handling

[Guest callithrix]

Has anyone ecountered a vague feeling in their bike when initiating turns. The bike exhibits no instability in a straight line( at any speed) or once the turn has been induced. It just feels unsteady with the initial change in direction. It feels like the front end gets loose. I'm not doing any daredevil riding and the sensation usually occurs in 20-35mph turns. I'm 170lbs. and only do solo riding with out luggage.

I've futzed with the suspension, have checked and adjusted air pressure and was wondering if perhaps I should raise thethe forks in the triple clamps per Guzzitech . They recommend 3/8-1/2" inch, has any one tried this? Does it improve or adversely affect the handling. I'm also considering checking out GMD, but want to try the free remedies first. Any other things I should check? Thanks in advance.

P.S. If anyone is looking for a good book to read check out "The Perfect Vehicle". Wonderfully descriptive and captures the allure and love of motorcycles. It's written by a fellow guzziphile.

[jrt]

How are your tires? If you drive in long straights, they might be developing a square profile- this gives rise to some remarkably poor handling. Or they might be cupping or some other poor wear pattern.

Can't address the suspension changes- sorry.

 

Cheers,

Jason

[RacerX]

...was wondering if perhaps I should raise the the forks in the triple clamps per Guzzitech . They recommend 3/8-1/2" inch, has any one tried this?

callithrix, What year is your bike? I am the one that put that "fix" together on John T's (on this forum) V11S.

 

Most all pre-02's benefit from this mod, though you do loose some ground clearance by doing this.

The '02+ newer bikes generally have not shown the same symptoms... and if I am not wrong on this... the LeMans' still have a different rake then the Sports do, even with the same (longer) frame.

 

Todd@GuzziTech.com

[Guest callithrix]

My bike is 2002 Lemans, Thanks for the tip about tires. Wear pattern may be flatten. Have new Diablos unmounted and they and they do show a marked contoured profile.

[Murray]

Guzzi's do have more rearward wieght bias than most other bikes on the market. They do tend to feel vague in the front end when pushing hard. I have rasied the forks int he tripple clamps 10mm would start with fivce to begin with make sure you static sags are set right. have you noticed a difference between a full and empty tank. If the bike is less prone to your problem with a full tank rasing the forks will help. The other thing is where is the steering dampner set? It might be transmitting odd forces back through the bike as you counter steer. My personal opion is remove it completetly Guzzi's don't have radical enough geometry to justify one. Do you run a matched set of tyres iethe same compound front and rear? If so I suggest you try running a slightly softer tyre ont he fron as opposed to the back eg sport touring rear sports tyre front. Give those a go and see where you go from there.

[Guest Jeff Kelland]

When I traded my ducati 748 in on a new Le Mans I was expecting to have given up some handling capability. I was suprised to find that the Le Mans truly handled very well. With over 8700 miles on the tires, the handling has deteriorated substantially. Also, when I do ride aggressively, I climb nearly on top of the tank to get weight on the front tire. My 2 cts.

[Guest russ]

I agree with most of the above posts. Tires make a huge difference. My 02 does real well on fresh rubbers and I have no vague feeling unless I am pushigh 90 through some sweepers. But even then there is plenty of warning before the pucker factor starts

[docc]

Gotta put in my vote for the sticky front. With 2000 miles on my pilot Roads the front shows almost no wear. Good, I thought, until the front tucked changing lines in a right hander.

 

Don't get me wrong. I blew the corner. But with 28,000 miles on this bike I've flicked it over hard on other tires before.

 

Sticky front = good idea!