i got a hard pull to theright at all times on my 05....been like that since i got it, im always leanin to the left to correct it. spokes are ok, tire pressure is ok, rim doesnt seem to be bent, its balanced from the dealer when i bought it. im not under warranty and i hate the stealership because they take me for an ahole but i was wonderin if i just tighten that stem bolt up if it would correct the problem.....opinions? or is the alignment F'd up that it should be aligned with a machine? I have a service manual for it and i prefer doin the work myself because at least i can blame myself for a mistake. ideas? appreciate the help in advance!

 

If the bike is constantly pulling toone sideI would guess that you have other issues other than just the steering stem being loose. You might try tightening it and see if that does anything. Sorry I'm not much help to you on this one, maybe some of the other guys will chime with more helpful ideas.

 

If you have the manual, follow the full alignment procedure. Mainly the rear axle alignment and the heim joint over the top of the engine. Which appears to me to be your issue.

Follow the book for rear axle alignment.

Get an inexpensive angle finder and check that the front and rear discs are parallel to each other with the bars straight ahead. If they aren't, that joint on top of the engine needs adjusting.

For me, after reading all these posts, I am going to once again look into my stem nut. I am starting to think something funny happened when it was up on the bike jack for a month that allowed the bearings to move in the races, then after a hard hit on the road, they ended up back where they were. NOT GOOD! I'll attack that when I take the forks apart...again [sm=boosign.gif]

 

Neck bolt... had mine tightened... problem solve! Never felt or heard it again.

 

Mine does it too, but reading in a how to book on upgrades, in tells how to "rid the clunking in widegilde front ends" by adding 1 extra oz. of oil into eack fork.. although i have not tryed this yet myself..,,cant bring myself to down the bike as the weather has just got into rideing mode here in n.h.,,maybe ill look at the neck bolt first,,

 

I'd check the bolt first. Fork oil wouldn't have fixed my clunk.

 

The Wide Glide Clunk has been around since the introduction of the wide glide. Why? Not sure. Maybe the extra rake? Here are the things I did to fix it on my '97:

1. Tighten the neck bearing just a tad. On my '97, the bolt comes up from the bottom, and the nut tightens on the top of the neck. That sets bearing pre-load. You want to add abou 1/8 turn to that bolt. Then the top triple tree is dropped on, and there's anothernut on top of this one. This one DOES NOT set bearing pre-load. You have to remove the top triple tree first.
This change it a lot. It got considerably better after this adjustment. But it did persist.

2. Add 1oz extra fork fluid. A slight improvement.

3. Race TEch Gold Valves. Completly eliminated the clunk, and significantly improved ride and handeling.

 

Bob, that's interesting.Is the nut underneath the top triple tree like a weird nut instead of just a hex nut? I wonder why tightening the top nut on mine fixed the problem?

 

Mine did that when I applied the front brakes. It just quit on it's own,

2007 Bob

 

beagle thanks im gonna give it a try, but now its 75 and sunny so i dont wanna take the bike apart at all...im gonna do the stem nut first, then check the alignment.....is it possible if the front end wasnt straight when that bolt was torqued it could be out a fraction of a millimeter or soemthing which causes the pull to the right? i had the clunk today when i took th ebike out..only on a few big bumps thanks again beagle