Squirrely, or slippery, handling in twisties?

[Desert Rat]

Hey folks, and sorry for the potentially redundant blast.. I'm a noob

I've been riding my '08 A for about 2 months now. I bought it used with about 1800 miles on it from a dealer I (usually) trust. I've consistently noticed a sort of squishy, squirrelly feeling in turns. It feels like alternately the rear or (more frightening) the front tire is running on oil or grease on the road. It's hard to describe, so bear with me... Bottom line is a total loss of confidence leaning over in the turns. Closest analogy would be that microsecond of fear you might feel when you hit one of this black 'snake' asphalt repair lines in a turn and your front wheel jumps 6 mm towards the outside of the curve.

To be fair, I bought the bike with a plug in the rear tire (which I missed in my (obviously inadequate) inspection), and the first ride I went on (525 miles/10 hours) saw tire pressure go from normal (39) to less than 15. Needless to say, that tire was replaced, and the dealer was castigated. The front tire now has 4800 miles on it (Bridgestone OEM). The other day I noticed some serious cupping in the tread (uneven wear in the bits where the grooves cross one another). I replaced the valve stem since I suspected that one was leaking. This tire now holds pressure, but the problem persists.

I'm 6'1 and weigh 250, and I probably have 10-15 lbs of crap in my bags on a normal ride. On a whim this afternoon I flipped the selector on the suspension from Soft to Hard (figuring I probably weigh what the average Japanese couple does LOL) and that seemed to make it better. I'll have to do some more testing to figure that out.

So my question(s) is(are):

1) Would the cupping/uneven tread wear on the front tire cause these symptoms? (BTW, I'm replacing this tire within the month)

2) What does the Soft/Hard lever do, and what would it's effect on handling be?

3) Is there a simple guide to adjusting the mono-shock preload?

4) Failing these simple solutions, to whom should I turn for advice on overall suspension tuning (including the front end?).

BTW, on the freeway this bike is smooth as silk. Turn on the cruise control and take a nap smooth.

Thanks in advance to any who can help, and again, my apologies if I'm beating a dead horse here

Bryan

 

[sonicspeed]

what tire pressure are you running front and back?

too low and it will cause premature cupping and uneven wearing and will also give you that squirrely feeling

 

[madmike2]

what tire pressure are you running front and back?
too low and it will cause premature cupping and uneven wearing and will also give you that squirrely feeling

That's where I would start. Check your tires and try them @ 40 lbs to see if that makes a difference.

Rear shock: Someone of our physical dimensions (at least on my Gen I) twisty riding was done with the shock set on hard.

 

[Jagermeister]

Which brand tires? The sometimes-OEM Metzler Z6's are harder compound, and don't like chilly weather.

In addition to tire pressure, check the Bin O' Facts for suggested Suspension settings, roughly 2/3 down the page. Be sure to read the linked Jeff Ashe settings post, as well.

 

[Low Level FJR Pilot]

Get those Stones off of there and get some Dunlop Road Smarts or some Michellin PR2's. Both have had great reviews on this site and both handle well. I have the PR2's on my bike and I love them. I am not a very agressive rider, but have found that they handle in the corners very well. On our ride yesterday, 4 of us had the PR2's and one the RoadSmarts and all liked what they had. Good luck. B)

 

[Desert Rat]

undefined

what tire pressure are you running front and back?
too low and it will cause premature cupping and uneven wearing and will also give you that squirrely feeling

I fixed the tire pressure issue, although the front tire is pretty badly scarred. I manage it pretty closely now, following the instructions on the swing arm.

 

[Slappy]

Desert Rat, look up Jeff Ashe and suspension setup. You might need to do some tweaking to your suspension setup. 6"1 and 250 plus extra crap is a little much for the stock settings. Start with Jeff's setting and tweak from there.

 

[HotRodZilla]

DR,

Screw the swing arm recommendations. At your size, you're gonna need more pressure in those tires. If not for handling, simply to help prevent the severe cupping you will experience. I'm a little lighter than you but at TWN's recommendation, I began running my tires at about 44psi front and rear. It has made a world of difference in my bike's handling and since the tire change about 4k ago, no cupping. Also, as previously recommended, look up Jeff Ashe's suspension thread. That also made great improvement and I now understand what I am doing with my suspension.

 

[rocketdoc]

Bridestones are nice when they are new, but they cup like crazy in my experience. Loved to hated them once they go sour. Avons, I have been happy, but recently gone to Mich PR2's and they rock.

I put a Smartire pressure monitor on my rims a couple of years ago, because the pressures are so critical to a good feel.

Hope this helps.

 

[motorcycle-ed]

Gunny on using the Jeff Ashe settings (at least!) Frankly I like his original settings better, which he later modified to a bit less hard settings. Tire pressure on the FJR is important, more important than any other bike I have ridden (of course I RIDE the FJR harder than any bike I have owned ). I am 210 and carry more crap than I ought to. I run 42 rear and 40 front MINIMUM. If you run less than 40 in the front, the tires will wear in weird ways and the front wont feel right.

Ed

 

[Bounce]

+1 on the Stones. I had such bad cupping on the front that I tossed them a 4k miles. Running 41/41 psi since then on various brands and it's much better. On the Pilot Roads I've had those and the PSI combo get me out to 10k miles on the rear with squaring off but not the squirely handling your describing.

Also check your front and rear suspension settings. It's not uncommon for them to get out of synch with each other by people dicking with the fork setting knobs (at the dealership or in a parking lot).

 

[jcrouch]

I'm with Slappy. My '07 sort of "wallowed" in sweeping turns. Front braking set up a little "chatter" in the steering head, or so it felt like, anyway. Also, once my Bridgestones started to cup, the front tire would sometimes feel like it wanted to slip, and other times felt a little grabby. Anyhoo, I tightened up the front and rear settings alot and all those things cleared up, at least after I replaced the front tire. Once the cupping is there, only a new tire will complete the fix. Oh, and front end dive on hard braking all but goes away also. I'm 220 pounds and run 39psi front and 41psi rear, which I think is factory recommended pressure.

Jay

 

[El Cajone]

Hey folks, and sorry for the potentially redundant blast.. I'm a noob
I've been riding my '08 A for about 2 months now. I bought it used with about 1800 miles on it from a dealer I (usually) trust. I've consistently noticed a sort of squishy, squirrelly feeling in turns. It feels like alternately the rear or (more frightening) the front tire is running on oil or grease on the road. It's hard to describe, so bear with me... Bottom line is a total loss of confidence leaning over in the turns. Closest analogy would be that microsecond of fear you might feel when you hit one of this black 'snake' asphalt repair lines in a turn and your front wheel jumps 6 mm towards the outside of the curve.

To be fair, I bought the bike with a plug in the rear tire (which I missed in my (obviously inadequate) inspection), and the first ride I went on (525 miles/10 hours) saw tire pressure go from normal (39) to less than 15. Needless to say, that tire was replaced, and the dealer was castigated. The front tire now has 4800 miles on it (Bridgestone OEM). The other day I noticed some serious cupping in the tread (uneven wear in the bits where the grooves cross one another). I replaced the valve stem since I suspected that one was leaking. This tire now holds pressure, but the problem persists.

I'm 6'1 and weigh 250, and I probably have 10-15 lbs of crap in my bags on a normal ride. On a whim this afternoon I flipped the selector on the suspension from Soft to Hard (figuring I probably weigh what the average Japanese couple does LOL) and that seemed to make it better. I'll have to do some more testing to figure that out.

So my question(s) is(are):

1) Would the cupping/uneven tread wear on the front tire cause these symptoms? (BTW, I'm replacing this tire within the month)

2) What does the Soft/Hard lever do, and what would it's effect on handling be?

3) Is there a simple guide to adjusting the mono-shock preload?

4) Failing these simple solutions, to whom should I turn for advice on overall suspension tuning (including the front end?).

BTW, on the freeway this bike is smooth as silk. Turn on the cruise control and take a nap smooth.

Thanks in advance to any who can help, and again, my apologies if I'm beating a dead horse here

Bryan

Ditto on some of the other comments in this thread; you need to look at both your tire pressure and your suspension settings. I was experiencing some of the same problems on my '07 A. I checked the tire pressures and they were too low, especially the front. I bumped them up to the manufacturer's recommendation and adjusted the suspension to Jeff Ashe's settings and I couldn't believe the improvement in the way the bike handled.

 

[cougar8000]

Get those bricks off your bike i.e stones. My 07 came with them and it made running twisties a nightmare. I even started to question my own abilities at times. Once I put PR2 on it I feel like the bike has been reborn.