Hi Chaps/Chapesses, I have had my bike for a couple of months now and I am really struggling to trust the front end. It feels very slippy even in a straight line. it feels like its jumping an inch either left or right, which really gets the heart going!!! It feels like the front tyre is about to slip out from under me which is ruining my confidence in it. Definitly not confident enough to lean into any bend but I find myself slowing right down to take it as upright as possible. The tyres are good with loads of tread etc, there doesnt seem to be any play in the head bearings or the spindle. Just wondering if this was a trait of these bikes or whether I need to investigate further. Any input is greatly received.
OK no worries I just thought I'd mention it, sometimes it's easy to look to deep and miss the obvious. Is there anyone local to you to either try yours or you theirs? Sometimes you can convince yourself of an issue that others done see. At least if another bike feel OK you'd know. Could it be a faulty tyre or out of balance? I'm just plucking ideas out of the air you may have considered and dismissed these. Good luck, Andy
Thanks for the suggestion Andy, I didnt think of that. Im at the Distiguished Gentlemans ride next Sunday and we're leaving from Triumph dealership in Birmingham so I might talk someone else into trying it out, and if anyone else has a speedy then maybe swap bikes for a few mins. Thanks again.
Great advice from Andy, that's the only way your going to find out if its just the way you feel or there's actually a problem with your bike, My america felt fine to me very grounded,
Hi Dazza, tyre profile could be the problem but in addition to the above advice, just try squirting an extra few psi into the tyre and see if that helps, also check there isn't a little twist in the forks, could have been caused by someone removing the front wheel or adjusting something on the front end and not retightening the forks in the right sequence.
Another thing to check and could well be overlooked, rear wheel adjustment as that will throw your line of ride out. Either count the markers or run a straight edge with a compensating packer down the sides of the tyres.
Regarding wheel alignment. I've often though (it does happen now and then ) our youngest has one of those laser pen things, if I align the beam to touch both edges of the rear tyres slightly I could then check the front alignment. Does that make any sense? Andy
My old Speedie felt it was super glued to the road, never a problem with leaning it in at all. Could be a slight misalignment of rear and front or slightly misaligned forks. What tyre does it have on BTW, I only ask as a mate of mine had a similar problem that was solved be swapping the front tyre, something to do with a mismatch in speed rating I'm led to believe. Also, might sound daft but is the tyre on the right way round, (direction of travel arrow pointing the right way)?
Had a similar problem when I first got my gsxr. Felt like it was going to fall over every time I went into a roundabout. Simple fix was a new set of tyres. Fresh rubber can make such a difference, especially when you haven't ridden the bike as the tyres went 'off'
As above with tyres, the first fazer I had the back tyre had squared off and you seemed to have to pull it over the edge of the flat and balance on a knife edge. New tyres made everything linear and smoother in corners. Andy
I was really surprised how much difference it made to handling by swapping the rear tyre on a cruiser. My America feels so much more planted in the corners with a Avon Cobra on the back. Made a he'll of a difference dry and wet.
How many miles are on your present tyres, and how many have you put on them? Did you have the bike / tyres from new, or get it pre-owned?
There's 13k on the bike and I bought it from the original owner. Ive only put about 200 on it. So I don't know how many miles these tyres have done. I'll probably just change the tyres and get the bike aligned whilst it's in.
I don't blame you Jez, I've had a few bikes with Metzeler's as OE tyres and found them all to be uninspiring, particularly in the wet.
is the fork oil the same amount in both, I had a leeking fork seal and no money so I replaced the seals every few weeks and I knew when it needed done cos all the symptoms you described would appear.
That's cos Metzler have managed to make mahogany look like rubber!!!! If you can afford to replace them, do so. Would be my first option. Can't recommend the Avons's enough.. Such an improvement over the Metzler's. If that doesn't work for you, then time to start looking at suspension, What bike did you ride previously? Might be that cruisers don't feel the same, took me a few miles to get used to it after riding sports bikes for 5 years.
