[WingMan71]

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All,

My bike has only 92K miles on it and has all new Progressive Suspension springs (front and back). Tires are nearly new as well.

It has great straight-line stability, but it seems to “fall” into corners. By that I mean that once I initiate a turn by counter steering, I have to then immediately counter steer slightly in the opposite direction to keep the bike on line in the curve and prevent it from over steering way too far into the corner.

This just feels wrong to me. Seems to me that once leaned into the curve there should be no need to counter steer out of it, unless of course the curve radius changes while you are still in the curve.

Since I suspected the steering head bearings, I checked the force required to turn the handle bars with the front wheel off of the ground, and that’s in spec. There does not seem to be any lateral play in the forks with the front end off the ground either. So, I’m out of ideas.

Anyone else notice this symptom on their GL1200, or other Goldwing for that matter?

What else might be causing this? Or is it all in my head!

Any suggestions are welcome!

 

[Dusty Boots]

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How's your front tireair pressure? :baffled:

A low reading(<32lbs) can have much the same effect.

 

[rcmatt007]

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is your rear swing arm loose?

 

[andy_christy]

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Mine does that if the front tire is low.

 

[exavid]

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I've noticed that different brands of front tires can change that oversteer feeling a bit. Also every 1100 I've ridden except for the Standard model tended to feel that way to me. It also varys with speed and curve radius being the worst when going fairly slow and on shorter radius curves. After a few hundred miles I really didn't notice it all that much. It may have been that those bikes don't take as much pressure to turn and I was overcontrolling a bit. The bike with the strongest tendency toward 'falling into a turn' that I've ever riddenwas my brother's BMW. Not too surprising with it's even higher center of gravity.

 

[Keno]

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Counter steer!!!immediate reaction-- Bike leans opposite of turned direction of steer tire.immediate minor correctionthen needed to place steer tire intothe radius beingturned because of the lean.

A gentle lean (without countersteer)tothe direction wanted to turn will put you into the turn and the bike should follow the the curve naturally. Slight lean to left, front wheel turned slightly toleft = left turn. You cannot lean bike to left and turn steering to the right and get a left turn.

If you use counter steer to put you into the lean angle by turning wheelright causing bike to lean left, you will continue to fall away until you place the front tire back into it's natural position to the radius of the turn. Counter steering only starts the lean. How forceful and speed of motion determines how far and how qiuck the lean will be. Then you got to catch it!!!

Clear as mud....:waving:Keno

 

[WingMan71]

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OK,

Two votes for low tire pressures! I keep my front at 35 and rear at 42. Check them regularly. Should be good there.

One vote for loose swing arm. Checked mine closely when I had the entire rear end apart last winter rebuilding the shocks and putting new bearings in the rear wheel. Should be good there.

One vote for tire brands. That could be! My rear tire is a new Avon Venom. My front tire is an older (style, not mileage) Dunlop Qualifier. The one with the very busy tread pattern that gets all squirrely when paralleling rain groves and the like.

One vote for “Hey, that’s the way it works!” Could just be right. Explanation makes sense to me. Though it still doesn’t feel quite right on this bike. Been riding for 30+ years off-and-on, and this bike seems to have unusual cornering characteristics compared to others I’ve ridden, even another GL1200.

Thanks very much to all who have answered. I will look into each suggestion.

 

[ob1quixote]

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After checking your tire pressures, check your suspension settings. My guess is you are low {ish} in front and high in the rear. This will steepen the rake angle, making the fronmt end twitchy.

 

[JBz]

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just curious what brand of tires do you have. I put pirelli s route 66 on mine and it wants does that but the old dunlop elites didnt. i learned to put a little less input with the pirellis but really dont care for them.JB

 

[exavid]

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I think the tendency to fall inward on turns is more pronounced with any new tire. Later on when the rear tire gets its center section more flattened the effect seems to fade.

 

[Bagmaster]

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When I find my bike is falling too fast and far in a tight curve or just going into a curve too slow I correct it by adding throttle. This speeds up the bike, arrests the inward motion and powers the bike out of the curve better.

 

[roscoepc]

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I had a set of Dunlop Qualifier's put on mine when I first got her running and, not ever having ridden a bike the size of the GL1200, thought it handled great.

Until I put a set of Dunlop Elite 3's on her. :shock:

I only got about 4000 miles out of the front and about 6000 out of therear before having to replace them with the Elite 3's but Man,, what a difference in handling!!!

After experiencing the 2 types I'd say your main problem is that Qualifier you've got on the front. I'd change it to either an Avon Venom to match the back tire or go with an Elite 3!

 

[Uncle A]

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I felt strange steering response, and it got progressively worse on my '84. In my case it was a worn rear wheel bearing(s). (262,000 Km.)

When placed on the center stand with rear wheel off the ground, the wheel could be wiggled from side to side. The wheel had to be replaced because the area the bearing is pressed into was worn. I've heard of this problem on one other '84, (160,000 Km.)...I don't know if it's considered a "common fault" of this model. Maybe someone else can answer that question.

 

[WingMan71]

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Uncle A wrote:

I felt strange steering response, and it got progressively worse on my '84. In my case it was a worn rear wheel bearing(s). (262,000 Km.)

Thanks Uncle A. When I did my Progressive Suspension upgrade both front and rear, I did both sets ofwheel bearings at the same time. I should be good there.

I'm beginning to think that this is primarily a front tire issue on my bike.

Thanks all for your feedback.

 

[eekjones]

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Because of the nice round profile of the new Avon is rounder and smoother than the old tire it will feel different in that way I noticed that when I put my new tire on you will get used to it and you will start liking it cause it will make the turns seem some what effortless.

 

[Feetup]

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Elite 3's on my 84, and I love them, but the bike still over steers slightly if using counter steer.Especially at lower speeds.I find a slight upper body shift, or inside knee toward apex to initiate works well. The relatively small front wheelwas used on these bikes to quicken the handling and it certainly did that. I have been running 38-40 psi on the front and that seems to help noticeably. I must say that I prefer over steer to under steer any day, but neutral steer is best.Still, the slight over steer is predictable and easy to get used to.

 

[Hatchetman]

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I agree that your front tire should be closer to 40 psi. You can try it for 20 miles just to see if it helps. I would also double check your swing arm bushing for excessive play.