pulling to the right

[jcolson]

Having trouble with my Tri-Glide pulling to the right. Finally got one of the dealers to look at it. They adjusted the axle so it is even on both sides( I already had it that way). Adjusted the Panhard Rod(I did that also). They did find the top fork bearing nut had only 7lbs of torque. That should have been checked when I took it in for the check ups. Somebody isn't doing their job. It helped a little. I took the bike to my dealer to get the parts replaced that fell off at the Rally Saturday & the dealer installed a new front tire. That helped too. But it still is pulling to the right. I rode a friend of mine's 2010 & for the most part it goes straight on down the road. What gives? I guess I will just have to put up with a $43,000 piece of crap!!Nobody knows what else to do to it. I could trade it on a 2012 or 2013 & swap engines. Who knows what the future holds. Sorry about the long post. I'm just fed up!!! Jim Maybe I'll go back to 2wheels.

 

[eagle1]

have you jacked up the rear end & spin the rt. rear tire? is it draging.(brake pad) on rt side) any noise out of the rear axle bearings? kinda makes you wonder if the trike isn't true. try useing a string & measure from the front axle to both the rear tires.is this measurement the same. if you are on a flat concrete floor you can xfer the center/line of both reat tires to the floor, then measure to the front axlt. assumeing the axle bolt is centered. i know that isn't a very accurate way of measureing if the trike is true. just guessing here. good luck. lb jack up the front tire & use a dial indicator & see if the wheel is true.
what is the height of the lr & rt. rear tires? are they the same? try swaping them.. you can have them shaved.

 

[bustedwing]

When you spin that rear tire, set a tool next to the tread, is it egg shaped?try it next to the sidewall, do you have a bent rim?I know you would feel a large bend but a small one would throw off the alighnment.Don't hurt to check.

 

[eagle1]

also ck & see which tire has the most treat left on it. , then put that tire on the rt. side. then air the rt. tire to the max air pressure(44psi) as per sidewall. & leave the lt. tire at normal tire pressure.(26 psi) see if that helps.lb
after you done this does it help to drive in the lt. lane of a 4 lane hwy?

 

[jcolson]

All of these things have been done & still pulls. Like I said before, it's bearable but I shouldn't have to just put up with it for as much as I have in it. You must have been out of town Eagle 1 when I came by your place on my way down to Dennis's to go to the Rally. Jim P.S. thanks for all the info.

 

[americanbadass]

I agree with you 100 percent JC, it really is disappointing that you get into something that deep and it ain't right! Something tells me it is salvageable though- are there any other HD dealers in your area, maybe they would be more experienced with trikes. Also perhaps a Trike Shop that has been around for a while might be able to find the culprit. I know that these types of frustration can ruin everything for a person.:wave4:

 

[rhino 2]

If they tighten the fork bearing , And that helped.
And a new tire also helped, I would think the problem is in the front end??

 

[rhino 2]

Just to add are your handle bars set level and straight??

 

[RRSCOTT]

When your out on the 4 lane highway and in the left lane does it still pull to the right?

 

[eagle1]

so whats your next idea? we're interested, but glad my '09 t/g isn't as bad as yours in tracking to the left.
did your dealer call h-d?
i just tryed out my trike & mine pulls to the left. on 4 lane hwy, in lt. hand lane ,with rt. tire near center stripe. i have 4 seconds till i'm
in the rumble.in the rt. lane with lr tire near the stripe, i can go 30-35 white stripes till i climb the crown of the road. i did adj. ft tire air pressure to 36 psi before the trip.but the roads here are rough. so the hunt for a solution begins. i have had a new ft. tire installed
maybe 5k ago. 22,5k on trike. 5/32 tread left on both rear tires. 32psi lt & 34psi rt tire (hot.) so the hunt begins
ALSO the ext. warrenty doesn't cover adjustments. lb

 

[jcolson]

When I would go into the on coming traffic lane, the bike would go straight. That tells me something was out of alignmemt. Now it will go to the left with the crown. But on the right side it still pulls more to the right than it should.The roads here suck too. On 4 lane that looks like not much crown, still pulls right away. If you read my post, 2 dealers have worked on it finally. McDaniels in South Bend has a trike specialist now,supposedly. Yes it does still pull to the right in the left lane. I agree Rhino 2 that it must be in the front end or neck. I'm still checking it out. I haven't givin up hope yet. My wife told me if I trade it for another 2 wheel, she won't ride on it. She says if something was to happen to me on the road,she could strap my ass in the back & drive me somewhere. Jim

 

[jcolson]

RRSCOTT we sometimes go right by your place on our way to J&P cycle.We go to Savanna,Ill. twice a year. There is a biker thing that goes on there but we don't go to that. We just go ride around places. We do go up to New Diggins in Wisconsin to this old time bar. We are staying close to Galena this time on labor day weekend. Jim

 

[RRSCOTT]

How often do you go to J&P? When you go though Maquoketa you are about a half a block away from me as you go through town. It would be nice to meet the people on here. I haven 't been riding much. I just got my right hip replaced on 7/9/2012, so I'm just going to start riding again. What your saying, I would check your back wheels. It almost sound like one of them is turned to the right a little.

 

[RRSCOTT]

eagle1, I'd try uping your air pressure in the left tire. Did either of you try changing the back tires and rims side to side? I run 41psi. in my front tire (MPA mounted reversed) on my wing.

 

[jcolson]

You shouldn't have to change tire pressure to get the bike to track the way its suppose to. Yes I've tried all that. Doesn't work. RRSCOT my axle is set perfectly straight now. I've tried moving it right & left. Doesn't make any difference. Don't know if we are going to J&P cycle this time. Maybe we can just take a ride over to see you. Jim

 

[RRSCOTT]

We had one here that if air pressure in tires weren't close to the same it would pull that way. Well Jim then I'm running out of ideas. It sounded like one side was turned front edge to the right. Another thing when changing front tire the forks didn't get twisted when tighten up.

 

[RRSCOTT]

None of your tires showed uneven wear? And none of the brakes are draging hard, even one of the two on the front? I'm out of thoughts for now.

 

[jcolson]

I'm going to take the bike back over to the place I bought it from. The kid that worked on it the last time told me if it's not right he would call Harley himself & see if they would send someone down to check it out. Don't think he has the authority to do that himself. But I'm going to follow up on it. I'll let you all know what happens. Thanks everyone. Jim P.S. I might ride to Denver to see one of my sons. Will see how it handles.

 

[aussietriker]

dont know anything about your model trike but i would check the rear suspension for sag on right side when your sitting on it. of course you will need some one to help you but i had the same problem years ago and it turned out to be one shock was ajusted to tighter setting than the other and gave me greif pulling to the left. as i said i dont know about your trike but i would check it out just to rule it out or find the problem that know one else has looked at.

 

[jcolson]

aussietriker, I have a 2011 triglide. The 1st dealer to work on it said he would install a shrader valve on the shocks to make sure the air pressure was the same on both. The mechanic that worked on it was gone when I picked the bike up. So don't know if it was ever done. I'll find out. I want to ride it more before I take it in again but had laser surgery last Thursday & not suppoesd to ride for awhile. Go back this wed to get eye checked out again. I'm going nuts not doing anything or riding. Snow will be here before you know it. Jim

 

[RRSCOTT]

I understand about going nuts. I just started getting out and doing stuff outside and in the garage after my right hip replacement. Still got to watch what I do.

 

[aussietriker]

if he didnt do the shrader valve then thats possibly your problem,sagging on the right,does the same as a tyre with low air pressure. speaking of low air pressure i often run mine with 10pound on the rear tyres, i do this because it gives me better grip at speed. ive found with 35 pound in tyres i get a bit of slide in the corners and a harsher ride, took me a while playing with pressures to find the right feel. just sit on the trike and get someone to measure from bumper bar to the ground on both sides and see if theres a difference, quick and easy to do.

 

[jcolson]

I found out today nobody installed a shrader valve to check out the shocks, go figure.Both dealerships said there is nothing else they can do. So basicley give me the $43,000 I have infested in the trike & to hell with me!!!

 

[RRSCOTT]

Then your rear shocks air up separately?