Why am I tracking to the left?
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 2,840
Likes: 900
From: Philly Suburbs
I've never really bought the "primary argument." The right side of the bike has air/fuel intake, rear brake, and most significantly exhaust (not to mention a couple of cams and the oil pump). Mine stays pretty straight without hands. Sometimes it'll wander a little, but it could be in either direction (based on road crown and surface). I've read and seen lots of accounts of the rear wheel not being directly in line with the front (even if both are completely straight). I wonder whether that could contribute to things?
Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 126
Likes: 27
From: Black Hills of South Dakota
Earlier this year I pulled my rear wheel, took it to the local Harley dealer and had them put a new tube and tire on it.
When I re mounted the rear wheel I got it ever so slightly crooked. It pulled to the left hands off and I had to lean to one side to get it to so straight hands off.
Then I got a large protractor from amazon and was able to accurately measure from the holes on the swing arm to the center of the bolts. Sure enough I was off.
Got the thing aligned, had to do this a couple of times because it would ever so slightly tweak on final tightening. Now tracks perfectly straight hands off, no lean, no adjustment necessary.
Getting the done with the correct tension on the belt is a little bit tricky. In the end I got the belt tension perfect according to a tool I bought and managed to get the rear wheel dead straight. Took a lot longer for me than a good Harley mechanic but its certainly something you can do at home.
If your rear wheel has been out of alignment for long enough it may have a wear pattern that will contribute to riding crooked. Don't know if you can tell by looking at the rear tire or not.
When I re mounted the rear wheel I got it ever so slightly crooked. It pulled to the left hands off and I had to lean to one side to get it to so straight hands off.
Then I got a large protractor from amazon and was able to accurately measure from the holes on the swing arm to the center of the bolts. Sure enough I was off.
Got the thing aligned, had to do this a couple of times because it would ever so slightly tweak on final tightening. Now tracks perfectly straight hands off, no lean, no adjustment necessary.
Getting the done with the correct tension on the belt is a little bit tricky. In the end I got the belt tension perfect according to a tool I bought and managed to get the rear wheel dead straight. Took a lot longer for me than a good Harley mechanic but its certainly something you can do at home.
If your rear wheel has been out of alignment for long enough it may have a wear pattern that will contribute to riding crooked. Don't know if you can tell by looking at the rear tire or not.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 2,840
Likes: 900
From: Philly Suburbs
Earlier this year I pulled my rear wheel, took it to the local Harley dealer and had them put a new tube and tire on it.
When I re mounted the rear wheel I got it ever so slightly crooked. It pulled to the left hands off and I had to lean to one side to get it to so straight hands off.
Then I got a large protractor from amazon and was able to accurately measure from the holes on the swing arm to the center of the bolts. Sure enough I was off.
Got the thing aligned, had to do this a couple of times because it would ever so slightly tweak on final tightening. Now tracks perfectly straight hands off, no lean, no adjustment necessary.
Getting the done with the correct tension on the belt is a little bit tricky. In the end I got the belt tension perfect according to a tool I bought and managed to get the rear wheel dead straight. Took a lot longer for me than a good Harley mechanic but its certainly something you can do at home.
If your rear wheel has been out of alignment for long enough it may have a wear pattern that will contribute to riding crooked. Don't know if you can tell by looking at the rear tire or not.
When I re mounted the rear wheel I got it ever so slightly crooked. It pulled to the left hands off and I had to lean to one side to get it to so straight hands off.
Then I got a large protractor from amazon and was able to accurately measure from the holes on the swing arm to the center of the bolts. Sure enough I was off.
Got the thing aligned, had to do this a couple of times because it would ever so slightly tweak on final tightening. Now tracks perfectly straight hands off, no lean, no adjustment necessary.
Getting the done with the correct tension on the belt is a little bit tricky. In the end I got the belt tension perfect according to a tool I bought and managed to get the rear wheel dead straight. Took a lot longer for me than a good Harley mechanic but its certainly something you can do at home.
If your rear wheel has been out of alignment for long enough it may have a wear pattern that will contribute to riding crooked. Don't know if you can tell by looking at the rear tire or not.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 203
Likes: 7
From: Arizona
Thanks all for the (mostly useful) inputs. Guess I'll take another look at everything that has been mentioned in an effort to find the cause.
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 1,354
Likes: 766
From: north Carolina
My 2014 FXDL has done this since the day I rode it away from the dealer brand new. I noticed it on the way home when I took my hands off the bars to readjust my gloves, something I had done numerous times on my sportster and never had an issue. I chalked it up to the weight of the primary, the pull got slightly worse when I took off the heavy stock exhaust and replaced with lighter exhaust. I don't notice it unless I have both hands off the bars, and I figure with over 17k on the clock by now if I had an alignment issue it would have caused other problems by now.