Big Trailie Handling

[MikeH]

Today is the first really dry day we've had for ages and as I finished work early it's the first day I've been able to ride home in daylight so thought I'd give the KLE a bit of a push to see how she'd go on some quick twisty A road stuff.
OK so I know it's no sports bike, but I expected it to handle reasonabley well, but shit me it doesn't half feel light at 80+, the slightest little bump in the road and it's all over the shop, it really feels loose and unpredictable when your leaning into the corners.

I've checked the tyre pressures and they're spot on, the rear shock is on the middle setting which as I bought it from the previous chap, and there's no sign of any play in the suspension or axles. The only thing I did notice is the rear tyre is pretty well squared off , the centre of the tread is down to about 2 - 3 mm while the outer 1" is pretty much untouched.

.......any suggestions to improve things...........other than pxing it for a Gixxer

Cheers

Mike
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Busa Junkie

[cagiva gezzer]

Try dropping the forks through the yolks to relax the head angle, or pulling them through to steepen it.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[G]

To be honest, I suspect it may be a case of 'they do that'.

What size front wheel and what tyre have you got?

90mph and over on my KLR and I had to push forwards against either side of the bars to stop the speed wobble.

[syris]

My XT600 was pretty ropey above 80mph as well, think its to do with that ridiculous front mudguard - try a supermoto one lol?

[mr.z]

Um... get a new tyre

Thing that got me most about this kind of bike, rideing it was very easy, too easy.. to the point of being boreing

Your headbearings possibly could do with tightening? really not much else youve not mentioned.. tyres would be the first thing, they can do some pretty weird things when there worn Might eb woth checking the brakes aren't binding at all? (can induce wobble) and that all engine mounting bolts are tightened up propperly..

Stinkwheel has a kle i think, should be able to give some insight
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[cagiva gezzer]

Reading the above i'd agree that it tends to be what they do.

Hit a bump at 80+ on mine and it goes into a bit of a tank slapper. I'd still give the adjusting of fork height ago, or moving your weight towards the front of the bike..
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[stinkwheel]

Aye, but stinkwheel has 17" cast alloy wheels in his KLE .

What sort of tyres do you have in it? 21" Knobbly ones can get a bit wishy-washy at speed and a square rear won't help matters.

Mine did what you describe when I first got it with a HORRIBLY worn front tyre (original 10 year old front tyre with 6,500 miles of wear on it) nae good. A replacement settled it down a lot.

You do get more road-biased tyres. Pretty sure you can now get avon distanzias in 21" which are a nice 'compromise' tyre (they commonly fit them to BMWs).
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[mchaggis]

Metzeler Lasertecs are what came fitted to my Mum's F650, and she's had no problems with them. It's also what appears to be fitted on the front end of my VT, and it's fine above 90 with it (although I accept it's a completely different type of bike ).

It depends on what you're wanting to do. I doubt they'd be really any good at all off-road.

https://www.metzelermoto.com/en_86/tires/template_categorie.jhtml?catid=86SPTOU&productid=16773&product_list=catid%3D86SPTOU%26productid%3D16773


Otherwise, a friend of mine with a V-Strom 650 used these Tourance ones with no problems at speed:

https://www.metzelermoto.com/en_86/tires/template_categorie.jhtml?catid=86END&productid=16831&product_list=catid%3D86END%26productid%3D16831

According to their blurb, they're designed for exactly what you have in mind.
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I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[quacker_boy]

you KLE might be in a different league (i don't know i've never seen them!) to my old DR250 but when i used to reach 120 kmh there was hideous steering wobble, but i had knobblies on it because i used to ride it off road more than on road, cornering's also a bitch, your best bet is to trade up or give some road biased tyres a shot.
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wizzzard wrote: Imagine God just stopping by, tidying your front room up and then quietly letting himself out again. Statisticly more likely to happen than Korn being on here.

[MikeH]

It's got Pirelli (road tyres) on front and rear, the front has loads of tread but the rear is on it's last legs. I have no issues with speed wobble, had it upto 110 on the M'way today and although it's a bit hairy and you need neck muscles like Arnie unless you lie on the tank it's basically OK in a straight line. It's just cornering on not so smooth A roads that it seems to go a bit Pete Tong.

I'll back off the rear spring setting at the weekend and have a look at the head bearings, best start saving for a new tyre too I suppose.

Cheers for the feedback guys
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Busa Junkie

[syris]

Is it a pirelli scorpion MT? I had a MT90 on the back of mine which didn't help things - not alot of grip, but it lasted about a 1000 miles more than any of the other tyre makes I had on it. I had 4 back tyres on the bike in the same time I had the same one on the front , when I sold it.

[MikeH]

[syris]

Think it's just the nature of them to be hard on the back tyre, the best one I had on the XT was a Bridgestone TW48. It was rare looking like but it done a good job. What size is the rear tyre on the KLE?

[MikeH]

17" 130/80 on the rear and 21" 90/90 upfront
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Busa Junkie

[syris]

I had a 17" 120/90 on the back (I think) can't remember the front. Although I think you could have put a 130 on the rear. The right tyre on trail bikes makes a hell of a difference, just try different ones - doesn't take long to wear them out anyway

[stinkwheel]

I just wonder if it is the 'normal' boingy suspension type handling you are experiencing.

I remember when I first got my MZ, it felt like I was going to go over the handlebars at any minute whenever I touched the brakes (in reality, the back wheel lifts slightly if you push really hard). They do tend to wallow about a bit more than a sports bike, you are more floating on top of the wheels than pressing down on them.

Needs a looser hand than a sports bike, you kind of roll your hips to one side, let it point itself in the direction you want to go and allow the suspension soak up the difference. You also get used to sort of pushing the front-end down as you enter a corner, the saddle is designed for you to move about a lot on, get sat well forwards on it (almost on the 'up' bit at the front) if you are pushing hard through corners.

Difficult to describe what I find myself doing, it is almost as if I turn the bike slightly away from the corner before the turn-in point then almost 'bounce' the bike back over the top to lean in, so the suspension is compressed. It may help if you say 'boing' in your head as you do so? (that sounds really stupid, I know)
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[lilredmachine]

I find myself using the pegs to help lever the bike around, and I do what stinkwheel suggested, holding myself on the 'up' bit of the tank for quick cornering.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[Valver]

[MikeH]

Cheers fellas, I'll try it out.
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Busa Junkie

[MikeH]

heh heh, top advice guys

I dropped the rear spring adjuster a notch last night and today I had to go out to a customers site, a 45 mile round trip. Sun shining, roads dry & grippy, cornering was so much better. The combination of shifting my weight forward and better roads makes such a difference, I was taking corners comfortably 80+ one long sweeper I took at 90 and it was solid as a rock all the way round not a hint of he wishy washy feeling I had the other day.

Happy Days (and slimmer chicken strips)
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Busa Junkie

[MikeH]

Quick update, I had a new Bridgestone Trailwing rear tyre fitted yesterday and I've been out and about today putting some miles on it. The bikes behaviour has been transformed, I can lean with much more confidence now, it feels totally planted even on todays cold damp roads. I'm well impressed with the change it's made.
Looking at it now the old tyre was well squared compared to the new one no wonder it handled like a three legged pig !
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Busa Junkie