Rules of alignment: #1 the front wheel will always go straight down the road (unless you're turning, of course) #2, if your forks and trees are straight, then the front end will look like it's going straight as well. #3, the rear wheel will always roll parallel to the front wheel. If the rear wheel angle is not parallel to the frame, then the back end of the bike will feel 'kicked over' to one side, so you'll feel like the back end isn't following the front end. This misalignment can be caused by the rear axle not being parallel to the transmission mainshaft, or it can be caused by the driveline being shifted over to compensate for an imbalance. So.. Here's the reality of our situation. We're dealing with a mass produced product, and a lot of tolerances are allowed to the frame and chassis. You can fight for perfect geometrical alignment with beams and lazers and plumb bobs... but it can still pull to the right or left. You can fight for perfect balance going down the road, but you may end up with the rear wheel angle a bit misaligned to the transmission after getting the back end to follow the front end of the bike. What's more important to you? Geometry or rider perception? After many years of dealing with customers, I realized that if a rider is perceiving a problem, then that is the problem to focus on... If it's not feeling right, make it right, even if the plumb bobs and lazers don't agree. There are compromises that must be made in alignment.

oh, and I wanted to mention, there are several examples of harley bikes where the front wheel center and the rear wheel center planes are meant to be parallel but they are not
supposed to intersect.. the factory sets the spacers where the rear wheel is run offset intentionally to one side. IOW, if you set the rear wheel axle perfectly parallel to the transmission mainshaft, and project the sides of the rear wheel up to the front, the front wheel will not be in the center of those projected lines. If you try to fix that, it will try to jump in the ditch.

Hogdoctor

and yes, everything should be done with the bike upright, level, preferably on a BestWay lift like mine.

 

Unless the rear is kicked to one side, then the front end will be "turned" in relation to the gas tank, dash, crash bar, etc.

Again, the perception will definitely be that the front end is "turned" in relation to the rest of the bike while going straight down the road. Not only that, but the side-to-side components will be perceptible when going over bumps, etc. and the resultant "wallow" will also be evident when doing so, especially in a turn at speed.

But it won't wallow, so the imbalanced pull is definitely the better thing to shoot for short of total perfection. Like I said in my earlier post, perhaps the robot-welded new frame with half the parts will allow them to get this situation under better control.

Definitely geometry. For safety reasons if no other.

I've heard that, too. The 07 Touring manual states front and rear centerlines are to be within +/- 0.030 inches.

One other very real possible cause of a pull (I believe the manual uses the term "lead") could be either a steering neck which isn't installed "plumb" and/or triple clamps which are not machined symmetrically, and both those can happen even when the fork tubes are straight and parallel. Due to the caster action, the front wheel will always chase the point on the ground where the steering neck points to. If the fork tubes are bent or misaligned for any reason (mismatched triple clamps, etc.) it will always be chasing the extended steering neck center and never be satisfied.

The best bet in my book is to shoot for truest geometry and deal with an imbalance some other way.

 

08 RG here and she pulls left. Hope to take care of that soon.

 

Mine does it too. The only other thing I can think of aside from an alignment issue is the wind effect on the windshield or fairing if it is slightly askew. While my still pulls without the shield on it seems to pull less when I remove it.

 

I don't race bikes anymore, but if I did...Glens, your on my crew.

 

my 07 rkc used to pull to the left but i fixed it by un clamping
the clutch cable from the tripel tree. the cable was bowed in which
was pushing left side of the forks forward which in return made the bike
pull to the left good luck

 

My 2005 roadking Classic has done this since new. I had the factory rep ride it and he said it was acceptable because it takes less than 2 pounds of pull pressure to make it go straight. I had the front end looked at, the fall away adjusted and the rear alignment checked. Supposedly it's correct. maybe I'm wrong but if you look at the rear of the bike facing forward and crouched down I'd swear that rear wheel isn't straight. I have been told it pulls because the bike is heavier on the left side which is a bunch of S**T
My friends have baggers and Roadkings and Police Roadkings and they all go straight. I just can't seem to get any help. I had a service manager at the local stealer tell me the rear wheel will not affect the handling of the bike.
To answer you about motor placement affecting the alignment my swing arm pivots through the back of the transmission which is bolted directly to the engine. I think yours is too. If you were to look at the front of the engine looking down and towards the rear of the bike all the mount positions would make a triangle. If you move the front turnbuckle and move the engine in either direction that will influence the direction of the rear tire. When you move this however the upper mount must be adjusted as well because moving the front mount will tip the rear tire to the left or right at the top which can cause a pull as well.
I bought two magnetic mount angle gauges from Sears to make sure that both wheels were perfectly vertical and they are but I just cant bring myself to spend a few hundred dollars on alignment tools for one time use. Anyway if you get your's fixed let me know.

 

My 08 RG pulls left also. Had it in the dealership twice. First time service manager just couldn't believe there was a problem but was concerned maybe I had "dropped it". Second time they checked the alignment and made small adjustment to engine mount. Called HD customer service yesterday and was told basically any Harley may pull one way or another. There is a measuring device that will the measure amount of #s required to straighten a motorcycle to a straight traveling position. The dealership and corporate apparantly could care less. Makes me hope like Hell nothing real important breaks. I was considering the extended warranty but after the results of my 1000 mi service and now this I'll be doing my own work. I bought a service manual and a direct lift. I figure in 18 mos I'll be at least even or a little ahead. Bought a like new lift from an independent going out of business. I'm not mad just dissappointed in what I thought was a stand up company.