Slight pull to right

[KiteSquid]

I have not looked, but is there an adjustment procedure for the 2nd Gen RSV in the service manual?

[RedRider]

Gary

 

Mine is out considerably more than 3/8 and there is a tracking problem. I have not seen any spec for this parameter. Also have some front end shimmy (hands-off) that I really don't like. I am going to take the bags off on the weekend and make some more careful measurements. Try to see if I can tell how this might be brought back into line. Eck has given me some ideas and some things to check out.

 

I will also stop by the dealer where I bought the bike and see if the service guys have any ideas.

 

Ross

 

Ross,

 

The shimmy may be from loose steering head bearings. Roll forward slowly and lock up the front brake (do this without the engine running). Check to see if you hear 'clicking'. Also, you can put the bike up on a jack and see if you can move the front wheel up and down. It won't move much, but it shouldn't move at all.

 

Tightening the steering head bearings properly is a painstaking job. You have to remove the front fairing - outer and inner - to get to them. I just did this last month and it made a huge difference in handling. However, you can temperarily tighten them by reaching a long flat blade screwdriver onto the tightening nuts and giving them a rap with a hammer.

 

This will likely take care of your shimmy.

 

RR

[RossKean]

I have not looked, but is there an adjustment procedure for the 2nd Gen RSV in the service manual?

 

Not that I could see. The work "align" doesn't even appear in the manual.

 

Ross

[RossKean]

RR

I tried the "roll forward and stop" and did not hear clicking as you might expect if the steering head bearings were loose. I may snug them up a bit anyway - it should at least dampen the shimmy. I realize that they should not be too tight. This, however, does not get to the alignment and tracking issue. I have to think that all of these things are related.

Thanks

Ross

 

Ross,

 

The shimmy may be from loose steering head bearings. Roll forward slowly and lock up the front brake (do this without the engine running). Check to see if you hear 'clicking'. Also, you can put the bike up on a jack and see if you can move the front wheel up and down. It won't move much, but it shouldn't move at all.

 

RR

[boominup]

Gary

 

Mine is out considerably more than 3/8 and there is a tracking problem. I have not seen any spec for this parameter. Also have some front end shimmy (hands-off) that I really don't like. I am going to take the bags off on the weekend and make some more careful measurements. Try to see if I can tell how this might be brought back into line. Eck has given me some ideas and some things to check out.

 

I will also stop by the dealer where I bought the bike and see if the service guys have any ideas.

 

Ross

 

Don't forget, your front tire is not as wide as the rear, the edges of the straight edges should not touch from front to back. Does that sound logical? To be parallel, the measurement from front to back should be 1/2 the difference of the width of the front and back tire. I:E, if the rear tire is 4" wide and the front tire is 3 1/2" wide, the difference should be 1/4" on each side. Wouldn't that make sense? Still scratching my head on this one!!

Brian

[RossKean]

Brian

 

Touching the two edges of the rear tire, the straight edge should pass by the side of the front tire. The amount should be equal on the left or right side and the total spacing should be the same as the width difference between the front and back tires. On the left side of the bike, the straight edge passes ~3/4" to the left of the front tire. When done on the right, it is very close to touching both the front and tires. In fact, it may actually be "not quite" touching the front edge of the back tire before it is stopped by the front. i.e. a straight line from the two reference points on the rear tire would pass (slightly) through the edge of the front tire.

 

However you look at it, the wheels are not in alignment and do not follow each other perfectly. As a result, the bike will track to one side unless there is a constant small amount of steering input.

 

I also attempted to determine whether the front and rear wheels were parallel to each other. I removed the left bag and had my son hold the bike at the balance point such that the rear brake rotor was perpendicular to the garage floor when checked with a carpenter's square. When the square was moved to the front, it was evident that one or the other was off by at least a few degrees.

 

I am guessing that either the frame is twisted from an accident in the bike's past or at least the forks are bent. In either case, I will leave it up to the dealer who sold me the bike to fix it properly or give me back my old bike.

 

Ross

[boominup]

Hi again Ross, just for curiosity's sake, I set mine up on my bike jack, wedged the frame on one side so it stands perfectly at 90 deg. to the floor with a large framer's square and I found mine to be within 1/4" of being perfectly parallel front to back. I am sure that manufacturing tolerances would be impossible to hold to perfection from one frame to another so I would consider mine to be well within tolerance since it drives so well. I would agree with you that a minor accident would have most probably caused the pulling problem Even hitting a curb head on could bend both struts back a bit and still be within tolerance in the tracking dept. but the rake geometry of the steering would be severly affected. This damage would be impossible to see with the naked eye without tearing the forks apart and checking for being straight. Just something else to consider.

Brian

[RossKean]

Brian

 

I agree that damage from a curb bump might not be visible to the naked eye but could affect handling. That's why I decided to try to make some measurements. There is little doubt that the front wheel is pushed sideways compared to the back. They don't line up and the front is not parallel to the rear. It could be pushed in a little but I don't know how I might check that. In any case, I will see what the dealer has to say and if I am not 100% certain that he can fix it right, I'll undo the purchase deal and get my Roadie back.

 

Ross

[SpaceMan]

Hi:

 

I already have replied to a couple of you in private messages but decided to bore the rest of you with my stories. I have had two RSVs, both brand new, zero kms, that BOTH had the same issue of pointing to the right. One was an 06 that I owned for a whole three weeks until the dealer totalled it (you guessed it.... while trying to figure out the pointing to the right problem!). So, after a lot of hassle I ended up with a new 07... and it also has the same problem. Yamaha Canada says that the front wheel is deliberately offset to the right by a small amount to counteract the torque effect of the shaft. Not sure I believe that, but so far, 25,000 kms later, different tires, I still have the same problem.

 

I guess I have learned to live with it, but as others have said,.... It bugs the hell out of me. Not sure about the rest of you that have this problem, but I am thinking of taking it to Yamaha as a bigger issue, and see if we can get some action.

 

Afterall, there seem to be many of you out there that do not have this pointing to the left or right problem. I would much rather have the bike point straight ahead!

 

Hope to hear back from any of you, if you have ever found a real solution to this. Either on your own, or from the dealers.

 

My 07 is still under warranty and if some of you have had something done to resolve the issue, I would love to hear about it.

 

I would also be willing to become part of a larger group to approach Yamaha and see what they are willing to do about it.

 

Thanks

 

Ron (Spaceman)

[N3FOL]

I have an '07 and have not experienced what you guys had described. At low and high speeds, my bike runs a straight line. At highway speeds, I can take off both hands for a few seconds (not recommended) and the bike will not pull to the left or right.

 

Could it be that the air pressure on the forks are uneven?

[RossKean]

I...

Could it be that the air pressure on the forks are uneven?

 

For my bike, it is not an air pressure issue. I have tried various pressures in the front forks (same on each side) as well as zero pressure with the same result.

 

 

Ross

[RossKean]

Ron

 

Now that I have ridden the bike for a few thousand km and with some additional investigation and experience, I can make a couple of comments. I had to go back and review the details of the thread to remember what was covered.

 

In essence, the bike has a slight but persistant pull to the left (not right as per the earlier posts).

 

Not a function of tire pressure or tire condition. Replacing a mildly cupped front tire eliminated the shimmy I was experiencing although I believe that the alignment issue may have contributed to the cupping.

 

Not a function of air pressure in the shocks.

 

I was able to speak to someone who knew the previous owner quite well and I was assured that the bike had never been in any significant accident (for what its worth).

 

Physical measurement clearly shows that the front wheel does not line up perfectly with the rear. A straight edge touches both beads on the both the front and rear tires on the right side of the bike. On the left side, a straight edge placed on the rear tire runs ~1/2" (or a bit more) to the left of the front tire. In addition, when the front wheel is braced perpendicular to the floor, the rear tire appears to be slightly skewed (bottom to the right, top to the left) by a few degrees. This is difficult to measure accurately.

 

I have explained all of this to Yamaha Canada and they were of very little help. As far as I can tell, this is a manufacturing defect but since the bike is no longer under warranty, I think Yamaha is happy to tell me (politely) to pound sand.

 

The bike is definately rideable although I am not happy about it. I am concerned about the ultimate safety and fear the issue will cause premature wear of tires and wheel bearings. I haven't given up on it. I am going to hunt down the regional Yamaha rep and get in his face about it. I have also spoken to a company called GMD Computrack about motorcycle alignment. Apparently, they have the equipment to properly diagnose and fix alignment problems. Not cheap but worth every penny if I can get this running perfectly. When I checked last year, in the east they had offices in Boston and Toronto - major road trip but not a big deal. I may end out there if Yamaha doesn't come through.

 

I was planning on posting back to this thread once I had some resolution to the issue. Nothing yet but nothing happened over the winter and I haven't had a chance to do anything yet this spring. I will be interested to see what you find out.

 

Ross

[SilvrT]

Thought I'd jump in here just to say that I notice mine tends to pull to the left if I'm cruisin down the freeway with the cruise set and I take my hands off the bars. I really don't notice anything as long as I am holding on...even with two fingers.

[SpaceMan]

Ross:

 

I would be very interested in your dealings with Yamaha Canada as my bike is still under warranty and I would also like the regional rep to take a look at it. On my bike what I notice is that the bars and fairing are pointed just slightly to the right. (maybe it does pull to the left but I haven't taken my hands off the bars yet).

 

I approached my dealer and Yamaha Canada about this early on about this but they basically said it was me and that it was unlikely that I had two brand new Ventures with the same problem. However, now after hearing about yours and other's experiences I see it is not just me. I also have checked everything and also know for a fact that my front and rear tires do not line up. So I believe this is the root cause.

 

I am going to contact Yamaha Canada again and ask them to do some more investigation into this issue. They acted as though they had never heard of the problem but I see that they have. Perhaps in a PM we could exchange the names of people we have dealt with at Yamaha Canada. By the way I am in Saskatoon.

 

Ron

[V7Goose]

I have an '07 and have not experienced what you guys had described. At low and high speeds, my bike runs a straight line. At highway speeds, I can take off both hands for a few seconds (not recommended) and the bike will not pull to the left or right.

 

Could it be that the air pressure on the forks are uneven?

I agree with N3FOL - Neither my 05 nor my 07 have ever had this problem. I can ride both for extended time without hands on the bars.

 

I don't know what the problem is with those who feel they have this problem, but I can say confidently this is not a problem with all RSVs, and I doubt it is even very common (since we rarely see posts about it).

Goose

[BJB]

Spaceman,

Have you other RSV's you can look at or compare measurements in S'toon? I am in Speedy Creek, and will be coming up there soon...you sure can look at mine and take measurements etc. I don't think my is off, but then I can't walk straight either

[SpaceMan]

BJ

 

Yes, I ride with another RSV owner with the Northern Stars. He has never mentioned any issue of pointing one way or the other. And with so many others here saying they have no problem, I think that there are not so many with this problem but enough that it is definitely interesting.

 

It is not a big deal any more as I am used to it. But now I know that it is not normal. Thanks for the offer to take some measurements. I'll let you know if I think I should do that. For now I am going to go back to the dealer and try to talk to the regional rep.

 

RN Spaceman

[GeorgeS]

Have you tried lossening the Fork Pinch bolts at the triple tree, and the fork brace bolts, and the front Axel

 

Now re-torque the pinch bolts, then the fork brace, then the wheel axel

 

Also, re-check the torque settings for the Swing arm main Nuts, ( good time to greese those bearings also )

[RossKean]

GeorgeS

 

We have tried what you suggested with the front forks. Also checked (and greased) the swingarm bearing. It almost looks like a problem with the swingarm or frame. As I mentioned, with the front wheel perpendicular to the floor, there is a "tilt" to the rear wheel.

 

SpaceMan (Ron)

 

Try using a long straight edge or even a string and line it up on the front and back bead of the rear tire on one side. See where it comes in relation to the front tire and then try it on the other side. As far as I can tell, there are no specifications for this but in my case, there is a considerable difference. Yamaha customer "service" would not tell me if it was normal or not. The front tire I put on last year to fix the shimmy looks like it is beginning to cup a bit (10,000 km) already. I hope to resolve this issue before I have to replace tires. If I can manage the time off work, I am thinking about a ride to BC this summer. Definitely not a good idea to start out if the bike isn't perfect!

 

We can exchange any other information by PM or by email, if you wish (I'll send you my email address). If either of us manages to resolve the issue, we should post back to this thread. In the meantime, I am interested to see whether anyone else has noticed this issue and how you may have solved it.

 

Ross