Ok, here is the short story....the bike is a rescue. The previous owner cut the neck off and it was later welded back on by a pro. Then I bought it.

My problem is when I and cruising down the road and let go of the handlebars, not matter how hard I work at balancing the bike will not just track straight down the road. It will quickly start diving to the left or right and require hands on correction.

Its not like I want to ride hands free all the time but this thing should track straight. I have had other bikes that you could set the throttle and ride for miles with your hands in your lap.

My question is: where do I start looking to get this thing to track true?
More rake?
Tighter bearings?
Training wheels?

 

You would think that if it was welded back on wrong it would pull the same way all the time.(unless road is slanted) I guess I would check head bearings and wheel bearings to see if they are tight first then the front tire or see if the fork is flexing somehow. Hold the front brake and rock the bike back and forth and see if anything cluncks.

 

As the Center of Gravity is raised the bike tend to fall too one side or the other very easily. Maybe this is the case.

 

Are you talking about the 91 Fat Boy listed with your screen name?
How many miles are on it?
Have you checked the condition of the swing arm bushings?

 

Fat11lo - yes, its the bike in my profile but its a 2001 with 22k miles Swingarm feels real tight and I notice no slop in the forks but the head bearings have little to no drag/preload on them.

Turtle2 - you callin me fat?

 

If your neck bearing adjustment is too tight it will cause the front end to be 'twitchy'. I would suggest checking your fall away but, if your rake has been increased, I can't tell you what it should be. Anyway, this >could< be due to too much fall away. By reducing the fall away the front wheel won't flop from side to side as easily. Reducing it too much and your front end will probably 'clunk'. You may just have to do a lot of trial and error... time to get one of those bike jacks! <grin>

 

Explain fall away - are you speaking tfo the preload or tension on the neck bearings? Mine are very free turning with nearly no effort but not so loose that the clunk of have slop. Should these be tighter?

 

Fall Away is measured by different methods for different models as described in the shop manual (also some articles in American Iron Mag). The general idea is how far you can turn the wheel, when the bike is suspended horizontally, before it begins to fall the rest of the way. You can't judge it by how 'free' the wheel turns. You also have to measure it in stock conditions (no change in cable routing, etc.).

According to Harley, clunk was eliminated by how much torque you put on the securing nut. Fallaway is adjusted by turning the notched ring on top of the bearing which I believe would be termed pre-load. If you have a custom front end then it is strictly hunt and peck as far as I know... but your symptoms sound just like improperly adjusted fall away. Twitchy front ends are caused by too much pre-load... and a number of other things such as an improperly aligned drivetrain or rear wheel, bad swingarm bushings, unbalanced lower fork sliders, and one too many beers.

C#

 

I'd start with the fall away as said above and make sure the neck bearings have been greased correctly and lately. They could also be bad.

then look else where if that doesn't fix it..

Some bikes just don't track, but usually pull either to the left or right.. UNless the road crown is different..




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Good info, I will tear into that next. The bike is in the middle of a major rebuild so now is the time