a dumb question from a newbie

G'daes One & All

This may well be a dumb question - and I'm not sure how to describe it.

When I'm riding the new beastie it seems to not be level, it seems a lot of the time to be right side lower - not a lot = no more than a 1/2 inch at the handlebars - and it seems easier to throw into right corners than left? is it a sensory thing given the different angled position of the rear view mirrors? is it to do with the torque reaction? what possible explanations are there? or is it just me?

cheerios

Mick

Try sitting in the middle of the seat.

No doubt HeR3tic with advice like that I presume you worked at GM ... most likely in customer relations, or quality assurance, but most likely in senior management !

Stop drinking before you drive the bike and see if that straightens things up

G'daes One & All ,,, and my dear Scot in exile

The harsh, useful things of the world, from pulling teeth to digging potatoes, are best done by men who are as starkly sober as so many convicts in the death-house, but the lovely and useless things, the charming and exhilarating things, are best done by men with, as the phrase is, a few sheets in the wind. H.L. Mencken, Prejudices, Fourth Series, 1924.

With advice, as proffered by yourself Scot, I can see why you're in exile, please continue to enjoy the bottled water & canned sweet milk.

cheerios

Mick

beemermick said:

No doubt HeR3tic with advice like that I presume you worked at GM ... most likely in customer relations, or quality assurance, but most likely in senior management !

Click to expand...

3 points

Now on to your question and the first thing I must ask is what type and set up do you have? ie dresser bars?

G'daes warp 9.9

Stock standard with the exception of a Roadmaster screen blade and QR S/Bar with Long Haul Pad & rack.

Everything looks sweet - tommorow I'm going to use a spirit level on the bars & a tape measure. I just cant work it out - its either a very good illusion / delusion or something is not right - given the pre-delivery service I cant help but wonder - they put the sissy bar on back the front, the rear shock rebound was set on four one side & two on the other ..... it just does not feel right ....

cheerios

Mick

No question is dumb. Only answers are dumb....

I don't see how you could employ a level on the bars unless you leveled the bike itself on a floor jack and that would be hard to ascertain.

I'm wondering if the handlebar is tweaked. You could find that out two ways, You could either remove them from the bike and place them upright on a flat surface (have a helper hold them in the riding position) and measure the drop from the end of the handlebar to the surface of the table (or whatever you have them on) at each end, or get the bike level with a floor jack (on a level concrete surface) and then measure the drop at each bar end with the front forks facing dead forward (which is easy to do by placing a long board down the side of the rear to front tire to align the front end).

To get the bike close to level on a floor jack, you'll have to use a level across either the upper triple clamp or lower, while completely ignoring the handlebar. the front wheel will have to be aligned (see above) to take the final measurement.

I have a feeling the handlebar is lower on the left than it is on the right. That will impart a lean to the right, both in a sensory situation and in a tedency to steer toward the right and then your body will compensate naturally to center the bike as well as countersteer. The physical tendency is to correct the lean induced by the mis shapen bars as to cause the motorcycle to assume a straight ahead stance.

Which ever side is appreciably lower, it will impart a countersteer to the opposite side. To a lesser extent, if the fork legs are not parallel with the front axle, that will also incuce a countersteer, but not as great as ill bent handlebars.

Check the handlebars and let us know. I won't make fun of you. It's obviously a problem.

I have a strong suspicion it's the handlebar.

Also you might check to see if the handle bar is centered. Perhaps it is offset from side to side. Rademis

when I first rode behind my friend Phil, he on his rocket, me on mine. I noticed he "looked" like he was riding the bike at a tiny angle. We stopped and talked about it. So we switched bikes... same thing. he "looked" like he was a tiny bit down on the right. I didn't feel it on my bike or his bike. We watched each other on both bikes. To him everything seems fine. To me, both bikes looked a tiny bit down on the right.

Now the stupid part. "OF COURSE YOU MORON" I said to myself. you throttle up with your right hand so the angle of the wrist is down in reference to the left and, at least, for both of us, we finally realized, without actively knowing it, sit with a very very slight adjustment to compensate...

TOTALLY NOT related to the above: one other thing happened on my bike. When I first picked it up I could not let go of the handle bars without having to do a more than mild weight shift to keep the bike centered. It wanted to go right. I took
it to the shop, they went over the bike and rebalanced the tires... didn't help.
What did help was moving a bunch of tools and battery tender from the right saddle bag to the left... go figure. sometimes I really am blonde.


so, there might be a number of niggly little things you should look at with a fresh eye.

cheers
geo