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Chassis alignment

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btsom

Active Member
There have been several mentions of the tendency for our machines to pull to the left. Mine shares this tendency. Does anyone KNOW if setting the chassis alignment at or near the tolerances, one side or the other, will minimize or eliminate the pull, and if so, which way things must be intentionally "miss-set"? Specifically, setting the drive package slightly left or right, and tilt slightly left or right.

I have fiddled with mine some and haven't determined any positive cause and effect changes in steering. Also, the manual depicts the power package as one assembly, including the rear swing arm, so I am also curious as to why changing the alignment of the power package seems to change belt tension.
 
Just think of the power train and realize what is on the left of the bike verses what is on the right of the bike and that should answer all questions. :D
 
I have done the "shade tree" intuitive analysis and have made little difference. Tilting the power package so the bottom of the rear wheel is farther to the left would seem to better support the left side weight bias but I can feel little change. Are there gyroscopic precession forces going on here that I haven't adequately considered? Is the real meaning of what you said that there is nothing that can be done, just live with it?
 
Without redesigning the entire setup, the weight is very unevenly distributed being you have the clutch assembly, trans shaft and drive pulley, rear wheel pulley and belt,, alternator, primary chain,horn,coil and probably a few other things not counting debris deflectors etc. all on one side.

How are you going to counter balance all that? It's the nature of the beast.
 
Very clear, thanks, guess I'll just have to put all the heavy stuff in the right saddle bag.
 
Most roadways are crowned to facilitate water runoff. HD might factory engineer in a bit of left-pull to counteract the uphill crown.

Does the bike actually “pull” and move the bike to the left, or are you just noticing the handlebars slightly offset while riding straight?

I wonder of changing the alignment of the rear wheel just a smidge to the left will help counteract the pull/offset. This should have the affect of rear-steering the bike to the right.
 
Keep the wheel in alignment. It will change the handling of the bike and wear poorly and you wouldn't like it.
 
Delmar. I think over time that would be really hard on your belt and tires. Mine pulls slightly to left if I let go of the bars but it's certainly nothing that I consciously notice when riding. Using the right saddle bag for tool storage etc should make the difference.
 
Mine is like hoggy25's. Nothing noticable while riding hands on, but should I need both hands off the handlebars temporarily, I must shift my weight or lean significantly to the right to continue straight ahead. It would be nice to be able to just let go.

AS far as the belt and tire wear go, there are limits within which the alignment factors should remain. Within those limits, tire and belt wear should be as the engineers designed. I was just questioning which way the the tolerances could be "stacked", still within limits, to counteract the slight pull. I have already tried 3 or 4 combinations of tilt and alignment and have not made a noticable difference. There are at least that many possible combinations remaining to try and I was wondering if anyone knew the best settings to try, saving me the nuisance of experimenting through the rest of the combinations.
 
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