Steering issus

[Hans 557]

Help needed bought 2015 bike with 2700, serviced at bmw at2500 miles. Bought privately .on ride home about 70 miles seemed like steering little loose. Took to bmw said head stock was loose. Was torqued to 30 tightened to 120. This changed thinks ....when in bend it try's to steer rather than lean..need to pull at bars.... not fast speeds by the way, changed rear tyre as seemed squared off.any ideas please

[otrp]

Hello Hans, welcome to the forum. Sorry you are having issues with the XR. Not sure why the steering head was out of torque. Are the bars torqued properly? If you are still having issues, I would have a BMW dealer go over things, making sure things are in spec.

[Winger]

Originally Posted by Hans 557

Help needed bought 2015 bike with 2700, serviced at bmw at2500 miles. Bought privately .on ride home about 70 miles seemed like steering little loose. Took to bmw said head stock was loose. Was torqued to 30 tightened to 120. This changed thinks ....when in bend it try's to steer rather than lean..need to pull at bars.... not fast speeds by the way, changed rear tyre as seemed squared off.any ideas please

Assuming it has a center stand get someone to either sit on it lean on the back of the bike and turn the bars,what does it feel like?

Have the front wheel straight and take your hands of the bars do they stay in the same position? Bit early for head bearings but I have known it.

Without seeing the bike and if I had to take a guess i’d say steering damper sticking.

[Hans 557]

Thanks for suggestions I'll keep u posted.... its with bmw I await there findings

[sevenup]

Is the front tyre ok? Some of them barely last 3k. Less if hammered. When the front tyre is reaching the end on my bike, steering gets a bit heavy and it is affected by every groove and line on the road.

[Mareng1]

As above - could be the front tyre profile.

Check that it hasn't taken on an almost "triangular" profile where either side of centre - is no longer curved, but almost flat in profile.

HTH

[forestboy]

Originally Posted by sevenup

Is the front tyre ok? Some of them barely last 3k. Less if hammered. When the front tyre is reaching the end on my bike, steering gets a bit heavy and it is affected by every groove and line on the road.

Same on mine

[Sibbo46]

Mine was really hard to turn with brand new rear and 2.5mm on front. New front tyre cured it. Have to say tho, it's the worst bike I've had in a long time for standing up / squirming whilst trail braking. Have to leave the front lever alone and just use the rear.

[Mareng1]

Originally Posted by Sibbo46

Mine was really hard to turn with brand new rear and 2.5mm on front. New front tyre cured it. Have to say tho, it's the worst bike I've had in a long time for standing up / squirming whilst trail braking. Have to leave the front lever alone and just use the rear.

Is that the right way around? 

To be honest - I find the XR stands up less than other 'normal-fork' bikes, as the forks compress less (I find) under breaking.

Your sense that the bike turns in less-well with a brand new rear - seems a bit strange too, as the new profile on the back should assist turn in - (or it does for me on other bikes, and I don't think there is anything fundamentally different in the XR)

[Sibbo46]

Sorry just to clarify. When I bought the bike the dealer put a brand new rear tyre on it so I never rode it with 2 worn tyres. It took a while to get confident with the tall riding position but I then found it hard to turn ( I even tried raising the forks through the yokes which has helped on previous bikes) it wasn't until I compared the front tyre ( with 2.5mm in centre) with a brand new one that I could see the strange wear pattern particularly on the right hand side. A new front tyre to match the new rear resulted it to a far more neutral feel - but I still feel like the front end tries to tie itself in knots if braking quite heavily.