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Front wheel size

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:09 pm
by raicerx
My buddy brought over his GSXR yesterday. I took it for a spin. Aside from being very light it was remarbly easy to steer. Then jumping on mine I noticed how I had to wrestle with the handle bars to move the bike around. My steering iis much heavier and even in a turn I have to fight it’s tendency to oversteer in the sense that it wants to turn sharper than I want it too. Im wondering if a change in front wheel could neutralize this.

Re: Front wheel size

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 9:14 pm
by angelix
never felt it that way except when the tyre pressure was off (low).

I have mine set @ 2.2BAR, if it goess below 1.7 the front end goes gaga.

Re: Front wheel size

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 9:46 pm
by paso750
+1 on tire pressure. The shape of the tire will impact handling quite a bit, too. A touring tire with a rounder profile will feel different (unsure if you could call it "slower") than a sports tire with a sharper profile. What tires are on the bike now?
What you can check is the position of the fork in the triple clamp. Front end height will also determine how the bike steers.

Re: Front wheel size

Posted: Tue May 01, 2018 4:43 am
by ducinthebay
Indeed, the Ducati trait from the 70's, 80's and early 90's was slow steering, which usually translates to rock solid handling at speed, and bear in town traffic.

The common tricks to make a bike faster steering:
- More angular tire profile. Like the Pirelli sport tires.
- For the front tire, a 120/70 will turn in much quicker than a 120/60.
- Narrower rear tire. Instead of 180, go to a 170. First year ST came with a 170.
- Slide the forks up in the triple clamps, which lowers the front end. Be careful you don't bottom the wheel into the triple clamps. Can't do much on the Paso anyway, but if you have bar risers, you can get a bit more.
- Lift up the back end. Generally not possible on the Paso, unless you got an aftermarket shock that you can change the length.
- Change the triple clamps to less offset. (good luck on that) The 851 had about 6mm (?) less offset with the M1R forks.

Cheers, Phil

Re: Front wheel size

Posted: Tue May 08, 2018 6:12 am
by Sergio Desmo
Could be as well your steering bearings who does need a replacement. You got used to it and didn’t noticed they started to worn out.
Put the bike on its central stand, apply a weight on the back and check the free movement of your handle bars. Easy, check the tyre pressure or worn tyre (u shape). Difficult, well you need to consider replacing your bearings.