I purchased a 06 Goldwing with a MotoTrike system this past August. I've rode about 1200 miles so far and love this trike a lot but I have one gripe. On the Interstates it rides great as well as on some secondary roads. However, on some two lane roads it wants to pull to the right. I added a fork brace which helped a little but I still have to work to keep it running straight. Is this something common to Trikes and a trait I'll have to adjust too? I've ridden motorcycles for over 40 years but I'm true rookie when it comes to Trikes. Any recommendations will be highly appreciated.
Pulling to the right
- Thread starter Johannpg
- Start date
WELCOME TO TRIKE TALK !!!!!
It's a pretty common thing. Can be caused by the Hemi joints needing attention if you have a solid axle conversion (don't think that is your situation) or it may just be the road surface.
Many riders experience this primarily when riding toward the right side of the road. The left tire is actually higher up then the right one causing the trike to pull/wonder to the right. You can compensate by steering to the left slightly or by adding maybe a pound of air to the right tire. The down side the air is you will not always be riding on that same road surface. Over time most of us just get use to it and steer away from the pulling. :xszpv: :xszpv:
the crown in the road is your problem. The solution is to ride with the trike as far left in your lane as is safe. 6" can make a world of difference.
In the General discussion there is a great thread from experienced riders to the newer trikers. I wrote this up in post #6 on that thread back in 2008. I'll re-post it here, hope it helps. The original thread has a lot of great info - if you haven't checked it out yet, it is well worth the time.
http://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/242-Making-The-Switch-Bike-to-Trike-Great-Info!
Hope this is clear and makes sense....
Does your trike pull to the right? (Or left for our international friends that drive on the left. Please substitute right and left as appropriate.) Trikes are pretty sensitive to the crown in the road, built so water will run off to the side. On a 2 wheeler, it is almost not noticeable, (though on the flatlands that is why tires wear and cup more on the left side) but on a trike, the rig wants to turn "downhill" toward the shoulder. Some roads crown more than others, and on an interstate if I ride in the left lane Her Purpleness tends to pull slightly to the left. This can be disconcerting to new trikers, and there are a few things you can do about it.
1- Deal with it. If your trike rides without pulling either way on a flat parking lot you can steer slightly to the left when on the road. You'll get used to steering to compensate for the pull - remember different roads will have more or less crown, that equals more or less pull, that equals more or less steering to the left. After a while it will become second nature.
2- You can drop the inside tire pressure 2 or 3 pounds. Trikes are sensitive to air pressure in the rear tires. A few pounds won't affect the tire wear much, but the trike will pull toward the tire with the lower psi. (Another good reason to check your tire pressure often) As tires and suspensions are so variable, some experimentation will be needed.
3- Ride with the front tire just to the left of the lane centerline. Most roads, if they are well used, have 2 slight valleys or wheel ruts where 4 wheelers wear or compress the road surface. If you ride a bit to the left of the centerline of the lane your front tire is running on the side of the left wheel rut, being pulled slightly back to the left against the crown of the road, cancelling out the pull to the right. Again, as roads vary, how much off the center will depend on the original crown of the road and how much the road is worn by cars and trucks. You'll have plenty of room - you needn't ride much off center and your trike won't be close to the middle of the road.
4- On some trike kits you can play with the suspension, moving a tire front or back, on some changing the angle of the rear tire tracking. My opinion is that I would like the trike to run straight and true on a flat surface, not "dogtracking" when running on level pavement.
I use a combination of #1 and #3, staying away from #4. Option #2 works well in an area with mostly straight roads. Here in the Ozarks, it is very twisty, and reducing psi in one of the tires makes turning away from the lower pressure tire slightly harder than the opposite turns. I do the psi reducing trick on occasion, though. It is slightly less work when riding long straight roads like in Kansas or Nebraska
http://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/242-Making-The-Switch-Bike-to-Trike-Great-Info!
Hope this is clear and makes sense....
Does your trike pull to the right? (Or left for our international friends that drive on the left. Please substitute right and left as appropriate.) Trikes are pretty sensitive to the crown in the road, built so water will run off to the side. On a 2 wheeler, it is almost not noticeable, (though on the flatlands that is why tires wear and cup more on the left side) but on a trike, the rig wants to turn "downhill" toward the shoulder. Some roads crown more than others, and on an interstate if I ride in the left lane Her Purpleness tends to pull slightly to the left. This can be disconcerting to new trikers, and there are a few things you can do about it.
1- Deal with it. If your trike rides without pulling either way on a flat parking lot you can steer slightly to the left when on the road. You'll get used to steering to compensate for the pull - remember different roads will have more or less crown, that equals more or less pull, that equals more or less steering to the left. After a while it will become second nature.
2- You can drop the inside tire pressure 2 or 3 pounds. Trikes are sensitive to air pressure in the rear tires. A few pounds won't affect the tire wear much, but the trike will pull toward the tire with the lower psi. (Another good reason to check your tire pressure often) As tires and suspensions are so variable, some experimentation will be needed.
3- Ride with the front tire just to the left of the lane centerline. Most roads, if they are well used, have 2 slight valleys or wheel ruts where 4 wheelers wear or compress the road surface. If you ride a bit to the left of the centerline of the lane your front tire is running on the side of the left wheel rut, being pulled slightly back to the left against the crown of the road, cancelling out the pull to the right. Again, as roads vary, how much off the center will depend on the original crown of the road and how much the road is worn by cars and trucks. You'll have plenty of room - you needn't ride much off center and your trike won't be close to the middle of the road.
4- On some trike kits you can play with the suspension, moving a tire front or back, on some changing the angle of the rear tire tracking. My opinion is that I would like the trike to run straight and true on a flat surface, not "dogtracking" when running on level pavement.
I use a combination of #1 and #3, staying away from #4. Option #2 works well in an area with mostly straight roads. Here in the Ozarks, it is very twisty, and reducing psi in one of the tires makes turning away from the lower pressure tire slightly harder than the opposite turns. I do the psi reducing trick on occasion, though. It is slightly less work when riding long straight roads like in Kansas or Nebraska
"On a 2 wheeler, it is almost not noticeable, (though on the flatlands that is why tires wear and cup more on the left side)"
Actually:
ROAD CROWN HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH LEFT SIDE TIRE WEAR!
http://www.rattlebars.com/tirewear/index.html
Actually:
ROAD CROWN HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH LEFT SIDE TIRE WEAR!
http://www.rattlebars.com/tirewear/index.html
This is very good article. The best understanding is the Radius of turns. Your left side of the front tire has more miles then the right side of the front tire. When you stop laughing stop and think about that. Make a right turn outside lane to outside lane. Very short radius. Now do a left turn from a two lane left turn outside lane. How big was that radius?? Now compound that with the fact that you are not leaning the tire over. You are pushing it sideways.
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