13th Mar 2015, 18:49

Hello, if you haven't figured out your issue yet, I suggest changing your tire.

Put on a good touring tire and I bet the problem goes away.

I had the same issue on my Concours.

24th May 2019, 11:21

I have lived all things with wheels and engines that are designed to be really enjoyed while being operated. To those that believe motorcycles are not toys, please contrast the joy of operating something like a motorcycle for 20 to 30 hours a week on the open road, to the joy of operating a rototiller or walk-behind mower for the same number of hours per week.

That being said, given your description of the problem, there is a strong possibility the previous owner may have made bad decisions in changing the steering geometry, such as changing the fork tubes out for longer or shorter tubes hoping to "go for a certain look", without knowledge of rake angle *and* what increasing or decreasing trail will do to handling. By making uninformed choices that increase trail wet to muck, you create a situation where the bike does *not* want to turn. The faster you go, the more the bike will fight the rider by trying to go straight instead of turning. It'll go straight for 1,000 miles with *no rider.*

A bike with zero or near zero inches of trail gets more responsive, but also requires a steering damper or it will get wild on you, as described.

Search for the terms "motorcycle rake angle and trail distance and before long you'll find some information that will help you further understand how, for example, trying to lower a bike for a shorter rider, or just for "a certain look" by just installing shorter fork tubes without considering the trail geometry can cause "negative trail," which can make a motorcycle completely unsafe to ride, because it will throw the rider right off.

Cruisers and touring bikes have more trail and rake angle than go-fast, turn fast, sticky tire lightweight track bikes. Drag bikes often have steep rake angles and a lot of trail, because turning fast is not a good idea at a drag strip. The dragster geometry is not so great on twisting roads and hair-pin turns at high speeds, however. Negative trail is never safe on the road or any track under any circumstance. Grossly excessive trail can actually make it impossible to turn at even at moderate speeds. In that case, you'd have to be King Kong to made a turn, and even then you'd bend the handlebars if you tried to force it to turn at high speeds.

I hope that explanation is not "about as clear as mud." Once you "get it" or "the concept clicks" (pictures of "how rake angle and trail distance are measured are solid gold. Search those terms and click on "images"), you should quickly understand given my description.