pulls to the left

[Captain Bob]

Please disregard my last post. I didn't realize there was a second page of posts! (my bad!)

It should be interesting to see what the dealer finds. Definitely keep us posted.

 

[BIKER]

well bike has been at the dealer most of the week still can't find why it does it....the mech keep saying it's the shaft drive.. I say no way ..i say it the mez tire that have cupping on them with only 1300 miles on them..say he is calling triumph and see what they have to say..can't wait to hear this one

Ed

 

[BIKER]

well the dealer call back ..Triumph called them and said yes it's the shaft drivethis is very "common"
"please come pick up your bike nothing we can do for you".......

ED

 

[Rocket Scientist]

Agreed. You'd be surprised at how little weight it takes too. I can put a light jacket and hat in one of my bags on my Tiger and it'll pull to the side that has the added weight.

If you don't have anything in your bags, it could be the brakes. One of the pads on the left side could be rubbing slightly.

What about bikes that only came with one disc brake on the front ?

 

[Rocket Scientist]

I own a 2009 R3T...got it as a left over and got a great deal on it.. love the bike I now have over 1200 miles on it..the other day going down the road I pulled my hands from the bars to zip my coat..and it pulled to the left really fast ..put my hand back on the bars got it going straight again..tried it again and still pulled to the left..now i know most are say well don't take your hands off the bar..but I have done this in safe places to fit my helmet,fix my coat stuff like that and my bikes have all tracked down the road straight & true.. everything looks good ..my one friend say its because its shaft drive???

Thansk Ed

My buddy is currently suing Harley because his 2008 Road glide did the same thing. They kept dicking him around saying it was in spec. He finally pulled the front end apart and it looked like the steering neck wasn't in the fixture correctly when they machined the pockets for the bearings. 3/16" of metal on one side of the bearing cup, paper thin on the other side. The court battle is ongoing. Hope that is not your problem.

 

[HellFire]

well the dealer call back ..Triumph called them and said yes it's the shaft drivethis is very "common"
"please come pick up your bike nothing we can do for you".......

ED

The only street bikes I've ever owned all had shaft drive, They've all pulled under acceleration but can't think of any that ever pulled just cruizin' along. My R3 will drift if one of the bags is loaded heavier than the other, but that's about it.

Check your position on the bike, some folks have a tendency to sit off to one side or slump while riding without realizing it. Even a geometrically stable bike will drift off the direction your spine is on.

 

[admiralrocket]

Had this issue with my 05 and it drove me crazy. Finally, took it to another dealer and they said that someone had over torque the head/neck bearing and this was the culprit. They torque'd it back to spec and it resolved it ALMOST completely. Hope this helps.

 

[Evil Mitch]

Now that you're actively thinking about body position, you'll notice alot of riders you're following with their butt hanging off one side or the other. It's also interesting that the ones I see most likely to sit off center are women.
Not so much with sport bikes, but chicks on Harley's (especially the big girls) almost never sit straight. Some almost sit side-saddle ....
It would be interesting to know why.

I think its so they dont get a suction cup type effect when they try to dismount

 

[Rocket Scientist]

I think its so they dont get a suction cup type effect when they try to dismount

Also easier to sneak one off

 

[Captain Bob]

I am not buying the driveshaft thing. I also have a hard time with dissimilar saddle bag weights. My R3T does not pull regardless what is or is not in the bags. I also do not ride with one cheek off the seat (who thinks of this stuff?)

You have something out of alignment. It is as simple as that. Have you checked the alignment of the wheels? You could have a twisted or bent swingarm. It does not take much. It is possible something is out of kilter in the steering head but unlikely (unless the frame is bent). I would make sure your wheels are in proper alignment and are parallel with each other. If that is OK, then call your local GMD Computrack place and have them measure up the frame. They can tell you if the frame and/or swingarm is bent or twisted. The guy who owns the local GMD Comutrack franchise in my area has told me some pretty interesting stories of brand new bikes right off the show room floor with some serious bends

It could also be as simple as a bogus tire. I would lean toward that as the problem before the frame. Are your front brake pads wearing evenly (compare each side)? I have ridden both my old R3 standard and current R3T pretty hard and I do not get any pulling. I have ridden a number of other drive shaft driven bikes and never encountered or heard of that problem. I just do not believe that is something caused by engine torque or drive shaft effect.

Good luck and keep us posted!