handeling issues

[TonyW650]

OK guys, I'm stumped.
Bikes been stood a few months, few if you know why and whats been going on.
Taken it out in the last few weeks and it just feels wholly!
Thought it might just be me at first, been in hospital for a week and a bit and thought I'd take it out again beginning of this week and it not me lol
Its got pirelli diablo crosa 3's on it, run them at pressures reccomended by Honda 36/42 and it wobble on white lines and just feels odd, tracks in grove in road etc.
I went on the pirelli web site and the recommend for them tyres cold pressure front 32 psi ad 26 psi rear is that right? Seems low!
Ive also checked and re-greased the headstock bearings and adjusted them, I'm going to check and reg-grease the rear shock linkage etc in the next few days. Can't feel any play in the wheel bearing or swing arm.
Is there anything else that would cause this, would red shock that's set up for pillion cause issue's?
I'm stuck!

[Wicky]

Presume you mean 'Wooly' = fuzzy; unclear - lingering meds??

Difficult to give a precise answer when the problem you state is subjectively vague.

How old is the air in the tires as it can go stale? How old and worn are the tires? When were the forks last serviced (springs & oil)? Are you tightening up the head-bearings correctly are they new? or are they taper bearings which need setting up differently

Might want to reset rear shock for solo settings and 26psi sounds a tad low - stick to 42. How old is the shock is it working correctly?

[TonyW650]

Hi wicky,
Forks serviced beginning of last year.
Tapered bearings are fitted, was fitted around 2 years logo, they seem fine, but explain sheeting up differently?
Air in tyres er has never been changed would it make a difference?
Tyres are about 3 years old, still plenty of tread and seem round, not squared off or anything, around corners all fine, corners OK, maybe drops in a bit quick. Just keeps ridding groves in the road like tar lines and weaves when I cross white lines.
Rear shock seems fine, but then again I do only weigh 9 stone and its on factory suspension settings.

[Wicky]

Just keeps ridding groves in the road like tar lines and weaves when I cross white lines.

In the damp I avoid riding in/over them as they can be slippery -and try crossing the unpainted gaps . And besides three year old tires are getting on a bit.

http://www.spokes-women.org/Technical_C ... _tires.htm

When Was Your Tire Made?
The manufacture date is in a code printed on the sidewall. It will be the last four digits (for tires made in the year 2000 or later) in a string of letters and numbers starting with DOT. The first two digits are the week of manufacture, and the last two digits are the year of manufacture. For example, if it says DOT817AD472200, look at the last four digits. 2200 means that your tire was made in the 22nd week of the year 2000. Tires manufactured prior to the year 2000 will have a three-digit code. For example,
DOT733AC297, means (looking at the last 3 digits 297) that your tire was made the 29th week of 1997. Or, the 29th week of 1987! Yikes! I think that’s why they went to a four-digit code! Anyway, if your tires are much over three years old, consider replacing them.

Re.Taper bearing

BTW, with taper rollers, you aren't doing them up as tight as the Haynes manual says, are you?

That's the tightness for normal ball roller style bearings, taper rollers need to just barely be nipped up so that the play is removed, no more.

[lloydie]

It could be you .
You may just need to relax :-)

[VTRDark]

rollers need to just barely be nipped up so that the play is removed, no more.

I was just thinking this as they have been re-greased recently. How much resistance is there on your steering Tony. You may also want to check that your chain and wheel is aligned properly.

(:-})

[AMCQ46]

tramlining on raised road marks sounds like it could be a number of things

1) over tightened taper rollers do strange things to steering at low speed
2) under inflated tyres
3) forks need to be dropped more in the yoke to get more weight on the front wheel, or spacer under the rear shock
4) you are holding on to the bars too tight
5) forks slightly out of alignment, need to slacken all but the top yoke bolts and bounce it up and down and tighten each layer and bounce again.
6) front sag is too small

[Stratman]

I have never, ever, heard of "stale air" in tyres. Where on earth did that come from? Pressure is pressure.

I would check the head bearings again, as if they are too tight they will seem to track by themselves.

Use 36F/42R for pressures. That's what Honda recommends. 26 psi rear on the road would be deadful, not to say dangerous, especially with 36 in the front.

[Wicky]

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/27/trave ... ll-on.html

http://www.bikersoracle.com/vfr/forum/s ... hp?t=33964

I have never, ever, heard of "stale air" in tyres. Where on earth did that come from? Pressure is pressure.

I would check the head bearings again, as if they are too tight they will seem to track by themselves.

Use 36F/42R for pressures. That's what Honda recommends. 26 psi rear on the road would be deadful, not to say dangerous, especially with 36 in the front.

[Pete.L]

Stale air
That'll be it

From memory The rear spring on my Firestorm was way hard. If the front end checks out okay.Try putting the rear spring ajustment on a lower setting and see if you get an improvement. Also, half worn tyres are a favorite for following the cracks and joins

Pete.l

[Stratman]

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/27/trave ... ll-on.html

http://www.bikersoracle.com/vfr/forum/s ... hp?t=33964

I have never, ever, heard of "stale air" in tyres. Where on earth did that come from? Pressure is pressure.

I would check the head bearings again, as if they are too tight they will seem to track by themselves.

Use 36F/42R for pressures. That's what Honda recommends. 26 psi rear on the road would be deadful, not to say dangerous, especially with 36 in the front.

I like the one about the 125 with the "snapped powerband"

[sirch345]

I would say steering head bearings too seeing as you've checked the wheel bearings and swingarm bearings etc, so long as a fork seal has not just gone, if it has it will be obvious.

Chris.

[VTRDark]

Thinking about it weighing in at 9st I would say Tony is one of the few people that the standard suspension is set up pretty good for. After all little Japs probably don't weigh much more. If you have the rear shock set up for two up then I would defiantly have a play with the settings. there.

(:-})

[TonyW650]

Thinking about it weighing in at 9st I would say Tony is one of the few people that the standard suspension is set up pretty good for. After all little Japs probably don't weigh much more. If you have the rear shock set up for two up then I would defiantly have a play with the settings. there.

(:-})

I can't help it I'm a light weight, that made me chuckle Carl thanks mate.
Its called skinny mate, what's the standard suspension set up, so I can just check them lol, I'm still chuckling

[VTRDark]

I hope the laughing don't pull your back mate. Did the docs sort you out with an internal pain machine thing. A bit of electro stimulation in the right places.

Well for the majority of us oversized Brits the rear is too hard and the front is too soft. Here's a Performance bikes recommendation: Rear Preload - Position 2 Rebound - ¼ of a turn out from full, Front Preload - 2nd groove showing Rebound - ¼ of a turn out from full in. But basically you need to experiment and see what feels right for you. You will need a C Spanner to move the rear spring position. There should be one in the Honda toolkit if you have one. The rear position 2 is from the top so the spring is at it's least compressed. and you will see the rebound screw from the right hand side of the bike at the bottom of the shock down my the suspension linkages.

(:-})