2016 Roadsmith Trike pulls right.

[itsmermf]

Hi, I have a 2016 Goldwing Roadsmith Trike, currently has 4700 miles. I purchased it in the beginning of February this year with 2950 miles on the odo. My question/concern is I think the front tire is scrubbing, because I’m constantly applying more pressure with my right hand to keep the trike to track straight. Yes, I understand the crown of the road and the crown within the lane especially on older blacktop roads.

What I noticed is just taking pressure off of the handlebars, theres a little slight snap to the right and of course the trike will go right. If I had to guess it’s small about 1/4 inch snap and I’ll have to immediately secure the handle bar to keep it straight. I have the front tire pressure at 40 and the rears at 26. I even tried the rears with 4 psi more in the right tire, but it doesn’t help. I’ve tested in the left lane with a crown and the bike will track straight pretty good and will slowly start to wander to the right, but it will take a bit to do so.

So, the reason I’m thinking that the tire is scrubbing is, right after a ride of about 50 miles or so, with the temperature only around 80-82 degrees as of late, primarily just cruising on rural roads with top speed of 50 mph. I get back from the ride, I touched the tread of the front tire, and it felt pretty hot, so I went and hit with a laser thermometer and it read 129 degrees. I hit the rear tires, and it was around 95 degrees.

The front calipers are never hot, so there’s no drag. Does anyone have any thoughts? my trike has the independent rear suspension and with less that 5000 miles, there are no irregular wear marks on the rear tires. If this is normal, then I can put my mind at ease and not be so concerned. Looking forward to some responses. Robert

 

[Lee H. Mann]

Hi, I have a 2016 goldwing Roasdsmith Trike, currently has 4700 miles. I purchased it in the beginning of February this year with 2950 miles on the odo. My question/concern is I think the front tire is scrubbing, because I’m constantly applying more pressure with my right hand to keep the trike to track straight. Yes, I understand the crown of the road and the crown within the lane especially on older blacktop roads. What I noticed is just taking pressure off of the handlebars, theres a little slight snap to the right and of course the trike will go right. If I had to guess it’s small about 1/4 inch snap and I’ll have to immediately secure the handle bar to keep it straight. I have the front tire pressure at 40 and the rears at 26. I even tried the rears with 4 psi more in the right tire, but it doesn’t help. I’ve tested in the left lane with a crown and the bike will track straight pretty good and will slowly start to wander to the right, but it will take a bit to do so. So, the reason I’m thinking that the tire is scrubbing is, right after a ride of about 50 miles or so, with the temperature only around 80-82 degrees as of late, primarily just cruising on rural roads with top speed of 50 mph. I get back from the ride, I touched the tread of the front tire, and it felt pretty hot, so I went and hit with a laser thermometer and it read 129 degrees. I hit the rear tires, and it was around 95 degrees. The front calipers are never hot, so there’s no drag. Does anyone have any thoughts? my trike has the independent rear suspension and with less that 5000 miles, there are no irregular wear marks on the rear tires. If this is normal, then I can put my mind at ease and not be so concerned. Looking forward to some responses. Robert

Robert, jack the front wheel off the ground and slowly rotate the handlebars to see if there is a rough spot .

Are your fork pinch bolts tight ????

Might be bad steering head bearings. The OEM are ball type and can create a flat spot that the bar will always gravitate to.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Jim has a very good point about the bearings. When things like bearings, bushings and rubber parts cause problems like this we call it memory steer. Until parts are changed the steering almost always will try to find its own happy spot, that usually is counter productive to a good steering, straight tracking and ease of handle bars returning to center

 

[Papa Zook]

Hi, I have a 2016 Goldwing Roadsmith Trike, currently has 4700 miles. I purchased it in the beginning of February this year with 2950 miles on the odo. My question/concern is I think the front tire is scrubbing, because I’m constantly applying more pressure with my right hand to keep the trike to track straight. Yes, I understand the crown of the road and the crown within the lane especially on older blacktop roads.

What I noticed is just taking pressure off of the handlebars, there's a little slight snap to the right and of course the trike will go right. If I had to guess it’s small about 1/4 inch snap and I’ll have to immediately secure the handle bar to keep it straight. I have the front tire pressure at 40 and the rears at 26. I even tried the rears with 4 psi more in the right tire, but it doesn’t help. I’ve tested in the left lane with a crown and the bike will track straight pretty good and will slowly start to wander to the right, but it will take a bit to do so.

So, the reason I’m thinking that the tire is scrubbing is, right after a ride of about 50 miles or so, with the temperature only around 80-82 degrees as of late, primarily just cruising on rural roads with top speed of 50 mph. I get back from the ride, I touched the tread of the front tire, and it felt pretty hot, so I went and hit with a laser thermometer and it read 129 degrees. I hit the rear tires, and it was around 95 degrees.

The front calipers are never hot, so there’s no drag. Does anyone have any thoughts? my trike has the independent rear suspension and with less that 5000 miles, there are no irregular wear marks on the rear tires. If this is normal, then I can put my mind at ease and not be so concerned. Looking forward to some responses. Robert

Where did you purchase the tike? From an individual or dealer? If a dealer, I'd call them and discuss the issue and see if they can check it and help remedy the issue. I'd also check and set the front tire pressure to the recommended pressure for that tire. Id check and set the two rear tire pressure to 22lbs.

 

[itsmermf]

Robert, jack the front wheel off the ground and slowly rotate the handlebars to see if there is a rough spot .

Are your fork pinch bolts tight ????

Might be bad steering head bearings. The OEM are ball type and can create a flat spot that the bar will always gravitate to.

Actually, I just got the bike back for the repair of both fork seals because the left one was leaking, and the front brake pads were also replaced, all under Honda warranty. I did not mention this pull to the repair dealer as I wanted to see if this work might have fixed the issue. This was also when I mentioned a couple oil spots near the rear end and was told it was the pinion seal, and I should take it to the Trike shop in Daytona Beach. I’m curious about the steering head bearings though, also does this pull issue have anything to do with the EZ steer install during the conversion? Thank you.

 

[itsmermf]

Jim has a very good point about the bearings. When things like bearings, bushings and rubber parts cause problems like this we call it memory steer. Until parts are changed the steering almost always will try to find its own happy spot, that usually is counter productive to a good steering, straight tracking and ease of handle bars returning to center

I definitely will ask to have these things checked when I get it to the Trike Shop, thanks.

 

[itsmermf]

Where did you purchase the tike? From an individual or dealer? If a dealer, I'd call them and discuss the issue and see if they can check it and help remedy the issue. I'd also check and set the front tire pressure to the recommended pressure for that tire. Id check and set the two rear tire pressure to 22lbs.

I purchased the Trike used from a Honda Dealer. In the beginning to get a history and to verify options installed, I called Roadsmith with the frame number. I was told that they built the Trike there and it was shipped to the Trike Shop in Daytona Beach where it was sold. The manual calls for 36 psi in the front tire, I increased to 38-40 psi, to see if it would help. I remember reading somewhere to increase the pressure in the front due to the weight increase of the trike. I will try running the rears at 22 psi to see if there’s a difference. Thank you.

 

[Burnerboy]

I purchased the Trike used from a Honda Dealer. In the beginning to get a history and to verify options installed, I called Roadsmith with the frame number. I was told that they built the Trike there and it was shipped to the Trike Shop in Daytona Beach where it was sold. The manual calls for 36 psi in the front tire, I increased to 38-40 psi, to see if it would help. I remember reading somewhere to increase the pressure in the front due to the weight increase of the trike. I will try running the rears at 22 psi to see if there’s a difference. Thank you.

I just lowered my rear air pressure to 22 LBS, (July 6th 2021) and I have to say that it did indeed improve the ride 100% BETTER.....(THANKS ALL FOR THE WONDERFUL SUGGESTION)

Ronnie

 

[TwistedKarma]

if your back rear right tire or suspension is low, then this leans the triple tree, this leans the tire.

a leaning tire, goes, to the leaning side. just like leaning a bike in a corner.

i had to preload my right rear, because of the sbc , was always torquing the back, made my straight line driving so much nicer.