SD -06 handling problems

I am not the frequent poster here on SD.net but i am a frequent reader and i really love this forum. I know that there is a huge amount of knowledge about the SD here and thats why i decided to get som advice here.

I own a SD -06 with about 1600miles on it. The bike has been handling funny for a long time now and i cant seem to find the problem.

I will try my best in explaining this with my knowledge in english.

I can accelerate and put it in neutral and "free-roll" without any problems.

With a good amount of speed i can take left corners/bends without noticing the handling, it feels OK. It feels OK when going slow and turning left.

When it comes to going right it feels wierd almost as if the bike wants to turn by it self. The feeling i get is that the bike wants to go under me, kinda hard to explain. I feel like i have to work against the bike when i go right with counter-steering all the way trough the bend. With the left turn it flows fine all the way through. When going slow and really slow, it feels like the handbar/wheel want to go FULL RIGHT.

What i have done so far:
- Check and re-checked the damping of the front fork
- Loosened fork legs fully (took them of the wheel and bike...) and putting it back together
- Checked and re-checked the back damping
- New back tyre and new chain/sprockets (service)
- Manually, without any special tools, tried to align the front and back wheel lots of times

I have had two accidents with this bike. One going quite fast but the bike just slided across the gravel/tarmac (no flips, hard stops and so on). the other accident it slammed to the ground after loosing control of the back tyre (diesel fuel spot).


I had one idea that the front tyre is slightly more "used" on the right side which makes it want to "fall over"? r

running out of ideas and the joy of riding is decreasing every time i ride it.

Anyone have an idea?

1600 miles on an 06? Was the bike a barn find? Amazingly low number of miles for a 6 year old bike. Are the tyres the original OEM tyres? If so, replace them and your issues will more than likely go away.

If not, your frame is bent and will need straightening by a qualified tech.

John

Ofc i meant 16700 miles. sorry, konversion from swedish km went south

Apart from the fact that the accidents might have caused more damage than you thought.....

Check your wheels for alignment...as this will give these symtoms

Check suspension setting the same on each fork (even preload..)

I would first check rear wheel allignment.

Has the bike always handled like this since youve owned it?

If not then think back to when it started and anything you may have done or changed on the bike at that time and come back to us

tyre pressures ok?
front tyre scalloped or worn unevenly?
when you disassemble and reassemble the front end make sure you torque everything up with the wheel on the ground, a stand that sits under the forks applies uneven pressure to the forks which can cause a twist in the front end geometry, i assemble everything loosely (except the lower triple clamp bolts ,them i torque) and torque from the top down so top clamp pinch bolts, caliper bolts, axle, axle pinch bolts. ALL with the wheel on the ground.

paul.

check the frame at the headstock, there are 2 horizontal (ish) bars, in a big crash the fork leg can come back and bend one.

A good suspension shop will have a frame measuring tool. Get it checked! Sounds like you did the obvious things and no improvement. You need to get is sorted before you put yourself in harms way.

Motorcycling is about confidence. If you lose your confidence in your machine all the fun goes away. Get it checked and get your confidence so you can rail!

For checking wheel alignment:

On the race bikes we used to use 2 tubes from the long domestic lights (the type with a starter, I can't think what they are called.) They are dead straight.

one each side of the back wheel and then if the front isn't pointing dead ahead you will see it.

Don't bash them though, they go pop well.

bingo

Have you checked the suspension settings of either side of the forks? Pre load, compression and rebound, make sure that the fork legs sit the same height in the triples and your head bearing correctly torqued.

I know a few bikes were known to unwinde on their pre load over bumps due to not having a washer installed at the top or bottom of the spring... So as the spring compressed/ released it wound or unwound the preload and sometimes even the rebound