I'm not even sure 'squirley' is a word. Here's my dilemma. I finally break the bike out after a long, cold winter, now that they have the salt and gravel cleaned off the streets. I'm not nearly as hardcore as some/most of you on this sight. I don't ride all year, and I'm not terribly aggressive, in my opinion. I've done about 150 miles total this year. Some of these have been on nice days - even today we are pushing 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The problem that I am having is that on 3 separate occasions, my rear tire has slid. This happened twice today. Not enough to put me down (thankfully), but certainly enough to get the adrenaline flowing. These are on roads that I am familiar with, aren't wet, get sunlight to help them warm up, etc. Not like its some unknown territory to me. To give an overview: I ride a 5th G. I'm 6' 2", and weigh about 235, without gear. My tires are Dunlop Sportmax Qualifiers, 1 season old, with about 2500 miles on them. I have checked the air pressure with 2 gauges, and they are dead on. I absolutely let the tires "warm up" before I even think of a moderately aggressive maneuver (learned the hard way a long time ago about cold tires on cold roads). I know they are not the best tires, but I didn't have anything like this happen last season on them. I only have stock suspension, and I did make some MINOR changes to it this year. I bumped the rear spring from "setting 3" to "setting 4". Considering my weight alone, I didn't think this was too aggressive. When riding the bike last season on setting 3, I never had this "squirley" issue. I did notice that in certain bends, I could feel the suspension getting soft on me - if that makes sense. I definitely know it was not the tire sliding. This season, I adjusted the damping on the rear by a bit, about 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn. Maybe I dampened it the wrong way? I turned it clockwise, assuming this makes it tighter, and thereby increasing the damping. Wrong? I also adjusted the front suspension a little bit. I adjusted/tightened the fronts by one full turn. They are about "in the middle" now. One item that I've noticed is the "chicken strips". Last season, when the tires were new, I had no problems getting rid of the "chicken strips". I noticed this season that where the chicken strips would typically be, the tire(s) seem to be a different color, but its as if the "chicken strips" extend one inch up on each side of the back tire (never-mind the front). This probably sounds :crazy: but its almost as if the composition of the tires changed from sitting over the winter. (By the way, the bike is stored indoors). Is that possible? Is there anything I can do about? Is it just as :crazy: to consider taking like 220 grit sandpaper and "lightly" sand down (part of) those chicken strips to expose fresh rubber? I know that suspension can't be diagnosed on-line, but did I go wrong with my minor adjustments? And to answer the obvious question: No, I have not changed my suspension back to the way it was (yet). As always, appreciate the great feedback and insight that comes from this sight. Thanks.
Is it possible you are finding residual sand spots? The fine road colored stuff left behind after the street sweepers come through?
what is your current tire pressure?? I run 36 front 38 rear for most riding and 34 front and 36 rear when really blasting it in the corners. metzler M-1 rear M-3 front I have forks set so two lines showing and rear spring set at 1st setting I weigh 158lbs I would recomend going back to 3rd setting and measure you sag w/ normal riding gear on should be around 1-1/4" sag.
agree with drewl, sand spots as well as possible oil soaked up into the tire? painted lines on the road? i dont think there is any way your compound could have changed on you, sounds impossible.chicken strips???
I suppose it could be salty/sandy/slick spots in the road. I know we've had some good rain though, so thought it would have washed away any residual salt/sand. I don't want to quote the exact tire pressure, but its set at what the label calls for (the memory is failing me) Chicken Strips - I don't know if that's exactly what they call them, but referring to the part, or edge, of the tire that would only make contact with the road when you're "really" leaning over. If you don't lean that far, you must be a chicken apparently. (I am NOT saying that).
I would lower tire pressure a bit ( pressure listed on tire is to get max load rating ) and go back to your last season setting on rear shock. and also ck sag w/ gear on.
Best article and descriptions I have ever seen..... NAd Someday I will get a friend to help me do it... LOL http://vfrworld.com/forums/suspension-articles/4-suspension-setup.html
If you were riding very hard last year and really got the tires hot from cornering, they may change colors a bit out on the edges where you wouldn't have worn them down before the bike was stored. This may affect the grip out near the edge until you wear off the color change. JMO doncha know.
+1 on lowering tire pressure a bit the qualifiers call for 42 psi max load. i run about 35 normally and they grip pretty good on the "chicken strips" never heard that before. first i would put setup just as last season and see what that does for handling. then start playing with different setups.
I know what your problem is I had the same thing happen to my rear end and this is what I found : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
You might do well to put the suspension settings back to where they were last year, and then go from there. It sounds like you may simply have a bit too much pre-load dialed into the rear suspension. In the longer term, you might wanna look into Race Tech's suspension modifications. :thumbsup:
Actually do not lower the tire pressure. When reading tires whether racing or street use, 38-40lbs works the best. I been running those pressures for years in my street bike. When reading a MC tire, you want to see a scuffed rubber across the face of the tread. This tells you you have the right amount of air(basically). To much air and you will see little balls of rubber on the face. To little and you start losing the contact pach. It's pushes in. Remember the more pressure in the tire, the more pressure it's putting to the road for adhesion. Up to the point of over inflation where the little balls start to show up. A tire will heat more when under inflated. When racing we would set/measure the tire pressure cold. Put the bike on the trace and when it came in measure pressure again. There should be no more than 2 lbs different. This will tell you the proper pressure to use. You can also do this on your street bike to see where you are at with pressures. You don't need to heat tires to race speeds. Highway speed or back road running works fine. Just measure as soon as you get off. Of cosrse you may have to adjust a little bit for larger person or smaller person from the average person. Which is basically where these settings fall.
