. | ||
| Etennuly |
I have read of some having endo-ed where they bent the rear swing arm pivot bolt. For the forks, I would do a preliminary visual, get the bike to vertical with a friend or tie straps, hold the bars straight with the main centerline of the bike, then stand on the pegs, look down over the front fender/tire. Is the tire in line with the center line of the bike? Or is it turned to one side or the other? I suppose you could do something similar for the front and rear by having the bike vertical, using a couple 3" or so, blocks, lay a long straight edge, like an 8' piece of 2" angle iron on the blocks against the side of both tires. This will show if the tires in alignment with each other. If the bars are straight with the angle iron touching both the front and back sides of both tires, things are roughly square. With the bars squared to the bike, if the angle iron touches the front and back of the rear tire(the furthest out board part of the tire at the height of the 3" block) but only the front or back of the front tire, the problem is likely in the front. If the angle iron touches the front and the back of the front tire, but only the front orback of the rear tire, the problem is likely in the rear. This does not cover a lot of things, but can give you a quick look for "twist" in the forks, and to see if the rear swing arm bolt is bent. Measuring wheel base is important for proper alignment, but you would need to get into exactly where in the suspension travel it needs to be measured due to swing arm pivot and the fork travel at the rake angle. You should be able to find specs somewhere. | ||
| Sperz1 |
Are you sure you're not giving any additional throttle input as your counter steering? Turning right would have put the most pressure on the throttle hand. This may turn into a sensation of carving deeper? Just a thought. | ||
| Ourdee |
To check the alignment you must consider that the tires are different widths. Put a straight edge on both sides at the same time. Hold bike perpendicular to the pavement. Sit on it with both feet down. When checking tire wear, slide your hand fingers first across the tire. Do you feel a ridge where the center hard compound transitions into the softer outer compound? Is the ridge the same on both sides. How many miles on the tires? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Acav- One other thing to consider- it could by psychological. If you were in a turn when you had your get-off, you may be unconsciously paranoid of turning in that direction. Motorcycle Consumer News had an article on this a few years back and said it was a common phenomena. Just a thought... | ||
| Teeps |
I'm guessing your front tire is worn. About 1/3 down this page is a photo of my front tire. The center still stands proud as is the edge of the tire. The meat in between the two is nearing the wear bar. The roll in, instead of drop in, sensation returned with new tires. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/425386.html?1230629478 | ||
| Acav80 |
Thanks for responses. Should be a warm day today, so I'm gonna investigate further. | ||
| Acav80 |
Ok...went out and did some eyeballing today and just got back from another trial ride. I *think* the problem is in my head. There may be a little tweak somewhere that contributes a small right-turn bias, but I can't see it and it felt less obvious today than yesterday. Funny how the mind game gets tricky after a crash. Maybe at the next get-together I will have someone ride it for a second opinion. Thanks for the responses. It's a great thing to have such a valuable resource as this forum. BFFB! | ||
| Etennuly |
I will have someone ride it for a second opinion. What may also work is having you ride someone else's bike. | ||
| Two_buells |
tire pressure  |
