www.boxertrix.com

Ok, all beemers tend to go a bit to the right. No news here.

Problem is that my R1100S BCR, tends to go a lot to the right.

Never had any issues with my R1150R before this one, then drove Metropolis2k's R1100S and goes straight, no problems there.

I didn't notice the problem ages ago when I bought the bike.

I started noticing it a couple of years ago. It's nothing terrible, but lately is getting more annoying.

So, last year had the bike checked at the dealer. They say the forks are straight, the bike is sound, doesn't look she has been in any accident, they replaced all the bearings on the shaft as there was too much play and that could let the bike tend to the right.
This set me back a shitload of money, but no cigar.
I don't have the steering damper, but that should not affect it.

After much thinking (and thinkering) I came to the conclusion that the Ohlins could be the culprit here.

When I had them installed I asked the mechanic to extend both of them to the maximum lenght... so maybe the bike is completely fucked up in suspension setting, and this is exacerbating the slight tendency of boxer bikes to tend to the right...

Also, another thing I observed is: the more weight you put on the back of the bike, the more it tends to steer right.

Riding solo: ok. If you leave the handlebars, it starts steering to the right lightly.
With passenger: you feel that you have to push more with your left arm
Passenger with bag: annoying on longer distances

After the trackday beginning of june, I came home from Snetterton, and my left arm was aching more than the right one...

Any ideas?
Might the rear frame be bent or something, so the load on the bike is uneven?

I'm considering taking off the Ohlins next week, reset them to factory settings and take the bike for a spin.

This thing is bothering me pretty much. Especially because I'm planning to keep this bike, so before going on in "restoring" some bits and leave it in the garage... I would like to be sure that it goes straight as she is supposed to do.

Tyre wear looks normal.

Well mine always pulls to the left if I let go of the bars, never right!
I have Wilbers front and back on mine, set to standard, but I think it did it even with the standard shocks on.

This is indicative of ball joint wear. My first one (2000) did this and a new ball joint was the answer

The ball joint was replaced three years ago.

When I bought it was missing the rubber cover. So, after a while I had it replaced at service.

Is there anything I can manually check (wear, marks, etc)?

Front brake caliper problem?

Don't think the caliper has anything to do with it.

You're not carrying a back injury are you? I tend to favour one side or the other depending on which side of my back is in spasm at the time so the bike is very seldom upright in a straight line
Before i knew i had degenerative disc disorder people behind me noticed that my bike was always leaning to one side or the other when on a straight road

Have you had a check of the rear end of the bike? Paralever bearings etc.

Dai wiskers wrote:You're not carrying a back injury are you? I tend to favour one side or the other depending on which side of my back is in spasm at the time so the bike is very seldom upright in a straight line
Before i knew i had degenerative disc disorder people behind me noticed that my bike was always leaning to one side or the other when on a straight road

Er-minio and I swapped bikes immediately after I bought my S and it did the same for me when I rode his. He found my bike went straight (well, more straight).

Yes, I have a back injury (old motorbike accident).

But, as metropolis2k said, we swapped bikes, tested a few times.
Everytime I have a problem on the bike, I assume the problem is me first.
So I tried to take me out of the equation

Rear end of the bike, as written in the original post, has been taken apart from the dealer, bearings changed, then put back in place.

Wheels not properly aligned. Steering plate slightly out of centre.

Got it all fixed last Thursday. Drives much better.
It still tends a little bit to the right because of the tyre wear, but I'll be 100% sure it's solved at the next tyre change.

er-minio wrote:Wheels not properly aligned. Steering plate slightly out of centre.

Got it all fixed last Thursday. Drives much better.
It still tends a little bit to the right because of the tyre wear, but I'll be 100% sure it's solved at the next tyre change.

Steering plate? What's that then?

slparry wrote:

er-minio wrote:Wheels not properly aligned. Steering plate slightly out of centre.

Got it all fixed last Thursday. Drives much better.
It still tends a little bit to the right because of the tyre wear, but I'll be 100% sure it's solved at the next tyre change.

Steering plate? What's that then?

+1?

Plane? The mind biggles.

Torque steer caused by crankshaft rotation = veering to the right

The Teutonic Tangerine wrote:Torque steer caused by crankshaft rotation = veering to the right

Is that a "steady state" phenomenon? ie: a steady amount of transmitted torque induces a certain amount of counter steer to cancel it. I'm struggling to see how that can be.

Isn't it more of an "instantaneous" phenomenon, in reaction to accelerating or decelerating the crank/clutch inertia mass?

It seems to be just as violent on the stand, in neutral, in reaction to a blip of the throttle. In that example there is zero transmitted torque, yet the reaction is very noticeable.