| Author | Message | ||
     Buellrobot |
I was planning to head on a ride from Oregon up into southern Canada (Glacier Nat'l Park), starting in two days, with two friends. However, I'm riding a Buell (X1 99) that belongs to my step dad. I just got to Oregon from NY yesterday and when I fired up the Buell today and rode, the front end felt wacky as hell. I'd describe it as schizophrenic – it doesn't want to fall into a turn at higher speeds – I'm really needing to push it hard to get it down. At lower speeds (15 mph or so) it dramatically switches and feels like it wants to tip over – if I do a little slaloming, it seems like it's going to go into a speed wobble (if it were actually going at a decent speed). It may be doing other things – it's just generally very awkward feeling and somewhat hard to describe. I own an X1 in NY and it's very very different – this one feels like it wants to buck me off and/or not lay into a turn. The oregon bike has stock rear suspension and mine has a Penske rear shock, but I really don't think it would make that drastic of a difference. I pulled the front end up by the frame and can move it back and forth easily, so it seems like the steering head bearings are working smoothly. Any thoughts? Maybe front brakes or suspension? (Message edited by buellrobot on August 02, 2013) | ||
| Trouble_enabler |
My S1 did something similar to that once and it was just low front tire air pressure. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Sounds like the front tire is worn funny. Run your hand over the tread to detect if it's getting "triangular" or scalloped. | ||
| Buellrobot |
Front tire was recently swapped out, so it's possibly air pressure, but definitely not wear. I'll go check it now. | ||
| Dannybuell |
Latus Motors in Portland/Gladstone has a VERY sharp crew. | ||
| Buellrobot |
@Trouble_enabler you were spot on – pressure was dangerously low. Wonder if the bead didn't set right when the guy changed the tire or something? I'll check the pressure again in a few hours. I've definitely never ridden on a tire that low – stupid of me not to have checked it before getting on. | ||
| Kalali |
My experience with my X1 is that the bike extremely sensitive to the condition of the front tire. This may be true for every bike but the wear pattern and air pressure, even +/- just a few lbs can completely change the behavior of the bike, especially at low to moderate speeds. That's the first thing I learned shortly after owning the bike. | ||
| Gmaan03 |
Yes tire pressure mine is the same | ||
| Tll130 |
Mine did the same thing a couple of days ago and I own a 2000 x1. Buell robot where in NY do you live? Just asking because I also live in ny buffalo to be exact | ||
| Buellrobot |
Thanks for the help everyone – I have no idea how long it would have taken me to check the simplest and most obvious thing. I'm going to take the afternoon to review the rest of the bike, and make sure everything is tightened down properly. The guy who did the front tire also did brake pads and fluids, so I'm spooked/suspicious. My step dad says he had great hourly rates, apparently  @Tll130 I'm half-time in Brooklyn and half in Providence, RI (gf lives there). | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Don't feel bad about not checking the pressure right off. I once took a dealer's trade-in Suzuki bandit 1200 for a test drive. They had to jump it to get it to crank over. Felt like I was pushing a snow plow in the corners but engine was lovely. I only noticed when I got it back to the shop that the tires were like 12 pounds. I should have known that if the battery slowly died over a year, the tires and other components would also suffer. | ||
| V2_rocket |
Old school way to check tires is to give them a good kick (with boots not tennis shoes) if they are hard then you are good to go. |
