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Tomorrow night, I'm going to get back out in the garage and remove the belt so I can check for any play in the swing arm. Might even go as far as take off the trans and swing arm bushing stabalizers and check it.
I might be wrong, but from how I'm reading everything about rake and trail is that less trail will make the bike more stable in the corners but less stable in a straight line. The more trail is the more stable in a straight line and less in the corners. Is that right?
Well you are not completely wrong. More trail in general makes the more stable overall. Less trail makes it less stable overall. More trail makes the bike harder to turn. The bike feels heavier. Less trail make the bike easier to turn. The bike steers quicker. The R1 has less trail as it's a sport bike and the riders want quicker steering. It also has a stiffer frame/suspension.
Just slacken the belt, no need to remove it or anything else. I can say that on mine, I found something like 3/16" side to side play at the wheel axle end. Completely free play from excessive clearance between the inner bushings and the swing arm shaft. This was not subtle, nor flex, pure "clank clank" play.
As for on the track, of all the things I was not doing, checking the speedometer was one. It was the New York Safety Track, which isn't the fastest track. I don't even know which turn that was, but I was probably not doing anything that would give the likes of Rossi any worries about me catching him.
Wasn't bragging with that picture, just wanted to show you that these bikes can indeed do the job in stock form, without redesigning them. That said, if you simply want to redesign, go for it!
Steering head on mine when released from full turn simply comes back to center with a very slight over-center waggle.
That said, when heeled over on a turn, hitting expansion joints will still upset it some. Muscles on the handlebars helps calm it down. Hence my want for a steering damper.
I am almost perfectly positive the waggle that remains is in the steering head because I can start it by waggling the bars myself when heeled over in a turn, and can stop/dampen it with brute force from my arms.
Just slacken the belt, no need to remove it or anything else. I can say that on mine, I found something like 3/16" side to side play at the wheel axle end. Completely free play from excessive clearance between the inner bushings and the swing arm shaft. This was not subtle, nor flex, pure "clank clank" play.
As for on the track, of all the things I was not doing, checking the speedometer was one. It was the New York Safety Track, which isn't the fastest track. I don't even know which turn that was, but I was probably not doing anything that would give the likes of Rossi any worries about me catching him.
Wasn't bragging with that picture, just wanted to show you that these bikes can indeed do the job in stock form, without redesigning them. That said, if you simply want to redesign, go for it!
Steering head on mine when released from full turn simply comes back to center with a very slight over-center waggle.
That said, when heeled over on a turn, hitting expansion joints will still upset it some. Muscles on the handlebars helps calm it down. Hence my want for a steering damper.
I am almost perfectly positive the waggle that remains is in the steering head because I can start it by waggling the bars myself when heeled over in a turn, and can stop/dampen it with brute force from my arms.
Wasn't saying you were bragging, was simply curious because there seems to be a threshold of speed where it starts to happen and that feels like 80-85. Before that, I can throw my bike into whatever curve I can find and never worry about this wobble. Also it depends on the smoothness of the surface, it almost becomes intermittent to where I think I fixed it and without warning, there it is. As far as the neck bearing, that's how tight it was to begin with. I did the alignment and adjusted the neck bearing to the three swings at the same time. So maybe I should adjust it back and then double check that swing arm play while it's in the air. Thanks for the info, I'll be working on it tomorrow but might not be able to test it out until Sat when it stops raining. Also, I might have to look into a steering dampener at some point. I just wanted to make sure everything was the way it's suppose to be and I'm not masking the original issue
I found that for every inch you extend your rear shock, you lessen the overall rake 3 degrees and lessen the trail by 7/8". So by going with a 2" longer shock, I'll have the same rake and trail as a street bike. My tube offset will be different, so I actually dont know how that's going to affect it. I guess there's only one way to find out! After I make sure theres no play in my swing arm and my neck bearing is adjusted back to where it should be
I can't remember where I saw it but there was a thread or article on a canyon carving HD touring bike. This guy just replaced the front fork with a inverted fork an huge brakes.
I can't remember where I saw it but there was a thread or article on a canyon carving HD touring bike. This guy just replaced the front fork with a inverted fork an huge brakes.
I have a monotube cartridge in my front tubes that replaces the spring, valves and oil. So its suppose to act like inverted forks.
Got home, lossened the belt and gave the swing arm a tug and sure enough, theres play. Not a bunch, but maybe a tenth of an inch but probably a little less. But I could obviously see what looks like a 1/8 inch movement at the back of the tire. Going to get me some new bushings and see what happens. If I start dumping any more money into this thing, I'm going to start selling my body, which would be an upgrade since I give it away normally 🤣
I found that for every inch you extend your rear shock, you lessen the overall rake 3 degrees and lessen the trail by 7/8". So by going with a 2" longer shock, I'll have the same rake and trail as a street bike. My tube offset will be different, so I actually dont know how that's going to affect it. I guess there's only one way to find out! After I make sure theres no play in my swing arm and my neck bearing is adjusted back to where it should be
If you pursue this course, please (a) gear up before you test it and (b) test it on a track. Lot's can go wrong with this experiment, and you don't want to get ground up on the roads, or get run over by a Peterbilt.
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