cornering issues with a road king
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Intermediate
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 37
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From: Netherlands ( europa)
cornering issues with a road king
I have a road king custom from 2004. Since a long time Im suffering cornering issues. Right corners are dead easy, but left ones are harsh. Takes me much more effort and the bikes seems to track different. When driven straight the headlight points slightly to the right. Bike tracks straight perfect ( no hands). Did the alignment procedure from the manual completely and find no problems..Alignment the bars and find nothing. I dont know it anymore. Hope you guys can bring me one step further. Apologies for the bad englisch.. Im from the Netherlands in europa.
I have an 04 and no issues at all, taking a right I think must be easier and more natural but the more you ride taking a left will be the same, I guess I just never thought about it left or right my bike handles great.
Thread Starter
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Intermediate
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
From: Netherlands ( europa)
i had the same idea Timmy B, but with the time it did not change. If a make a slight turn to the left , it seems if the front end of the bike goes straight. It "feels” differently if i make a turn to the right. Much easier and if I look to the front end, the bike actually goes to the right. Perhaps it is a optical thing or so. But its bugging me enough to find the root cause. Just wondering if I’m the only one on this Harley planet.
HDF Community Team
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 6,189
Likes: 2,419
From: USA
A few random thoughts.
If your forks are twisted in the tripple tree, the handling can be weird, even when aligned. Hard to check on a Harley with all the trim.
Headlight alignment can be just an alignment, or an indication of the above twist. Look closer at the headlight bucket, is it facing down the road, or is it pointing off to the side along with the light pattern.
Road crown can make handling very different left to right. The more crowned the road, the weirder it can feel. It can also make the bike pull, usually downhill.
How you sit on a bike can affect it. Some folk do sit cockeyed, causing the bike to ride cockeyed the other way. Weird handling can result.
If one fork tube has a broken spring or no oil, it can cause the wheel to deflect, especially on bumps, causing weird handling.
Tire wear can do strange things to handling. Especially uneven tire wear.
Cracked parts can be hard to see parked in the driveway, but cause all kinds of interesting handling problems going down the road. Especially rear suspension trailing arms.
If your forks are twisted in the tripple tree, the handling can be weird, even when aligned. Hard to check on a Harley with all the trim.
Headlight alignment can be just an alignment, or an indication of the above twist. Look closer at the headlight bucket, is it facing down the road, or is it pointing off to the side along with the light pattern.
Road crown can make handling very different left to right. The more crowned the road, the weirder it can feel. It can also make the bike pull, usually downhill.
How you sit on a bike can affect it. Some folk do sit cockeyed, causing the bike to ride cockeyed the other way. Weird handling can result.
If one fork tube has a broken spring or no oil, it can cause the wheel to deflect, especially on bumps, causing weird handling.
Tire wear can do strange things to handling. Especially uneven tire wear.
Cracked parts can be hard to see parked in the driveway, but cause all kinds of interesting handling problems going down the road. Especially rear suspension trailing arms.
Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 228
Likes: 15
From: Waynesboro Va
Ask and police officer that rides a RK how his handles. It's not the bike if it's in good condition
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Intermediate
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 468
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From: NorCal
You may have a swing arm bushing on one side that needs replacing. I experienced a lot of "fish-taliing" on my 02 FLHT in fast corners, and fixed it by installing the Stiffey. I think Rivera makes it. It induces quite a bit of vibration, but for me it was worth it for the handling improvement.
