[glothringer]

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Hi guys. My first post on this forum. I have had an '84 Aspencade for about 3 years but have only just started to pay attention to it as I want to ride it more often.

The problem I have is the way the bike handles. The bike has a nasty habit of tracking off by wanting to follow depressions in the road surface (such as deformations caused by car tyres) and as a result it does not feel secure when going through corners. The bike also feels as if it "dancing around" under me when travelling in a straight line. By this I mean it displays an effect similar to that caused by the rider pushing lightly on each end of the handle bar, alternating one end at a time.

I have checked through this forum for leads and it appears that the main culprits could be:-

Poor front tyre ( I have Michelin Hi Tours probably due for replacement)

Warped front discs / front calipers not floating properly (I have recently overhauled these).

Incorrect torque on the headset retaining nut (Not yet checked but no evidence of wobble).

Swing arm bearings (Not yet checked but again no evidence of movement).

Is there anything else I should be considering? Is there any history of frame cracking that could be contributing to the handling problem?

Thanks for a great forum.

 

[Patch]

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[align=center]WELCOME
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[align=center]to the Finest GoldWing Forum on the W.W.W.
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[align=left]Naturally, the bike is going tobe affected by those depressions, the cracks in the pavement, the tar snakes (tar repair strips) rain groves.............. You have to remember that you are on 2 wheels, not 4.[/align]

[align=left]What air pressure are you running in the tires? The book recommends 32 in the front and 40 in the rear. I would check for proper inflation.
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[align=left]Now, mine was terrible when I got it here about 4 months ago and the tires were fairly bald and cupped pretty good. I changed them out for a fresh set and it helped tremendously. Even with the new tires, your bike is still going to wander with you.
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[align=left]A buddy of mine has those exact same tires and hates them. He cannot keep his bike straight in the road and it wants to keep going straight when going through a curve. He has to slow way down every time he comes to a curve.[/align]

 

[Dadoo]

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Your tyres are the culprit. New tyres will make it feel like a different machine.

 

[glothringer]

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Thanks for the response.

I have checked the tyre pressure and they are as per manual. I am aware that the bike will follow the road deformations to a certain extent, the problem is that my other bike, a BMW R1150GS does not display any real problems at all on the same roads. OK, the BMW is 20 years newer (younger) and hopefully should have 20 years worth of improvements in it!

The description of your friends bike going into corners sounds the same as I experience. It can be quite hair raising at times. I am looking forward to changing the front tyre to a Metzler ME880. Does anyone have any comments on whether the rear Michelin (which has good tread) should be changed at the same time?

 

[Patch]

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Put the bike up on the center stand where you can spin the tires with your hand.Place one hand on the surface of the tire and with the other hand, spin the wheel. What you are feeling for is a cupped surface. You will feel it if it is there. The tire will feel very uneven and bumpy. If your tire is like this, then most definitely it needs to be changed. If it has good tread, is not cupped and does not have sings of dry rot, you could leave it on.

On the other hand, if you are like me, I wanted a "matching" set of tires on my bike. My rear was the only problem on mine. The P.O. had changed the front tire and it only had about 1000 miles on it. I have it in the shop for a spare.

Another thing, you mentioned that you have had your bike for 3 years now and it does not sound like you rode it very much. Your tires can develop flat spots from sitting. We just had a GURU that posted a few days ago that his tires developed some flat spots from sitting for about 4 days. ( I think it was 4 days) Anyway, he stated that the flat spots came out fairly quickly once going down the road. If your bike has been sitting a lot, I would suspect flat spotting also.

 

[exavid]

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Twas I, the new Dunlop EIII developed a flat spot. It ran out pretty quickly but I was surprised it happened in warm summer weather. BTW Vic the cord is polyester, dacron so it isn't nylon. Sounds to me like glothringer just needs new rubber under his bike.

 

[Patch]

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New rubbers should make all the difference!

 

[1200bikes]

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hi,i had a similar problem with my 84 aspy,turned out to be the rear tyre it had 4 blebs (bulges) ...bri.

 

[Hawker22]

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Well, I guess this fits me to a tee as well. My experience is very much the same as glothringers. I was kinda hoping it was just me and that I would eventually learn how to ride the bike. I too find that entering turns can be pretty hairraising because of the uncertainty of exactly where the bike will want to go; and lately, when I am running very slow in traffic, it feels like I am running along a knife edge and the bike is wobbling from side to side like I have no balance--to the point that I getconscious if the cager behind me can notice it. I DO have cupping in the rear tire but the front seems OK. I have been running 40/32 psi and since I increased the rear pressure, the problem seems to have gotten worse.

Ok, so new set of tires will/ should eliminate all that? Great if it does because presently my bike is not too fun to ride in traffic or uneven road surfaces. One thing, it sure keeps me awake.

I bought the bike with a nail in the rear tire and with a slow leak. First time I checked the pressure, it was way low, so I can only assume that the PO ran it mostly underinflated.

From what I have read, running underinflated is the prime cause of scalping or cupping. Is there any other cause of this, and what is to prevent the next new set of rubber from ending up the same?

I

 

[Patch]

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Running a tire under inflated will most definitely cause cupping.

Your problem sounds exactly like mine when I first got my bike. I was scared to ride it because you never knew how it was going to act. I almost dropped it going around a corner one day at very low speed. The back end just wanted to wobble out from under me.:realshocked:

1 set of new rubberscured the problem. The bike handled so well. Total night and day difference. I think that once you get that rear tire off of there and get a fresh one on, you will enjoy your bike 100% more.

 

[exavid]

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Hawker22 wrote:

From what I have read, running underinflated is the prime cause of scalping or cupping. Is there any other cause of this, and what is to prevent the next new set of rubber from ending up the same?

Check out these sites on cupping.

http://www.rattlebars.com/valkfaq/tirewear/

http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/cupping/

http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/infocenter_faq.asp?id=9

 

[Hawker22]

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Thanks guys, I am going to invest. I did read all of that info Paul, I got it from another thread where you had also posted it.. Thanks

 

[rwshiney]

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I'm having similiar problems with my '81 GL1100. Sounds like I need to replace my front tire since the rubber on itis pretty hard and old.When I hit one of those grooves in the road I have to hold on. They're re-surfacing Hwy 75 down here and they have the roads all torn up.

Thanks,

Randy

 

[christoph]

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i thought it was me,but after reading all this I am convinced its my tires.I just dont feel in control over 45 mph.my front tire shows some cupping but i think its the original 85 apsen.