Loose RC51 front end

[McVaaahhh]

I got new tires put on last week and took the bike up Deer Creek and Pleasant Park (High Grade) to break them in.

Holy shit that front tire felt like it was on sand the whole friggen time.

The first couple of corners I pretty much expected it as the factory coating was getting worn off, but that only takes a couple of revolutions and halfway up the hill I should have been getting good grip.

Road conditions were good, pressure in the front was set around 36psi or so (I can't remember).

Could this be suspension related?

[Repsol a095]

Bearings?

[lovinCO]

36 is kind of high for the front, maybe your tire wasn't getting enough heat?

[McVaaahhh]

Bearings?

Don't know, wouldn't bearings be an all the time kind of issue?



36 is kind of high for the front, maybe your tire wasn't getting enough heat?

Possible. I'm going to drop the pressure down a couple of pounds and take her out again.



Tires are the Pirelli Diablo Corsa's. Heard nothing but good things about them.

[phoenixr2]

what type of tire did you put on?
did you make sure the tire was put on the right way?
did you try double checking the pressure on another gauge?
were the road conditions good? I am sure you have seen roads that appear clean but when you look closer are actually extremely dirty/dusty/gravel covered.

just throwing ideas out. Bash is the rc51 god so maybe he can chime in with some more technical input.

[rybo]

Almost certainly suspension/set up related. While I agree the pressure seems pretty high, if you changed tire brands/models you probably also changed ride height and balance front to rear. The RC is pretty sensitive to set up and when it's dialed in it works really well.

That being said, check the head tube bearings too. When those are out of adjustment the bike just flat out handles weird.

This is the spot where I plug IR Dave and fixmybike.com Seriously some tof the best money I've ever spent on my motorcycle has been spending time with him getting it dialed in.

Scott


I got new tires put on last week and took the bike up Deer Creek and Pleasant Park (High Grade) to break them in.

Holy shit that front tire felt like it was on sand the whole friggen time.

The first couple of corners I pretty much expected it as the factory coating was getting worn off, but that only takes a couple of revolutions and halfway up the hill I should have been getting good grip.

Road conditions were good, pressure in the front was set around 36psi or so (I can't remember).

Could this be suspension related?

[Aracheon]

Holy shit, 36psi!? I'd bet that was a big part of it.

[McVaaahhh]

what type of tire did you put on?
did you make sure the tire was put on the right way?
did you try double checking the pressure on another gauge?
were the road conditions good? I am sure you have seen roads that appear clean but when you look closer are actually extremely dirty/dusty/gravel covered.

just throwing ideas out. Bash is the rc51 god so maybe he can chime in with some more technical input.

Tire is on the right way, double checked before I installed them. :)

Didn't double check the pressure with another gauge, but will do that.

I'm pretty sure on the road conditions. There was sand in spots but overall they were good. I was NOT getting any weirdness out of the rear tire, only the front.






That being said, check the head tube bearings too. When those are out of adjustment the bike just flat out handles weird.


How do I do that? What am I looking for?



This is the spot where I plug IR Dave and fixmybike.com Seriously some tof the best money I've ever spent on my motorcycle has been spending time with him getting it dialed in.

Scott

I'll probably give Dave a shout anyway. :D

[lovinCO]

Tires are the Pirelli Diablo Corsa's. Heard nothing but good things about them.


Well if it helps my new bike came with Pirelli Dragon Supercorsas. I haven't ridden on Pirelli's before and I'm running 32-35 pressures.

We did some more spirited runs on Hwy7 yesterday and I haven't had any movement out of them so far. Lowering the pressures would be a cheap first test.

[Doron&Katie]

I rode those roads yesterday and had a few scary front end slides. With the windy conditions the roads are dirtier than you think. I was running 35 psi.

[Devaclis]

With that front end on the Hawk it handled weird until I got the steering head tightened correctly. Too tight and it bound a LOT. Just a leeeeeeetle too lose and it was sloppy as all hell. Check that out before you start spending money or time taking stuff apart :)

[Sortarican]

Is the front tire profile the same as factory?
I went from 60 to 70 on my Corsa III's and still need to make some more adjustments to the geometry as there's still too much trail and the turning characteristics are a little soft.

To check your head/wheel bearings:
Initially check by holding the front brake and rocking the bike forward and backward gently and turning the handle bars.
Check for play not caused by suspension movement.

To fully check the wheel and head bearing/adjustment jack the bike up unloading the front end so the tire is off the ground.
Turn the handlebars side to side and check for binding.
Holding the wheel with the forks locked wiggle it front to back and side to side and spin the wheel.
Check for excessive play or binding in the wheel bearing.
Holding the forks with them unlocked do the same to check for head bearing wear/adjustment issues.

[txrc51fatboy]

31psi front 32 psi rear diablo corsas for me.
check sreering bearing, more than likely your forks are shot or at least not sprung for your wt and riding style.
get suspension set up properly, shim the shock and you should be riding just fine

[pilot]

The tires may be "brand new" = not used, but how old are they? Check the DOT code on the sidewall. Also, rim width varies among manufacturers and this can change the profile of the same tire on different bikes.