2012 Roadster Handling

[Bunny Burrell]

You guys never did jungly type stuff. Mind you, tankys always had working BV'S....... "Any fool can rough it" is the main transferable skill I brought to civvy street.

 

[Heidhurtin]

SOLVED! But I feel like a proper dweeb!
Just on an impulse I decided to top up the tyres while filling up at the local petrol station. Imagine my surprise when their gauge showed 20/22 psi front/rear. Got home and checked using my own (Amazon bought) electronic gauge, which still showed 32/39. Topped up to 40/42 using the station's gauge, and suddenly I have a bike which feels normal! It's brilliant! (Yes I know the book pressure for the front is 32, but a few posters on here commented on this so I followed their advice).

All that freakin' work, sweat and good advice from others turned out to be a waste of time caused by a dodgy tyre pressure gauge, probably Made in "Englamd".

Thanks all for the help anyway - and yes, I feel like a complete pillock!

 

[Bunny Burrell]

SOLVED! But I feel like a proper dweeb!
Just on an impulse I decided to top up the tyres while filling up at the local petrol station. Imagine my surprise when their gauge showed 20/22 psi front/rear. Got home and checked using my own (Amazon bought) electronic gauge, which still showed 32/39. Topped up to 40/42 using the station's gauge, and suddenly I have a bike which feels normal! It's brilliant! (Yes I know the book pressure for the front is 32, but a few posters on here commented on this so I followed their advice).

All that freakin' work, sweat and good advice from others turned out to be a waste of time caused by a dodgy tyre pressure gauge, probably Made in "Englamd".

Thanks all for the help anyway - and yes, I feel like a complete pillock!

Please tell me you weren’t REME?

 

[Heidhurtin]

Please tell me you weren’t REME?

Not THAT much of a pillock!

 

[matjas]

Another quirk of the bike design is the front wheel is offset from the centerline slightly. This was done on purpose to handle the engine's torque reaction. If you let it idle on the side stand and then rev the engine the bike tries to shift to one side from torque reaction. That's due to the longitudinally mounted motor and the crankshaft's mass. When you're leaning the bike over in a corner and you accelerate rapidly it either tries to lift you out of that lean or throw you deeper into it depending on which way you're turning. To limit that problem Triumph offset the front wheel slightly so it's less pronounced than if it was perfectly centered. Your Harley's crank shaft is running perpendicular to the direction of travel, so spinning up the motor has no torque reaction effect on the chassis, if the engine were mounted like a Moto Guzzi then you can get the chassis to move side to side when revving the engine.

do you have any source for this ermmmm, revelation? did they offset the wheel left? right? both ways to feel comfortable on both kind of turns?

to the OP - if your bike is falling into the turn you work on the riding technique and ADD throttle once into the turn as the rear wheel WANTS to turn faster. If you dont add throttle you will slow down and loose momentum and the centrifugal force of being in the curve inevitably you will start engine braking mid-turn/ - you will have to correct the line as the bike will want to tighten the turn and feel like its falling - which it really does.

 

[Heidhurtin]

Errr, thanks matjas, but can I suggest you read the whole thread before replying? Although I'm embarrassed to admit it, the problem was the tyre pressures being way off.

Regarding the Wheel offset Atomsplitter is correct - a quick search gives this for the RIII. Although I don't think offset is generally unique to the RIII this does seem quite large:

Wheel Offset Comparison​

Specification	Front Wheel	Rear Wheel
Offset	Approximately 5.0 mm	Approximately 25.0 mm

 

[matjas]

Errr, thanks matjas, but can I suggest you read the whole thread before replying? Although I'm embarrassed to admit it, the problem was the tyre pressures being way off.

Regarding the Wheel offset Atomsplitter is correct - a quick search gives this for the RIII. Although I don't think offset is generally unique to the RIII this does seem quite large:

Wheel Offset Comparison​

Specification	Front Wheel	Rear Wheel
Offset	Approximately 5.0 mm	Approximately 25.0 mm

Had 5 bmw bricks in my riding life and the offset is there as well and they very seldom track straight with your hands off the wheel so to say. Happy my rocket tracks straight.

Dont get it to yourself mate.