What up boys? Your thoughtS are appreciated.

[Fishbein]

My stock Bridgestones lasted about 6500 miles, then my Metzlers went 7000 miles, so now I decided to try the Avon Cobras. After maybe just under 400 miles I love the Cobras: they hug the corners and seem angled for twists yet feel stable on flats (they lean quick though w all that weight).

The bike seems to ride great w the Cobras; however, when I take my hands off the handlebars the bike immediately veers to the left (no matter the grade of the road I.e the road could lean right and the bike still veers left pretty quickly). Also get some vibration at low speed. Bike feels fine riding (hands on bars).

Called the shop that put on the tires and they say doesn't sound like improper balancing but more like a bent stem. The only other thing I pointed out to the shop when getting tires was that Rivco risers looked slightly uneven, but shop said was just how they clamp on I.e. Should not affect performance. Thoughts?

 

[Willtill]

Is the stem nut torqued correctly? Can you jack up the front end and grab the forks (have someone sit on the bike to stabilize the rear) and see if you have play in the head bearings? Move the forks front to rear; side to side? Everything in that front fork assembly should be solid.

Check your lower and upper triple tree fastening bolts; are they loose and is the triple tree out of alignment?

I'm no fan of Avon but you also could've gotten a ****ty tire.

 

[budman]

..love my Cobras..I can take my hands off the bars for miles if so inclined..tracks like it's on a rail..hard to tell what you got going on..

 

[Rocketsprocket]

After 6 sets of Metzlers I fitted the Cobras' more flickable as you say but never needed balance wieghts on the Metz, maybe just luck or maybe its beause Metz are German ?

 

[GPMAZ]

I've run both Metzler and Avon on my R3T. On the R3T, I felt the Avons handled better and gave more grip. The downside is the mileage was a couple of thousand less than the Metz. I've heard others claim the opposite for the Standard/Classic models.

Hands off my bike will drift to one side (haven't tried it recently so don't remember which direction), nothing drastic just a slow drift, manageable with knee pressure on the tank.

When I first installed my Rivco risers they looked crooked to me. It took me three or four tries before I felt they were straight. I think the rubber mounting on the R3T may exacerbate the problem.

 

[warp9.9]

I would also check the torque on the axle bolt to make sure it is neither too tight or loose. Also check the runout on the rotors even if the shop pulled them off to change the tire.

 

[Fishbein]

Thanks for all these excellent suggestions. I'm not set up for some of these things, but I'm gonna take another look and probably take her back to the shop to put her up on the ramp and rebalance and check these things you suggested. GPM and Rocketsprocket : did you both experience drifting? Mine starts veering right away. Not sure how concerned I should be. Rkt88 says his tracks like it's on a rail. I'm not expecting that, but dont think I should have to override. Then again, dont really notice it much. Would you all be concerned or ignore it ifmit rides fine?

 

[budman]

..ignore it..

 

[GPMAZ]

I checked it out yesterday riding down the interstate. It will drift to the left as soon as I let go. Shifting my butt slightly to the right is enough to make it track straight. With one hand resting on the bars it doesn't seem to take any noticeable effort to keep tracking straight, so I don't plan to do anything about it.

 

[barbagris]

Don't take your hands off the bars. :exit:

Well explain how I'm going to peel an orange without stopping then!