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Clipons resisting countersteer

4K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  DanQ 
#1 ·
Sold my 10' back in Apr and bought a dl650 but just picked up an 09' not to long ago. Question is with the 09 I feel a fair amount of resistance and even some push back while cornering. I don't ever remember cornering feeling like that on my 10'. In fact I remember it being effortless and intuitive. Anyone think this is indicative of a problem on the 09 I bought or is it all just in my head?
 
#2 ·
Checked front tire pressure ? Rear axle aligned ?
 
#9 · (Edited)
Yea I still have to setup the suspension to my weight on this bike. I rode the 10' without messing with the suspension for about a month when I first bought it and never noticed this. But maybe I just forgot about it. It honestly feels like a severly underinflated front tire but I checked the pressure with 3 different gauges and they all showed 32.

No after market clipons and eveything looks straight and lined up and i feel equal pressure turning left or right. Maybe I just need to ride it more. Coming from the upright dl650 and being used to how that bike behaves while cornering might be messing with my brain.
 
#12 ·
:corn

explain this?? I've turned tires into having angled sides and a the top (nearly a triangle if you took a cross section (2" flat/rounded on top) and have never had the resistance in turning. What is this "high spot" you are looking for and how would one have that??
 
#15 ·
UPDATE:

Setup the suspension to my weight and took it out for a few corners near my house, still had the same clipon pushback issue coupled with some weird wallowing or bouncing while pushing the bike a little harder through the corners.

Then I remembered what the tire pressures were when the seller swung by my house for me to check it out. Somewhere in high teens/ low 20's which may have deformed the tires??? Took RayJohns on his experience and bought a new pair of Q2's and threw them on. Bingo! Cornering how I remember it. Thank you to all who chimed in on my issue.
 
#17 ·
That's great - congrats on resolving the handling issue! :)

BTW, be super careful on new Q2's. I put a set on my R1 and promptly low sided last month; wrecked my bike and nearly killed myself (came off an apex at 70 MPH and stuck the bike and myself into a concrete rain gutter and dirt embankment).

New Q2's are great, but they are slippery on the sides when new. Make sure you are running a pressure on the lowerside for the street, so they heat up.

Ride safe!

Ray
 
#18 ·
So...

It was hopelessly low tyre pressures all along then?

Actually, it was the the low tyre presssure's allowing an unusual contact patch and thus irregular changes in dynamic trail values. That and the increse in slip angle forces significantly overcoming the self aligning torque inherent in the steering.

Tyre pressures; I shittem.


And whilst I'm :machinegu

Dunlop Q2's work just fine. More or less any tyre will have you off if you forget to scrub them in... its not Dunlop that's at fault here.

Have a nice day.

Grumpy Andy
 
#19 · (Edited)
I 100% disagree about the q2's. I put brand new q2's on ealier this year (peeled stckers off and out i went) and first lap out ran the piss out of them at the track with no issues (note, no warmers). As long as the bike is set up correctly, you're not going to overuse q2's on the street. Very aggressive right out of the gate and I'm by no means professional.

Poor throttle control, rider mistake, or poor road conditions make people go down on the street. Poor road condition is usually last in the street crash issues.

No offense to anyone, but as others have said, you can't blame equipment.

Moral of the story, take the aggressive riding to the track :)
 
#20 · (Edited)
Most people I know who race say the Q2's are slick when cold/new. Of course, that's true of most any tire probably also.

I'm going to keep the Q2's and maybe run them on the track. For the street, I'm installing Pirelli Supercorsa SP's and going to give those a try. I think the SP's are probably better tires than the Q2. The Q2's are good tires for the money for sure, but I don't think they are in the same ball park as the higher end Pirellis.

Time will tell.

The 190/55 Q2's are 200mm wide, while the Supercorsa Sp's are more like 188 as I recall (I think they are 193 on the rims, but I'll double check when I mount them).

In my specific crash, it was because the tires were not fully scrubbed in, it was cold and I had the pressure too high probably (35/35 when I probably should have been running more like 30/30 maybe for the temp).

The main issue is a dip in the road at the apex. I'm not the first person who has had problems on this particular corner. However, I had come around that same corner many times on the Corsa III's and stepped out the back end with no problem.

You say you put Q2's on and had no problem first lap. But I know someone who did that and low sided on the first corner also...

Talk to 10 people, you'll get 10 different opinions.

Q2's are a lot of bang for the buck. Myself, personally, I like the feedback from the Pirelli tires a bit more I think. I might try the Q2's at a lower PSI and see how they do, but replacing body work ain't cheap :)

Ray
 
#21 ·
While this is yet another problem credited to tires, unless they are wore out/abused I tend to not blame tires. I see a couple of sets a year, and I frequently hear things blamed on tires that are setup issues. Best bet is to find a set of tires that you like, and focus your setup on that tire. Then don't change. Constantly changing from tire to tire, while it may be the only way to find what you like, will have you chasing suspension setup for a while.

Good choice on the Q2s. I run them on the street, and would trust them on a track at a decent pace.
 
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