Billski raked tree's question

[bigarmzz]

i installed my billski tree's back in the winter, and really havent had much of a chance to ride it til this week....i also installed the hardley 21" front

i notice when i ride, the bike feels like it wants to "walk" (that make sense?) no vibrations or anything like that

i've had several choppers in the past with raked tree's and never felt this way, so i'm just checkin in to see if this is somewhat what everyone else "feels" or maybe i'm just nuts?:dizzy:

i'm "thinkin" maybe, just maybe with the 21" front wheel on there, it may mess up the trail a bit?

[dngo408]

hmmm. Just did mine not too long ago wid no problems. Does both wheels spin freely wid no rub? check your brake setup and make sure the wheels are centered and spaced correctly. also a good idea to check rear wheel for any probs.

[omega9763]

Check to make sure your wheel is centered Kumar.

[mcvierh]

sounds like you may have overtighten/overly loose steering head bearings, as far as your trail goes I wouldn't worry about it with the 21" and the billski, because with the billski, the rake angle and the fork tube angle are identical, Again your Steering head bearings may be over tightened or overly loose. Block up the front end so that the front tire is off the ground and have someone hold the bike , now sit in front of the bike and grab the forktub just above the axle now push it away from you in a straight line and pull it towards you in a straight line, feel any play if so you need make sure your bearings seated and that you have the proper torque on the steering head nut. i'll post more later this evening on how to adjust the steering head bolt, wife just walked in from work and dinners getting ready.......

[mcvierh]

This may sound silly but I have to ask, did you remove all the parts of the original races?....Ok you did then ....Most steering stem adjusters use a castellated nut to adjust the bearing preload. these nuts have no flats on them, only slots, hence the need for a special tool, You can get one from any motorcycle shop, a long thin punch and hammer can be substituted. Follow the shop manuals EXACT procedure for steering head adjustment. Basically it goes like this; with the front end off the ground, loosen up the fork tub pinch bolts, loosen the steering stem locknut. Use the pin spanner to turn the castellated adjuster nut to remove free play. In some cases, apply a slight preload to the steering stem bearings. Retighten the locknut and pinch bolts. It sounds easy, and it is for the most part. What gets the novice in trouble is knowing how much preload to apply. the short answer is very little; to much preload is bad, in fact worse than not enough. it's easy to put several tons of pressure on the bearings with just a slight twist of the adjuster. Excess steering head bearing preload will make the bike feel heavy, like it's walking so to speak and hard to ride in a straight line. it will also ruin the bearings real fast. When in doubt it better to leave the bearing preload a little on the loose side. Your manual might specify a fork rotational preload torque. this means they want it to take a certain amount of torque to turn the fork. for this a socket or more likely an adaptor is placed on the strreing stem nut A torque wrench is then used to turn the front end. you can read the amount of force needed to rotate the front end directly from the torque wrench, and then adjust the bearings accordingly. this torque setting is crucial; if it's off the bike's handling will be shit. When the steering head bearings are correctly adjusted the fork should swing from side to side without any effort. here's an easy way to check the preload. With the front wheel clear of the ground. hold the handle bars in the straight ahead position, they should remain there, or at most fall gently to one side.it should only take a slight nudge to get them moving, if you have to give them a shove their to tight.Like I said when in doubt leave the bearing preload a little on the loose side. Hope this helps.