Had same problem. probably early production 09 that had tripple tree problems. would turn ok to right but would not turn well to left. Also had severe wobble when doing tight cone patterns. Harley corrected the mistake later in the year but would not correct the problem on bikes already in the field except for motorcops.

 

The rear wheel is much wider than the front wheel. Would that have anything to do with your front/rear alignment? I never knew Harley offset the rear wheel, but I can understand if they do with the wide tire, a belt and the desire to not have to offset the engine or make a hugely wide primary.

 

Where did you get this information from? I have not heard anything about HD changing anything on the earlier '09 bikes (at least if it was posted on this forum I missed it).

 

mine is 3/16" also - 2011 tracks fine. my old chopper was almost 3/8" (250 rear) and still tracked fine.

 

see my above post - just checked when i was doing stretched fender.

 

Yes they may have moved the rear tire over to the right on purpose to make room for the belt but that would be a stupid fix considering its a brand new frame design and they could have solved that in many other ways.

Anybody else ever check theirs? I don't know anybody with an 09 or newer frame.

Might have to take my straight edge into the dealer and start measuring bikes. Im sure they will love that.

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Ditto......


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I learned of the tripple tree problem from www.motorcops.com The site is no longer active. The motorcops were having such a problem with the early 09 that some departments canceled orders. When this started happening harley corrected the problem for them but told me that civilians arent supposed to ride as well as cops.LOL I guess my butt is not as important as a cops. As soon as the 2010 models came out i traded and am very happy with the handling. Some police rodeos will let me compete with them and i usually outride many of them but I will never outride the best ones.

 

jasnuc, I admire what you're doing here, with such precision in measuring your bike. Can I offer a means of checking things a different way? This came about (not on a recent bike) when fitting a wider than stock tyre and checking how much tyre/belt clearance I might have, before refitting the wheel.

I used a straight-edge to check the clearance between the edges of the tyre and the track in the pulley where the belt runs (in my case that was just 3/16"). I then set the wheel up in the swingarm so the tyre cleared the belt by that amount (used a 3/16" drill as a 'feeler' gauge!).

If you do that on your bike (you may be able to do it with the wheel still in the bike) you can verify if your wheel is correctly aligned with your drive belt.

The swingarm is mounted off the rear of the transmission, so there are two different alignment settings. One is of the engine/trans assembly in the frame, the other is of the wheels relative to each other. The second cannot be correct until the first is.

If you don't have one I recommend you get a factory service manual for your bike! My wheel/belt alignment is not covered there.

 

09+ bikes do not have an engine to frame procedure. But you can have a faulty engine mount (or two) that will basically do the same thing.
I had to have mine replaced on my 09. I had weird handling issues as well and the handlebar was crooked (not the bushings).
Replacement motor mounts fixed my issue.

Difference here though is a misaligned engine to frame will not point the rear tire straight.
It will be skewed in some direction. Sounds like the OP's tire is straight...so it's an offset deal not alignment deal.

Also, the trans pulley is wide. You should be able to cut new spacers for your rear and the belt alignment be "ok".
Well, Ok as long as the belt does not hit the inner primary housing anyway.

lp