| Author | Message | ||
     Glen |
hey fellas, i searched but came up with zilch so i figured i'd ask here. i ride an 08 X, my stock tires were smoked so i popped the wheels off and took them to a local shop. i had pilot road 3's installed. the front was the stock size but all they had for the rear was a 190/50/17. due to my reading on this site i knew that it would fit so i had em mount it. wheels back on the bike i go for a ride, bike rides like a dream again, till about 15 miles into my ride when i hop on the freeway. dialed it up to 85mph and O CRAP, the rear end of the bike starts moving side to side, it came and went, it would wag like a tail for a minute, then straighten out. this happened a few times and i exited the freeway. bike rode fine all the way back on 55mph roads. im thinking of dropping my forks to help calm the bike down at high speeds. i have a trip coming up and its gonna be all freeway. has anyone else tried this? its what ive always done on mx bikes but this is my first streetbike so i dunno crap lol. | ||
| Hughlysses |
When you say "dropping the forks" I assume you mean loosening the triple clamps, removing the little stop snap ring from each fork leg, and lowering the triple clamps on the fork legs. Dropping the forks will make the bike MORE twitchy, not less. Doing this decreases the front fork rake angle which makes the bike steer quicker and be less stable. I'd suggest that you first check your suspension settings front and rear and make sure they're by the book. The owner's manual gives some general guidance on making changes to settings to change the way the bike handles; that may give you an easy way to correct the issue. Decreasing the rear pre-load will let the bike sag in the rear more, which increases the fork rake, making the bike steer slower and be more stable. I'll bet that's the way you want to go with it. | ||
| Glen |
Thanks Hughlysses, im going to redo all the settings again right now. o by dropping the forks i meant to move the tripletrees up on the forks. making them longer. i see on my bike 2 lines showing above the trees on each tube. im wondering if those are adjustment marks? | ||
| Hughlysses |
OK, I've got you- yes, that would be moving the right direction, but I've never heard of anyone needing to do it on an XB. I don't think you can go far at all (IIRC, there's only 1/8" or so of space to do it). Hopefully re-setting your suspension will cure the goofiness. If the recommended settings don't, I'd try what the book says for fine-tuning it. | ||
| Rdkingryder |
Check your tire pressures. Is it possible they didn't balance the rear tire? | ||
| Xbkris |
agree with the above, over inflated tires will make one act like its floating left and right. see it all the time in the auto industry. | ||
| Glen |
thanks guys for the input, so i went out and double checked all my settings, they were all set, my preload is almost as low as it goes, and my tire pressures were 37 in the back and 32 in the front. i watched him balance them but now im wondering if i should pull the wheel and take it back? | ||
| Mark_weiss |
You've double checked that the axles are in properly, the pinch bolts are in place, the forks or swingarm are not binding on the axles and pulled inward? | ||
| Glen |
Mark that cinches it, ill be pulling both wheels in the AM and reassembeling it.just to be sure. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
The wheels probably do not have to come out, but make certain that the forks have not pulled together as the axle tightened. Similar for the swingarm. Those, and make sure that the pinch bolts are done up. | ||
| Uly_man |
Apart from making sure that it is all put back together right check that the tire is on the "right way round" and it is "matched" compound with the front tire. Trust me I have had this before. You should need more preload unless your VEEERY light. Balance the pre loads right for you. It could be many things. | ||
| Arry |
34 front, 36 rear, are listed in the 07 owners manual. If you're using a cheap pressure gauge (like me) they can vary a lot in accuracy. I think too high pressure might give your symptoms. The extra wide tire might take a slightly different setting. Also high summer temperatures might make roads (tars) slicker. I've been curious about "dropping the forks" and the affects on handling, but haven't tried it, might be the answer with the wider tire. | ||
| Uly_man |
The suspension system on this bike is very high quality and well matched to the bike but it needs to be set up right. Like any "fully" adjustable system it is easy to get it wrong. The pre load settings on this bike MUST be right before anything else. Do not change the rebound and/or compression settings by more than one quarter at a time either. It is that sensitive. I have spent many a year with my 06 and 2010 bikes learning about there suspension settings and set up. Get it wrong and it will handle like a pig. Get it right, with the right rubber, and you will be able to "out ride" anything on the road. Oh and that "big grin" thing never EVER gets old either? | ||
| Andymnelson |
Check the rotation direction arrows and make sure they are not backwards. | ||
| Buewulf |
I am putting my money on the preload for the rear shock. This bike is more sensitive to any other I've owned with respect to that adjustment. | ||
| Uly_man |
"This bike is more sensitive to any other I've owned with respect to that adjustment." I would go with that 100%. | ||
| Glen |
ok guys, i really apreciate all the help. so i popped both wheels off and inspected bearings and such, all was good. i sat down with the owners manual and started to look at stock settings and was gonna redo them all,except, how do i measure 1.875 turns lol. | ||
| Rdkingryder |
Just .025 less than 1.9turns. | ||
| Motorbike |
That is correct. Or, another way to look at it, since 7/8 equals .875, it would be a total of 1 7/8 turns. Or, 1/8 turn less than 2 full turns. | ||
| Arcticktm |
Just don't lose sight of that fact that the only thing you changed was the rear tire, so I'd spend my time checking on that before going anywhere else. Setting suspension per the manual for your weight is also a good starting point. |
