I've just had a week away on my Buell Ulysses riding around Victoria and the Snowy Mountains. I have noticed that my bike seems to turn left corners easier than right. As in it feels like its heavier to countersteer on right handers. I thought it might be just me possibly being more comfortable on lefties but the rear tyre has worn more on the right side than the left. When i left home it was an almost new tyre, now there is still tread on the left side but the right side is worn to the bottom of the tread grooves. They are road tyres. My mate who was with me reckons I must go round right handers harder than lefts but I don't think so. Could there be something wrong or misaligned with my bike? There is no adjustment on the rear wheel (belt drive) so it should be tracking straight. Any ideas or explanations ?
Possibly Bearing slop, allowing a bit of wiggle room. That could possibly account for both scenarios your talking about I believe?
Try riding in a straight line, on a level surface. Then remove your hands from the bars. What happens? If the bike tends toward one direction, rather than tracking straight, maybe your wheels are out of F-R alignment.
have you looked at the wheel bearings? they are regular ball bearings pressed into the outside of the wheel. you should be able to see the outer race and dust seal, along with the tube the axle goes through on the swingarm. there should be NO GAPS. if there is a gap, your bearing is probably toast. if you bearing has been screwed up long enough to affect tire wear, your wheel might be done too. luckily you can still get new ones. alteratively. your axle should not be sticking out at all on the right side. I was also reminded of this post on badweb, but that was on the front wheel. That points to an alignment issue. but there isn't anything that should affect rear alignment short of something important being bent.
your tire-wear pattern matches that of our's when riding and turning on crowned roads except our wear is opposite since we're riding on the opposite side of the road. It's easier for you to turn away from the road crown (left turn for you) than to turn into the crown. JMO
Check the front forks, one of the springs may be upside down and has slipped past the top spacer. No idea if it's possible on a Buell, happened to me on a BMW though. Pete
Psychosomatic. I have an easier time with right turns, I feel I can push them harder and lean more comfortably. Practice, practice, practice. That being said, you should still check the mechanicals, better safe than sorry.
I agree, barring any found mechanical issues......I've been riding forty years, all sorts of bikes and left leaners are knee scapers for me and right leaners have always been a little precarious.....always adjusting the lean. Lefties are usually solid......I think its just me.....don't know if it matters but I am right handed.....
Thanks for the replies. I am aware of the wheel bearing issues. I have been caught previously. I have since changed them twice, the ones in the bike are new. This is not the problem. The roads I was riding are windy mountain roads, I don't recall them having a lot of crown on them. Maybe they did. I have done over 20,000 kms on this bike and its something I've always been aware of, I have not done five days of continuos riding on it before so maybe I had too much time to think about it. It's possible I done just wind it on a bit more on right handers. I'm a lefty by the way.
I find it much easier to turn right on my Uly. I think its just me though. Im still under 10k miles but I changed the rear wheel bearings when I changed tires just for fun. The originals I took out still seemed fine, even popped the seals out and the grease looks good.