| Author | Message | ||
     Erz |
My Uly suddenly seems to feel a lot less planted on the front end. Feels a bit skittesh up front. I have checked tire pressure - its OK. The front tire is also fine with very low miles Any suggestions | ||
| Chadhargis |
Have you checked the steering head bearings? They may need to be retorqued. | ||
| Froggy |
What speed? I'm gonna assume you have the Pirelli's since your profile says 2007. | ||
| Erz |
Any help on this? I really miss the planted feel my Uly had up until about a week ago. Now it just plain feels a bit scary up front. Seems to want to wander around. I have checked air pressure, suspension settings, tires look fine. HELPPPPPP!!!!! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Mine felt the same. Two things fixed it. I adjusted the fork compression damping. I had it set a little high and the front felt like billet steel. Second, I backed down the rear preload a few notches. The higher you tweak the rear preload the greater the front turn in sensitivity seems to get (I think it ends up gradually shortening the wheel base the higher the preload is torqued.). Mine felt twitchy and unsettled. After making the adjustments, everything felt just fine. It doesn't take much. The front took less than a quarter turn which ends up being like 1/8 of a setting change. The rear took three clicks to begin to make a difference. How many miles do you have on it? (Message edited by ft_bstrd on June 09, 2007) | ||
| Florida_lime |
Erz, Have you checked the steering head bearings as suggested ? Is this with the stock Pirelli tires, or a replacement ? At all speeds and situations ? Narrow things down as much as possible, someone here usually has the answer. My guess at this point would agree with Chad. | ||
| L_je |
Does anyone know what the wheel pull tension is on a brand new Uly? The service manual says 1-7 pounds of force to pull the wheel from full right lock, back to the center. But then again, the service manual also says to torque your oil plug to 30+ ftlbs. My wheel pull is right at 5 or 6 pounds, but it really does seem a little looser than when I bought it. Any thoughts out there? | ||
| Crusty |
I have no idea how much pull your front wheel takes; but considering all data in the service manual to be bad because of one mistake isn't the best attitude to take, either. The book is right 99.9% of the time. Perhaps there's a problem at the back of the bike. Has the rear shock setting changed? Anybody could turn that preload knob. ("Hey, what's this for?") How's your rear tire pressure? Sometimes a problem at the rear manifests itself at the handlebars. | ||
| Sanchez |
Check the front isolator. I've seen those go out on a couple of bikes, including a Uly. | ||
| Sanchez |
Your front isolator should look like the picture on the right:  | ||
| Etennuly |
That isolator problem is gonna cause really noticeable engine vibrations throughout the bike though. I've had two of those die so far. I also had the front steering head bearing issue at the same time as the front brake pulsing/grabbing. That wouldn't let anybody put it into a corner, unless it was the corner of the shop. They were both easily fixed. Re-torque the bearings "by the Book", and so far I have cleaned the brake rotor and pads with brake cleaner on a rag a few times, but I know that I will be putting Lyndall gold brake pads up there when it is time. | ||
| Alchemy |
Is the service manual torque spec for the Uly lower triple clamp fasteners (20-22 ft-lbs) correct? This is on page 1-37 in 2006 book. I saw comments on the XB board that the manual spec was too high and bolts were snapping at 17-19 ft-lbs. I am thinking that the Uly spec might be higher as the folks may be different. | ||
| Alchemy |
Tightening the Uly steering head bearing. At 5K the steering head bearing is to be checked on the Uly. The service manual has the best instructions for this procedure. My bike was at 7k and the steering seemed to be getting looser. I noted that there was a subtle "click" I could feel in the left handle bar when I gently rolled the throttle on and off while on the level at about 30 mph. The "click" was not alarming but seemed to be something new. I decided it was time to retighten the steering head bearings. Supplies: Harbor Freight 3/8 drive clicker torque wrench 5-80 Ft-Lbs by Pittsburgh item 00807- $14.95 on special Buell Service manual for Uly 99494-06y 1/4 and 3/8 hex head 3/8 drive sockets and a 4" extension Elapsed time about 30 minutes cause I am slow ... err cautious. 1. The handle bars have to be removed to access the steering stem capnut with the tools I have. With the bike on the side stand, use the 1/4 hex to remove the four hexbolts on the handle bar clamp. Some may want to disconnect the battery to eliminate any possibility of electrical shorts. The handle bars need only be moved a small amount and can be rested on a towel on the airbox cover or the instrument pod. 2. Remove the steering stem pinch fastener (1/4" hex, extension is helpful here) 3. Loosen the steering stem capnut several turns (3/8" hex) 4. Remove the lower triple clamp pinch fasteners (4, 2 on each side) Note that the upper triple clamp pinch fasteners (2) are left in place and tight thus holding the forks in place. ***Do not remove these upper pinch bolts***. 5. Torque the steering stem capnut to 38 -42 Ft-Lbs. I used 40 and it worked fine. Note there is no Loctite used. 6. At this point you can verify the proper resistance in the steering via a spring scale as noted in the manual. I did not do this. There is no adjustment available if out of range, only remedy is to replace the bearings. This measurement requires jacking the bike up and removing the clutch cable - see the manual. 7. Apply Loctite 272 to the steering stem pinch bolt and tighten to a torque of 23-25 Ft-Lbs. I used Locktite 222 throughout this procedure. 8. Apply Loctite 272 to the 4 lower triple clamp fasteners and tighten to a torque of 20-22 Ft-Lbs. 9. Apply Loctite 272 to 4 bolts of the handle bar clamp. Position and center the bars as desired and tighten the top 2 bolts to a torque of 10-12 Ft-Lbs. Tighten the bottom 2 bolts to torque of 10-12 Ft-Lbs. This is not a lot of torque so I was a bit surprised but it seems ok. I did a quick double check to be sure I had not missed something and went for a test ride. The "click" was gone. | ||
| Alchemy |
Follow-up on "Click" or tick 2006 Uly 7500 miles. The click was not gone after tightening the steering head bearing. It is still present and most noticeable when the bike is warm. I test for the click when going a steady speed on the flat at about 40 mph. Add a little gentle throttle and them back off the throttle to FEEL a single click or tick mostly in the left hand. I think this is either of 3 things now. It could be related to the primary chain slapping when losing tension as the throttle is closed. Second thing is that it could be a bit of slop in the engine mounts or isolators. I don't really know what to check/tighten in this case????? Front isolator looks ok to me based on some pictures posted elsewhere on this site. Third thing is that it could be the front fork suspension transitioning from one state to another. This seems unlikely but it could be something like this. I have suspension set as recommended for my wt of about 210. The odd thing is that it seems to be gear specific in that it does not happen or is much reduced when in 5th gear vs 4th or 3rd gear at the same steady speed. Any helpful hints out there? Can't think it would be front wheel bearings. |
