R100RT amd crowned roads.

[Oldhway]

I have noticed that my '95 RT is very sensitive to crowned roads. Here in CT they crown the back roads pretty good and I am constantly applying pressure to the left bar to compensate. When I hit a flat section of road she runs straight as an arrow . I was afraid I had a frame or front end issue until I was able to test it on the flat roads. I am running Metzler Lazertechs with about 4000 miles on them. When I got the bike the rear tire was pretty squared off but I have managed to wear it a little rounder :laugh. I run 34psi front and about 39psi rear.

So is it the bike or the tires that are so sensitive to the crowning of the road? Any thoughts. Thanks.

[Manfred]

I dare say the bike don't know what kind of road it's on. Tires and suspension do. My experience is that with crowned roads and wiggle lines in the concrete, different tires respond significantly differently.

On my Yamaha, Kenda Challengers wondered on a lined concrete road, while the same bike with Bridgestones was straight and true.

[mymindsok]

Everything has something to do with everything...

Design, tires, suspension and rider all work together and they are all subject to whatever the road conditions are. One of the things that I discovered after modifying the frames on myAirheads is that the bike, with a stiffer frame and a rebuilt suspension, is much less easily upset by the vageries of road condition and much more precictable in how it responds to them.

OTOH, I don't change tire brands/designs very often because I like to know exactly how my tires are going to respond under most conditions and how hard I can push them.

YMMV...

[mikegates]

my 95 use to act funny like that also. new steering head bearings have made the bike a new deal. major diffrence!

[88bmwJeff]

FWIW, I ran a Lasertec on the front wheel on my 88 R100 RT, and hated the way it followed the "lines" in the road. I'm currently running Marathon ME 880 on the front and ME 88 on the rear, or is it the other way around.

[vanzen]

... Here in CT they crown the back roads pretty good and I am constantly applying pressure to the left bar to compensate. When I hit a flat section of road she runs straight as an arrow ...

An explanation of the physics of this situation gets fairly complex,
but suffice it to say that if the road surface breaks to the right ...
a well balanced and aligned single track vehicle is gonna tend to go that way in the absence of "compensation".

If it did not ... it'd be defying gravity.

If this particular bike seems more sensitive than other Type-247s you have had experience with ...
as mymindsok stated: "Everything has something to do with everything..."

The 'squared' rear tire tops my list as a likely culprit.
Tire design and compound is right up there, too.
Also the fact that a 95 is fitted with a 120 series tire
and very likely has greater wheel offset than earlier models might be a factor.

Many K bikes can have both a fairly radical max. wheel offset tolerance
and a center of gravity to the right of wheel centerline ...
and, consequently, they will tend to go right – even on flat surfaces.

My experience with a K1 and worn rear tires is the reason "squared tire" headed my list –
the difference in handling with new rubber was quite noticeable.
On that machine, switching from Metzlers to Dunlop SportMax (?) also made a world of difference.

[crazydrummerdude]

Everything has something to do with everything..

"Everything depends on everything," I say (almost) every day.