Hi all

I've had my RKC about three weeks now and I am starting toride miles to work through Oklahoma City. There is one part of the highway,for whatever reason, the cityisgrinding or grading the surface. The part of thehighway feelssmootherin my car, but RK feels very light almost as if I lost a lot of my steering control. I am very uncomfortable driving that part of the highway in high density traffic going between 60 to 70 mph and I find myself slowing down. Now I dread the drive home because of the one part of the trip. I guess I can find an alternate route, but I would rather concure my fear and master it. Can I adjust the RK to get a better feel? Am I being to concerned over nothing here?

Beary

 

Having not seen the grading I cannot say for sure but in my experience it is not an issue. It just feels "different" and in my case it was sort of like bridge grating in that my death grip on the handle bars made it much worse than it really is. Now the left over rocks and uneven pavement are another story

 

You'll get that on roads where they put grooves for better traction when wet. Good for cars....a funny feeling though when on two wheels.

 

We get a lot of that around here. Just relax, your spinxter and your grip on the bars and all will be fine. The bike will walk on you a little bit side to side but if you are death griping that thing it will make it worse.

 

I've found that since I put Metzeler 880's on my Ultra that the grooved pavement thing isn't so bad anymore - not completely smooth, but much less jittery because the tires don't try to follow the grooves so much...

Sean

 

[sm=exactly.gif]

 

Yes, I've been reading this forum for a few months and learned to ease up the death grip. I think the bridge grating describes the feeling best. It's not so much the bike wanting to go side to side, but that it has less resistance to go side to side. Going strait is OK, but when I hit the curve going 70mph is where I get real nervious.

I think what I'm going to do isdrive it a lot on the weekend when there isn't so much traffic and do as you guys are saying, just learn to relax and ease that death grip.

Funny, I thought the high density 70 mph traffic would be hard to get use to, but I'm not really having as much trouble getting use to that. I guess I thought a 900lbs on two tires would feel more planted on most hard surfaces then it does here.

Thanks for the advice.

Beary

 

Letting loose on the death grip...great first step.
The rest will come with time spent on that road.
Soon you'll be handling crosswinds on those graded road curves without a concern.
We have what your describing around here in our hill country to help with traction when the roads are wet. I freaked a little when I first experienced it too. Now, it doesn't bother me at all. You'll find, like any other surface, you'll get morecomfortable and adept at handling those grooves the more miles you put on them.

 

METZLERS!!!!!!!!

 

Usually, prior to resurfacing a roadway with asphalt, a grinding machine is sent in to grind to 'old' surface, usually an inch or two, prior to the application of new asphalt. Although these machines 'profile' the roadway, there is some left and right movement, creatingsome 'snaking grooves'as the grinding occurs...kinda like that metal bridge grating. Once the new asphalt is layed this will completely disappear and your ride will feel 'normal'. Be thankful that your City/State/County is creating a safe roadway for your use.