Interesting handling problem on a 2001

MY 2001 falls into corners, moreso at lower speeds but at higher speeds as well. When entering the corner I need to give it significant countersteer to keep it from falling right over. It seems to track the corner ok but I need to countersteer all the way through The bike has 20 K on it and seems to be pretty stable otherwise.

Anybody think it could be the steering head bearings or am is this just how they steer. It's more work than fun at this point.

Thanks much

 

Sounds more like wrong tyre/pressure to me.

Put your front wheel against a wall and gently push on your bar and see if there is play at the head ?

 

Thanks Stranger, the front tire is a Conti Attack. Don't know what the back is but both look good.

Another thread mentions low tire pressure as well so I will check that and the steering head as per your suggestion. Might just use the center stand and lift the front up for a little "wiggle test".

 

You may check your fork height as well. If the forks are raised in the triple clamp, the cornering is much quicker.

 

It could be several things, as some have mentioned them, but setting your suspension correctly (i.e. sag) is essential, the height of the front forks in the triple clamps can determine turn-in speed, the height of the rear shock can determine this as well. Tire pressure is also a likely culprit, but the tire profiles can have a huge effect on turn-in and handling. If this was on the track, I would tell you to just add more throttle while entering the turns to pick the bike up b/c it sounds like you are trying to lowside, and you don't want that to happen at all.

 

I'm with Glockem.

Check tire pressure, set sag, go from there!

If you don't know how to set the sag, let us know!

BZ

 

I had this kinda problem not too long ago. The rear tire ran over a staple and developed a realllly slow leak. Before I knew it when I pressed right it would turn very sharply. Plus when I was cruising along I noticed the engine was really struggling at a normal RPM range (4k-5k). At first I thought maybe the spark plugs are bad and for some random reason I thought I'd check the tires and the rear tire was all covered in rubber boo-boos and it was really sticky to the touch. It was so flat I could push in the tire and it would concave on itself. After I put some air in it the abrupt cornering problems went away.

 

I encountered very similar handling problems earlier this year when I first began riding my new '07 VFR800A, which happened to come with a set of OEM Metzeler ME4's.

To make a long story short, after riding my VFR a little over 800 miles, I had the ME4's replaced with a new set of Michelin Road Pilot 2CT's (36psi front, 42 psi rear), and voila! The problems you've so well described just vanished with the 2CT's. My VFR now handles and rides like a dream, just as one would expect from such a world class Honda sport-touring motorcycle. It's like riding a totally different bike compared to how it behaved with the
ME4's. (I've previously posted a more detailed recounting of this ordeal if you're interested.)


If, in the course of troubleshooting your motorcycle you find that your bike's suspension is unlikely to be the main culprit, you might do well to first replace your current tires with a new set of Road Pilot 2CT's before you do anything more costly and drastic. You may be amazed by the results.

 

The Two things that made my VFR fall into corners quickly.

Tyres:
Have noticed the turn in rate of the rounder Pilot Road 2's is more progressive than my previous more triangular Pilot Powers.

Lowering the forks through the triple clamps:
Great for flopping left and right quickly in tight twisties but also made the VFR noticably nervious at high speed, returning the Forks to standard made the steering a little slower and high speed stabilty returned.

 

I noticed the same as RedRover......changed my 1 yr old Bridgestone BT021 front to a Pilot Road 2 and the problem was gone.

Still have a BT021 rear but will change that over to a Michelin next year.

 

Thanks everyone for your input. Sounds like some solid things I can check and hopefully get it to come in.

 

Looks like you received plenty of input. I guess one more can't hurt.
I recently had the same problem. The dealership installed new tires and over inflated them by seven pounds. I noticed a difference as soon as started to ride away. I stopped, got off and looked at the bike. I thought something was f-ed up or missing. Couldn't see anything so I thought it was just the new tires. As I went around corners on my way home it felt like it was going to slap down on its side. The seering felt like I was trying to fight the centrifugal force. It was my neighbor who suggested I check the pressure. I dropped the pressure and everything is fine.

 

You guys were right on as it was low tire pressure on both ends. Everything else looked good. I'm evidently too light to get enough sag out of it, even with everything backed all the way off, 3/4 of an inch is about it. Even so I'm not complaining as the difference is tremendous.

Thanks again!

 

Out of curiosity, what pressure were the tires at, and what did you end up setting them at?

 

To my embarassment the pressure was at 24* both front and back. I set as per the swingarm sticker at 36F/42R. Should be good to go though I do plan to try some different tires at some point.

 

That's cool man. Good call on checking the tire pressure then. When I picked up my VFR, the guy said it was ready to go. I trailered it home though and I was glad that I did b/c the front tire was at 18lbs and the rear was at 22.

The swingarm air pressure decal is for the stock designated tires. So if you get different types of tires which I am sure you will, just keep in mind that you need to research what the correct pressure needs to be for the specific tires that you get.

 

Where did you get this information?

 

Where did I get what information? Do you mean other types of tires and there associated recommended tire pressures?

 

Uhm, yea. Is there anything else that you mentioned?

If I had OEM Dunlop Sportmax's and went to Michelin Pilot Power tires, I would keep the vehicle's recommended tire pressure. Why?

The tire manufacturer doesnt know how much the bike weighs and other particulars.

But the manufacturer of the bike does.....which is why you keep with that recommendation.

 

The mfr's numbers are only truly accurate with the OEM tires. Any change in tire sidewall stiffness or tire size, and you need to run different tire pressure for the same amount of weight.

Now, getting the right tire pressure information from the tire mfr seems to be nigh impossible. Usually it's pretty close to other tires (weight is the bigger factor, which is why to stick with the sticker's pressures unless you have better info).

With cars/trucks, I use chalk to set it up correctly (flat contact pressure). But that doesn't work as soon as you start going to non-zero static camber or a motorcycle's rounded-profile tires.