Feels like a flat... but isn't...?

[erkishhorde]

Recently the bike has been feeling a little slow to react to my input and I can't figure out what it is. It kinda feels like I've got a flat but I don't. The bike kinda feels like it doesn't want to turn. Could this be a sign that I need new steering stem bearings?

[Smokescreen]

if you are concerned about steering stem bearings, you need to put the bike on a head tube stand so that you can shake the front, and turn it back and forth to feel for binding.


What kind of tyres are you running?  What pressures?  What shape are they right now?  Is your rear suspension set up to match your front?  Are the fork legs pushed through at all, or at the upper limit? 

I would be more prone to believe you are noting squaring of the rear tyre, but there are other signs of this, like irregular tracking (overtracking) of road irregularities.  But slow turn-in would also be a sign, as the tyre wants to run on the flat spot.  Also, running even five pounds low on the tyre pressure can cause slow steering.  So can a sagging rear end, or and over-raised front. 

I'm all for checking the head-tube (steering stem) bearings for free play and binding, but I wouldn't advise just outright replacement.

[He Man]

+1 on tire pressure and squaring. Ive ran the bike for a few hundred miles on 15psi. it would fight the initial turn then drop in and be completely unstable.

[erkishhorde]

That last part that He Man mentioned hit it spot on. It's fighting the initial turn in and then starts dropping. Kinda scary. There is a fair of amount of squaring but I don't remember it feeling this way before on any of my other tires. I tend to do a lotta freeway riding since it's my primary and don't get to see the twisties very often. Hmm... Thanks for the input. I was 1 psi low on the front, 2 in the rear and filled them up and it still feels the same.

[herm]

how many miles on the tires, and what type of tires?
how does the tread look around the wear bars?
if you are doing mostly slab riding, a softer tire will square off really fast.

I was commuting on my monster for a couple years, and finally switched from pilot powers (got about 4k of a rear tire) to the pilot road 2ct (about double the mileage)

[Smokescreen]

+2 on the Pilot Road 2CTs.  Seriously, tyres just get to a point (or lack thereof) where they start to feel this way.  I'd still jack it up and check your bearings, but it sounds more like tyres.

A lot of people claim they can't get the Road 2CTs because they ride aggressively too often, but let me be the one to tell you, I've put my knee down on Road 2CTs and they never so much as groaned.  The fact is, tyres  are made at a level today that most riders can't even reach (at least I can't)...  But that'll never take care of a tyre that's gone square.

[He Man]

the edges on the road 2ct are the same as the powers.the only difference between the the two (aside from the center compound) is the shape. 

[erkishhorde]

They're pilot roads 2ct. Don't remember how many miles off hand. Ya know, I don't seen any wear bars on these tires... 

[He Man]

They're pilot roads 2ct. Don't remember how many miles off hand. Ya know, I don't seen any wear bars on these tires... 

second ridge from the label going down. where the red line is. if yours dont look like that then you already worn them down.

[erkishhorde]

Hmmm... I looked for that when I bought it and couldn't find it. I'll look again.