Help! Bike not balanced correctly!

[Guest jmnvhc]

There are only 2 possibilities for this issue:

 

1) uneven weight distribution.......... unlikely unless your butt is asymetrical

 

 

70561[/snapback]

 

Well, I came back to this point myself. I had tried putting a level on the gas tank cap to see if the bike was level left-to-right when the bike was balanced. It showed that the bike was leaning a little left-of-center when balanced, which actually indicated a right-biased weight distribution.

 

Someone mentioned that the tank might not be on straight, so I took the seat off, put the level so that it was resting on the left and right beams of the underseat frame (right in front of the battery), and put the steering wheel straight, and this time I made the measurement without sitting on the bike.

 

Lo and behold, the same result (slightly less)... the bike was leaning to the left when at the balance point.

 

I tested the same method on my Superhawk, and it was perfectly balanced.

 

I totally agree with BrianG, it's either weight distribution which is probably due to an alignment problem, or maybe the weight distribution doesn't contribute much directly to the tracking problem, but is a symptom of the alignment problem which IS causing the tracking issue.

 

Either way I'm not going to be happy with the bike until the dealership addresses the issue. It's just not acceptable on a brand new bike with full factory warranty. If it was a characteristic of Guzzis, I wouldn't mind, but besides dlaing, I don't see anyone else remarking about their Guzzis tracking to the right, and I've searched the forum several times.

 

Thanks for all your responses. I'll post an update after I take it to the dealer.

[Guest jmnvhc]

Well, it seems that the soothsayers were right.

 

I took it into the dealership and the mechanic took it out for about 10-15 minutes.

 

He came back and said it was perfectly fine, and that he had tried "every trick in the book" to upset the chassis and it was stable.

 

He also said that the slight pull to the right with no hands on the bar was normal and could be compensated by slightly shifting weight to the left. He was right about that, and I definitely feel a lot better about it since, especially since he really has no motivation to convince me it's normal if it wasn't (MG would have had to pay for any repairs under warranty).

 

I guess I'll chalk it up to getting used to the bike. It really is a different beast.

 

It still sucks that I had to buy it in the winter though

[luhbo]

....

The Bitubo seems to actually have a spring in it that pushes the steering to one side.

If it is not a spring, it is air or gas pressure.

I am not sure if  the force is strong enough to counter steer.

....

70571[/snapback]

 

Interesting point, although it should be common with all hydraulic dampers here. They need to be under pressure to be able to work horizontaly, don't they?

 

BTW, the Tonti frames always had their wheels misaligned, some up to 2cm and more. Shifted parallely or offset. Most people that wanted to use a bigger tyre just added another spacer to make room for it, without any issues.

 

Does anyone already have an answer at hand, why some tyres tend to wear out only on one side?

 

Hubert

[Ouiji Veck]

Man...! This thread is giving me cooties...

It's frustrating to not be able to jump on the bike and see what the F#$%#

is going on...ya gotta get someone else to try it..

It's got to be something stupid...

Boots on the wrong feet...

Unmatched foot pegs...

Butt crack miss alignment...

[Ouiji Veck]

"Does anyone already have an answer at hand, why some tyres tend to wear out only on one side?

 

I destroyed the left side of my Metz. Z6

I chalked it up to my wacky riding position, as soon as I hit the big roads I twist

my body so mostly my left ass cheek is on the seat..knee in the air..my right knee is tucked...right hand on the throttle...left elbow on my tank bag ...chin in my left palm.

Ready to drain a tank till we get to the GOOD ROADS..

Now you'll know me when you see me commin' down the road.

I suggest others try this before screwing with the bikes geometry.

In the twisties I get wide, drop my ass off one side or the other, get under the bike

grin,,then throttle.... a good time is had by all. (~sigh~ It's gonna be a long winter)

[Martin Barrett]

"Does anyone already have an answer at hand, why some tyres tend to wear out only on one side?

 

I destroyed the left side of my Metz. Z6

I chalked it up to my wacky riding position,  as soon as I hit the big roads I twist

my body so mostly my left ass cheek is on the seat..knee in the air..my right knee is tucked...right hand on the throttle...left elbow on my tank bag ...chin in my left palm.

Ready to drain a tank till we get to the GOOD ROADS..

Now you'll know me when you see me commin' down the road.

I suggest others try this before screwing with the bikes geometry.

In the twisties I get wide, drop my ass off one side or the other, get under the bike

grin,,then throttle.... a good time is had by all. (~sigh~ It's gonna be a long winter)

70597[/snapback]

 

Would that be down to camber of the crown of the road?, or you go harder through left handers being more open coupled with the crown effect?

[Guest ratchethack]

It's probably more likely due to my obsessive compulsiveness.

Hey, no problem. Some of us seem to have similar tendencies...

 

When it gets too cold to ride (or sooner, depending), you might want to unleash some of that OC behavior on a "better than factory" chassis alignment. If you're at all concerned, it sure couldn't hurt just as a check. For the swingarm, may I suggest:

 

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4778&hl=

 

For aligning the fork, I've used the following technique on every bike I've owned. I keep an arrow shaft handy in my workshop just for this purpose:

 

Rotate the front wheel so you can set your "straightedge", arrow, rod, dowel, or what-have-you through the wheel horizontally between the spokes, on top of the brake disks, so that it's resting against the fork tubes. Sit on the bike and sight down the fork using the arrow to line up with the outboard rear ends of the top triple clamp. The pinch-bolt heads themselves are good sighting points. It's pretty obvious when the arrow is out of line with the triple clamp. This indicates that the fork is twisted. Loosen up the pinch-bolts on both the upper and lower triples, and tug on the bars with the wheel between your knees until it's exactly parallel, and torque 'em back up.

 

Have fun.

[Guest jmnvhc]

When it gets too cold to ride (or sooner, depending)

 

70601[/snapback]

 

Too cold to ride??? I just need to wait for the sun to melt most of the black ice

 

I probably will get around to doing the alignment sometime this winter... the fork sounds easy enough to do anytime though.

 

Thanks for the tip.

[big J]

Hey, no problem.  Some of us seem to have similar tendencies...  

 

When it gets too cold to ride (or sooner, depending), you might want to unleash some of that OC behavior on a "better than factory" chassis alignment.  If you're at all concerned, it sure couldn't hurt just as a check.  For the swingarm, may I suggest:

 

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4778&hl=

 

For aligning the fork, I've used the following technique on every bike I've owned.  I keep an arrow shaft handy in my workshop just for this purpose:

 

Rotate the front wheel so you can set your "straightedge", arrow, rod, dowel, or what-have-you through the wheel horizontally between the spokes, on top of the brake disks, so that it's resting against the fork tubes.  Sit on the bike and sight down the fork using the arrow to line up with the outboard rear ends of the top triple clamp.  The pinch-bolt heads themselves are good sighting points.  It's pretty obvious when the arrow is out of line with the triple clamp.  This indicates that the fork is twisted.  Loosen up the pinch-bolts on both the upper and lower triples, and tug on the bars with the wheel between your knees until it's exactly parallel, and torque 'em back up.

 

Have fun.

70601[/snapback]

What if your eyes are different heghts up your face? Do you have to cock your head to one side?

[Guest ratchethack]

What if your eyes are different heghts up your face? Do you have to cock your head to one side?

Yeah, that helps. But it's sorta minor-league important.

 

However, butt-crack alignment on centerline is Major League.

 

Now if you take a very small laser...

[Greg Field]

I work at MI.

 

It is not normal for them to pull to one side.

 

I know it is a bit of a trip to bring it up from Beaverton, but I recommend that you do so. It's a new bike and should function properly. If there is a problem we can likely spot and fix it.