strange steering feel on new to me 1999

just bought a 99 vfr. on the 70 mile ride home i noticed the handling feels strange to me. a little back ground on my latest bikes might be helpfull. 2nd gen sv650,800 monster,aprilia,buel city cross,zx6r streetfighter. all upright with wide handle bars.

that being said the vfr feels like it wants to fall into corners. have to hold a fair amount of pressure to hold it on line. wourse at low speed 30-40 corners but still present in higher speed sweepers 60-75 mph. ive read how the 5th gen is so stable yet willing to change direction at a thought. i havent been on a bike with clip ons (not that i would call the vfr clip ons) in a 5-6 years. i dont remember haveing to hold the bike up in the corners. i checked air pressure front was down 4 lbs. i dought that would make that big of differance? is it my riding style or should i look for other problems? head stock bearings---- worn out suspension? i can ride it but its not confidence aspiring

 

Might be you have triangular profile tyres eg Michelin Pilot Powers or the forks have been dropped too far in their triple clamps.

I trialed Michelin Pilot Powers with 15mm drop though the triple clamps while great for tight twisties a bit nervious for me on high speed sweepers so changed the drop to 8mm, with my current more rounded slower progressive profiled Pilot Road 2s I have changed the drop to 12mm and it is just right.

 

what tires are you on?

 

Need more info. What pressure was the tire (4 lbs down from what?) at? How many miles are on this VFR? What brand/model tire is on the bike? If the previous owner had too low pressure in the front he could have caused the tire to be oddly worn. You would most likely feel a notch when you turn the handlebars, or some loose slop when you try and move the handlebars if the headset bears were worn/bad.

You could also see if the previous owner either moved the forks up or down by measuring them from the specs in the manual. I would also check the setup and condition of the rear shock.

 

tires, pressure, headstock bearings

 

the tires are pilot roads. they dont have a lot of wear but the born on date says they are 6 years old. which kind of makes since as the bike is 12 years old and only has 15000 miles.
the front tire pressure was 27-28 lbs. i normaly run between 32-36 lbs. i have the bike striped to the basic frame /motor/front forks giving it a super clean up. going to pull off forks and relube triple tree,flush forks etc. allso going to spoon on a new set of angels or road attacks. i hadnt thought abought the rear shock making it handle like this. guess ill have to look at that two. there is only1/8" between the clip on and the snap ring/wire. so its not from having the forks pulled to far up in the triple tree. iam going to chaulk it up to worn uneven tire profiles. will see next week when i get it back togther. thanks for ideas

 

toss those tires in the dumpster,bought my latest 01 vfr a few months ago,same deal 6 year old tires lots of tread left but poor handling,put on a set of road pilots 100% better

 

I'm having similar problems with mine, if Im not perfect entering corners it feels like I have a scared passenger on the back fighting the bike. She does handle well if I ride it like im on the track and hang off for corners... but Im not on the track.
I thought new tires would fix it and it did help a little but as they are aging it is becoming an ever increasing problem.
I have been considering changing the fork springs, I had to screw the preload all the way in and I still dont have the proper sag. 190lbs with gear.

 

Steering head bearings, I checked mine and they had just the slightest indent at center barely noticeable. I replaced them and the bike now handles properly. In fact it handled so well , even with a poorly worn front tire, that I got a reckless driving ticket 2 days later and sold the bike to buy a KLR or suzuki samurai. I used stock ball bearings but would suggest finding a roller bearing kit somewhere.