Indian Road Master CSC trike pulling to right

[Towwb]

I have a 2022 Indian Road Master California Side Car Aero kit with the rake kit. The trike constantly pulls to right. I put a new tire on front and still does same thing on all kinds of roads, either left or right lane. I thought it might be the rake kit but dealer is positive it is not, and is not willing to pursue the issue. The kit has about 3000 miles on it. I would like to check the front end alignment but don't know how or who to talk to. Anyone ever heard of this or have any ideas what might be causing problem?

 

[Papa Zook]

Hi Tom,
This is not a common problem we see on the CSC trikes and the rake kit would have little to do with that issue. The most common cause is road crown which is corrected by reducing the air pressure on the left rear tire by a couple of pounds. What air pressure are you running in your rear tires?

It is odd though that it pulls to the right in either lane. If it were in my shop, this is where I would start and I would also re-torque the steering stem bearings to 35-40 ft lbs. The CSC trikes are a dual A arm IRS with no camber adjustment, so alignment is normally not an issue.

I emailed a link to your post to Todd, lead engineer at CSC, so maybe he will chime in or message you regarding your issue.

 

[cycle7447]

I am fortunate in that my CSC handles great - no pulling at all. Have a Harley Ultra -now have almost 20K on the kit.

I wanted to comment because I believe it is important to let us know who the dealer is that is not at least willing to take a look at this.

Are you talking about the Indian dealer or the kit installer dealer/shop?

 

[Towwb]

I am fortunate in that my CSC handles great - no pulling at all. Have a Harley Ultra -now have almost 20K on the kit.

I wanted to comment because I believe it is important to let us know who the dealer is that is not at least willing to take a look at this.

Are you talking about the Indian dealer or the kit installer dealer/shop?

I am talking about the installing dealer. At this point, just as soon not mention name. I can't do much right now as I live in cold country. But, first thing this Spring going to fully address.

 

[Towwb]

Hi Tom,
This is not a common problem we see on the CSC trikes and the rake kit would have very little to do with that issue. The most common cause is road crown which is corrected by reducing the air pressure on the left rear tire by a couple of pounds. What air pressure are you running in your rear tires?

It is odd though that it pulls to the right in either lane. If it were in my shop, this is where I would start and I would also re-torque the steering stem bearings to 35-40 ft lbs. The CSC trikes are a dual A arm IRS with no camber adjustment, so alignment is normally not an issue.

I emailed a link to your post to Todd, lead engineer at CSC, so maybe he will chime in or message you regarding your issue.

Hi,
Thank you for the reply. I do not believe the road crown is the issue. I accounted for this in my testing. It does not matter if I am in two lane or Interstate. No matter what side it constantly pulls right. I will ask about re-torqueing steering head and see what dealer says.. I hope you get a reply from Todd at CSC. I have spoken to him before on other concerns and he has been a good guy to deal with. I run air pressure recommended by CSC.
Thanks again,
Tom

 

[pwhoever]

Hi,
Thank you for the reply. I do not believe the road crown is the issue. I accounted for this in my testing. It does not matter if I am in two lane or Interstate. No matter what side it constantly pulls right. I will ask about re-torqueing steering head and see what dealer says.. I hope you get a reply from Todd at CSC. I have spoken to him before on other concerns and he has been a good guy to deal with. I run air pressure recommended by CSC.
Thanks again,
Tom

Not trying to cause trouble but the air pressure on rear wheels recommended by CSC is a bit too much. But for liability reasons, they have to do that. You never mentioned what your pressure on rear tires is but it's best to keep it in the 20-22psi range.

I've posted this technical manual from Lehman in other posts but am going to add it again here. The first part is applicable to all trike rear tires and a good read.

 

[ROAD DOG]

I run my rear tires on my Indian at 25 to 26 psi it handles better to me at that psi I have tried them at 20 22 I like 26 the best. I have my body off of mine I can not see how the rear of the trike kit could make it pull; it bolts on with no adjustment. It has to be something in the front end ? maybe the fork tubes are not even height? Maybe a brake is dragging?

 

[Papa Zook]

I have my body off of mine I can not see how the rear of the trike kit could make it pull; it bolts on with no adjustment. It has to be something in the front end ? maybe the fork tubes are not even height? Maybe a brake is dragging?

I agree Dan and you might be on to something. About three years ago, CSC sent out a service bulletin regarding an issue with the rear brakes dragging. The issue was said to be related to the grease used in setting up the caliper pucks would harden causing them to stick and not fully release. The cure suggested by CSC was to remove the caliper, keeping the brake lines intact and fully spread the caliper gap open to release the calipers. If one side is sticking this could be your problem. Some of you here may remember that issue. I'd suggest you call Will at CSC and run this by him.

 

[Marc H]

I agree Dan and you might be on to something. About three years ago, CSC sent out a service bulletin regarding an issue with the rear brakes dragging. The issue was said to be related to the grease used in setting up the caliper pucks would harden causing them to stick and not fully release. The cure suggetsted by CSC was to remove the caliper, keeping the brake lines intact and fully spread the caliper gap open to release the calipers. If one side is sticking this could be your problem. Some of you hear may remember that issue. I'd suggest you call Will at CSC and run this by him.

Somebody had that problem here. There's a thread on it somewhere.

 

[Towwb]

Hi,
Thank you for the reply. I do not believe the road crown is the issue. I accounted for this in my testing. It does not matter if I am in two lane or Interstate. No matter what side it constantly pulls right. I will ask about re-torqueing steering head and see what dealer says.. I hope you get a reply from Todd at CSC. I have spoken to him before on other concerns and he has been a good guy to deal with. I run air pressure recommended by CSC.
Thanks again,
Tom

Hi,
The CSC dealer told me to run 28lb in rear and that is what is in there. I do get a lot of jerk and shake on rough roads so will be dropping air pressure on rear to 22lb and see what difference is. I changed the stock tire on the bike to a Michelin tire up front last Fall, and it made a huge difference on handle bar jerk and shake on rough roads, so am happy with that. It did not improve the steering effort. I have the 4" rake kit on trike and still not very happy with the amount of steering effort it takes. I live in mountain country with lots of curves. I suspect if I put Michelin's on rear I would see an increase in ride quality. I have used Michelin tires on my cars for 50 years and always notice a much better ride than stock tires.

Wondering if you have heard from Todd from CSC on the steering issue? Seems like those guys are avoiding the issue. Thanks for publishing the article, I found it helpful.
Tom

 

[Papa Zook]

Hi,
The CSC dealer told me to run 28lb in rear and that is what is in there. I do get a lot of jerk and shake on rough roads so will be dropping air pressure on rear to 22lb and see what difference is. I changed the stock tire on the bike to a Michelin tire up front last Fall, and it made a huge difference on handle bar jerk and shake on rough roads, so am happy with that. It did not improve the steering effort. I have the 4" rake kit on trike and still not very happy with the amount of steering effort it takes. I live in mountain country with lots of curves. I suspect if I put Michelin's on rear I would see an increase in ride quality. I have used Michelin tires on my cars for 50 years and always notice a much better ride than stock tires.

Wondering if you have heard from Todd from CSC on the steering issue? Seems like those guys are avoiding the issue. Thanks for publishing the article, I found it helpful.
Tom

No reply from Todd. He is normally very good about getting back with me but not so much lately.

 

[Towwb]

No reply from Todd. He is normally very good about getting back with me but not so much lately.

Thanks for the reply. I am wondering if any of the other guys out there have tried the Michelin LTX Defender 2 on the rear of their trike? This tire really made a difference on the way my suv rides, much more quite, and much softer ride. Thinking of putting them on the rear of trike.

 

[pwhoever]

I believe you can honestly put just about any tire you want on the rear as long as it's the correct size. The stock Ohtsu tires that came with my last conversion were defective so I ended up having a set of Goodyear Eagle radial tires installed under warranty. I was pretty happy with those.

IMHO, it is best to avoid runflats although conventional wisdom would say it might not be a bad idea. On a 2 wheel, it can make some sense if you go dark side as it's just a single tire. But the sidewalls are pretty stiff so on a trike which has 2 rear wheels, it just doesn't weigh quite enough and will end up giving you a rough ride even if you run a lower pressure

 

[Towwb]

I believe you can honestly put just about any tire you want on the rear as long as it's the correct size. The stock Ohtsu tires that came with my last conversion were defective so I ended up having a set of Goodyear Eagle radial tires installed under warranty. I was pretty happy with those.

IMHO, it is best to avoid runflats although conventional wisdom would say it might not be a bad idea. On a 2 wheel, it can make some sense if you go dark side as it's just a single tire. But the sidewalls are pretty stiff so on a trike which has 2 rear wheels, it just doesn't weigh quite enough and will end up giving you a rough ride even if you run a lower pressure

Hey Mike,
Thanks for reply. I was hoping someone else tried the Michelin before, so could hear about their experience. They are an expensive tire to experiment with, but have always improved ride quality and longevity on my two wheel Harley's, so thought I would give try.

 

[Trikemaker]

Hi Towwb,
I don't know if you have spoken to anyone here at CSC since you posted this issue? Anyway, this is definitely not a common problem. I can only think of a couple of things that might cause this. Here are some possibilities. Damage to the trike either in the rear suspension or motorcycle frame causing some kind of misalignment, mismatched rear tires or tire pressure, hydraulic brakes or parking brake dragging, or bad wheel bearing on the right side.

It sounds like you have looked into the possible tire problems already. Do you have a parking brake? If so you might want to check it. The park brake caliper is on the right wheel. Another thing you could try is to take your trike for a ride and go for a mile or two without using the brakes and then pull to the side of the road without using the brakes. Then carefully feel the rear brake rotors for temperature. If the right side is hot or hotter than the left then you will know it is a brake problem.

You can check the wheel bearing by grabbing the top of the rear tire while the trike is parked and just pull and push on it from the side. If you can feel any play then the bearing either needs to be tightened or it is bad.

If you have already resolved this issue let us know what it ended up being.

Thanks,

 

[Towwb]

Hi Towwb,
I don't know if you have spoken to anyone here at CSC since you posted this issue? Anyway, this is definitely not a common problem. I can only think of a couple of things that might cause this. Here are some possibilities. Damage to the trike either in the rear suspension or motorcycle frame causing some kind of misalignment, mismatched rear tires or tire pressure, hydraulic brakes or parking brake dragging, or bad wheel bearing on the right side.

It sounds like you have looked into the possible tire problems already. Do you have a parking brake? If so you might want to check it. The park brake caliper is on the right wheel. Another thing you could try is to take your trike for a ride and go for a mile or two without using the brakes and then pull to the side of the road without using the brakes. Then carefully feel the rear brake rotors for temperature. If the right side is hot or hotter than the left then you will know it is a brake problem.

You can check the wheel bearing by grabbing the top of the rear tire while the trike is parked and just pull and push on it from the side. If you can feel any play then the bearing either needs to be tightened or it is bad.

If you have already resolved this issue let us know what it ended up being.

Hi Trikemaker, Thanks for the reply,

No, I have not talked to any of the folks at CSC as is too cold here where I live to drive trike and try to figure anything out, am waiting until gets a bit warmer then talk to you. The trike kit was installed in late Spring of 2024. The bike was a very low mileage 2022 Road Master owned by Indian factory (Polaris) It was in perfect condition when I got it and had been in no accidents. So, am thinking at this point frame not a problem. The kit does not have a parking brake. I am fussy about tire pressure and have a good gauge for checking. Both tires have always been same.

The pulling to the right was a problem from day one, but I wanted some time on the trike to get a feel for it and to see if I could figure out what might be going on. I also wanted to change the front tire before I started complaining. I have owned lots of motorcycles in the past, have been riding for over 50 years so have great feel for 2 wheeler but this is first trike. I put about 3k miles on the trike last year so now have a much better feel about what to expect.

The pulling to the right is immediate before the bearings or caliper would have much of a chance to heat, and the bike rolls easily when engine is shut off. Will ck. into the wheel bearing as soon as I get bike out of storage.

I talked to the installing dealer last Summer about the issue before I had tire changed. I asked him if there was any adjustment to the steering head and he said no. Dealer put the easy steer option in bike and I was thinking it might be a degree or so off. He was very sure that would not be problem.

After tire change bike does same thing. I have to keep constant pressure on left handle bar to offset the right pull, and it gets real irritating after a while. I visited with my dealer late last Fall telling him I have same problem and want to look into it. He has not made any suggestions about what he thinks I should do and does not seem willing to help find problem. I told him I would be back in Spring and that I am concerned about the issue. He has been a good guy to work with so far and I am hoping this is not going to turn into an issue.

All the guys my age that are now looking at trikes like the design of the CSC much better than the other trikes available in this area, Harley and Mototrike, sold by the Indian dealer in Sturgis. I do too, think it is a great machine, so hope I can get problem resolved in Spring. Will be talking to you guys at CSC before long.

Thank you again for your reply.
Tom

Thanks,

 

[ROAD DOG]

I read an article were a guy had a rake kit installed, he said the top nut was torqued too tight, and it was hard to steer both ways, they took care of that, and it felt like it was pulling to the right, they found out that the handlebars were not centered, in the end they aligned the handlebars and all is well ? Weirder shit has happened?

 

[Towwb]

I am fortunate in that my CSC handles great - no pulling at all. Have a Harley Ultra -now have almost 20K on the kit.

I wanted to comment because I believe it is important to let us know who the dealer is that is not at least willing to take a look at this.

Are you talking about the Indian dealer or the kit installer dealer/shop?

I am talking about the dealer. I will be talking to him when it gets a little warmer. I told him last Fall I would bring trike back in Spring for him to ride. So, I will see what happens.

 

[Towwb]

I am talking about the dealer. I will be talking to him when it gets a little warmer. I told him last Fall I would bring trike back in Spring for him to ride. So, I will see what happens.

I need to clarify;I am talking about the CSC dealer who installed the kit. I am hoping I don't have to go to Indian dealer as I would get no warranty from them and they have their trike kits built by someone else other then themselves, so don't have much experience in installing kits. They do have plenty of experience charging for every minute they work on something.