Hard turning in

[Rolavine]

I may be very far off base here, but....

Is the front axle bent? The front axle on the FJR is a lightweight 'high tech' thing, nothing like the major hunks of steel I've had on older bikes. My front axle was bent when I went to take the bike for a test ride, and it had done major harm to the tire that was uneven on both sides. The bike refused to take a counter steer, actually fought me, I kept doing the test ride trying to figure out what was wrong, I'm like that you know - a bit touched and an engineer to boot. I don't know how common this might be, the used bike I ended up buying (I was lucky my diagnosis of the front end + tire, not fork not bearings, not frame was right) had been repaired from a previous accident, maybe they just ignored the axle. You can eyeball this thing to see if it is bent.

 

[NSrider]

I may be very far off base here, but....
Is the front axle bent? The front axle on the FJR is a lightweight 'high tech' thing, nothing like the major hunks of steel I've had on older bikes. My front axle was bent when I went to take the bike for a test ride, and it had done major harm to the tire that was uneven on both sides. The bike refused to take a counter steer, actually fought me, I kept doing the test ride trying to figure out what was wrong, I'm like that you know - a bit touched and an engineer to boot. I don't know how common this might be, the used bike I ended up buying (I was lucky my diagnosis of the front end + tire, not fork not bearings, not frame was right) had been repaired from a previous accident, maybe they just ignored the axle. You can eyeball this thing to see if it is bent.

Right now I am going to blame the stock POS bridgestone tire. I am having a new strada installed today so we will see if that makes a difference.

 

[artistic rider]

In addition to the side car thought what people have mentioned is largely all the things you need o consider.

Its not harder to turn right a sidecar. Its harder to turn in both directions. Though turns are alot more interesting, especially the right. That said after reading this thread I went and checked my forks since they were recently worked on and surprise surprise they were set differently. I adjusted them and went for a short spin and my small wobble when leaning hard to the right is gone. Not trying to hijack...just adding a couple of cents here.

 

[Greb]

My bike is hard to turn in also and I think it is the Bridgestone that has worn into a funky triangular shape. Worst tire ever! Needs replacing at 3500 miles! I know NEPRT covers the BT 021 quite sufficiently :angry2:

 

[NSrider]

My bike is hard to turn in also and I think it is the Bridgestone that has worn into a funky triangular shape. Worst tire ever! Needs replacing at 3500 miles! I know NEPRT covers the BT 021 quite sufficiently :angry2:

Thanks for all the suggestions but I am happy to report that problem was the crappy front tire. I just returned from CFR 08 and the strada tire is great.

 

[RAVENRIDER]

My bike is hard to turn in also and I think it is the Bridgestone that has worn into a funky triangular shape. Worst tire ever! Needs replacing at 3500 miles! I know NEPRT covers the BT 021 quite sufficiently :angry2:

Same here on my '08 and particularly noticeable turning right.

I know it's the 021's stupid center "ridge" causing the problem because I could turn right just fine when the tire/bike was new.

On my commute last Friday, I found myself both pushing right and pulling left to bring her round the on-ramp.

Time for those Pilot Roads 2's

 

[Greb]

I just ordered a Pilot Road 2 myself.

I wrote an email to Bridgestone and 48 hours later a representive called me to discuss the problem with the BT 021. I discussed the common wear pattern we were all experiencing and referred him to this site.

As we were talking he was looking through the various threads, and I don't think he took the "POS tire" comments personally. He took an objective view toward our problem and acted as if it had never been brought to their attention before. He did admit he believes the FJR is too heavy a machine for the BT 021 and further it was expected there would be more touring and less sport for the average rider. They have had reports from the ST 1300 having similiar issues.

He recommended that the BT 020 might hold up better. I am not sure if our discussion will change anything but I was impressed Bridgestone called and cared about customer satisfaction.

I told him that I was moving to a PR2 and he replied that he read enough posts to deduce it's a popular choice for the FJR.

 

[CODan]

08 FJR with about 3,000 here...

I felt that my turn in was become very hard also, and went to check tire pressure, which put me face to face with my front Bridgestone.

Interesting wear pattern as others have noted.

Oddly the center had some tread, the outer edges have tread, but the middle of the sides are just about slicks.

I'm not happy at all.

 

[Fred W]

08 FJR with about 3,000 here...
I felt that my turn in was become very hard also, and went to check tire pressure, which put me face to face with my front Bridgestone.

Interesting wear pattern as others have noted.

Oddly the center had some tread, the outer edges have tread, but the middle of the sides are just about slicks.

I'm not happy at all.

You aren't happy why? Just get something better and move on with your life...

I got ~ 9k miles out of my last front Pirelli Strada. It did attain the wear profile you mention toward the end of it's life, as do pretty much all tires on these hefty ST bikes. I was pleased overall and put another one on to replace it.

The Strada (non-E code) rear that I have on right now has ~6k on it and still has maybe another 1000 miles left on it. It also wore on the sides faster than in the center, but that is no fault of the tire. It's because I ride curvy New England back roads almost all the time, almost never straight line slab.

I'm going to swap it out prior to EOM with a Dunlop Roadsmart I have in the garage as I type, mostly because I'm curious if the dual compound will net me anything. I think that will make a good front back tire combo (Strada front, Roadsmart back). If the Roadsmart doesn't give me incremental mileage I will probably be going back to the Stradas.

 

[Greb]

08 FJR with about 3,000 here...
I felt that my turn in was become very hard also, and went to check tire pressure, which put me face to face with my front Bridgestone.

Interesting wear pattern as others have noted.

Oddly the center had some tread, the outer edges have tread, but the middle of the sides are just about slicks.

I'm not happy at all.

I ride curvy New England back roads almost all the time, almost never straight line slab.

Sure rub it in about your curvy roads! Well at least I am moving to Utah next year! :yahoo:

 

[CODan]

You aren't happy why? Just get something better and move on with your life...

That's what I'm doing.

It just that I'm only at 3,011 miles. Reasonably road legal speeds, no significant stuff on the bike, side bags off the bike, only about 100 miles with a passenger. I ride a lot of twisty road here in CO but I'm not very aggressive - never drag hardware and rarely drag my toes. So basically a pretty light load. And tire pressure has been set at 39 and monitored frequently enough to stay very close to that pressure.

Yet the tire is a slick (NO tread left) in the middle lean angle range, with plenty of tread left in the center and on the very edge. And turn-in and keeping it leaned a requires a lot of pressure.

So IMO this was a very poor tire choice by Yamaha.

 

[Fred W]

You aren't happy why? Just get something better and move on with your life...

That's what I'm doing.

It just that I'm only at 3,011 miles. Reasonably road legal speeds, no significant stuff on the bike, side bags off the bike, only about 100 miles with a passenger. I ride a lot of twisty road here in CO but I'm not very aggressive - never drag hardware and rarely drag my toes. So basically a pretty light load. And tire pressure has been set at 39 and monitored frequently enough to stay very close to that pressure.

Yet the tire is a slick (NO tread left) in the middle lean angle range, with plenty of tread left in the center and on the very edge. And turn-in and keeping it leaned a requires a lot of pressure.

So IMO this was a very poor tire choice by Yamaha.

+1!! Wanna bet they got them cheap?

 

[Robert Haines]

BIKE LEANS LEFT - ME TOO!

The initial reason I joined this group was to solve this problem.

I have a 2008 that I now have about 3000 miles on it. From the get-go, I always thought that bike wanted to lean left. I initially figured it was simply my right arm being longer than my left and that's why I was pushing on my right grip.

Recently I installed a throttle lock and was able to ride hands free... but not for very long. To hold the bike upright, I need to hold on to the tank and lean so far to the right that my head is even with the end of the right grip. I can follow an interstate curve to the left hands free and upright. So something's not correct.

The concern is that it has always happened, not just after I got some tire wear. I'll check tire pressure, tire alignment, fork preload, etc. I don't trust my dealer. If there is anything else that you all might suggest, I would appreciate it.