Bad handling on a wee

[trijap]

Hi all,on returning home from a camping trip fully loaded.Riding on the motorway became difficult to say the least.going around the 70mph mark what I thought was wind buffeting turned out to be down right scary when overtaking hgv's etc,found myself fighting the steering to keep control.To the point where I decided to leave the motorway and travel home the back roads.Tyre pressures were wrong,front was 35psi,rear 38psi due to a faulty garage tyre gauge.but could this have caused such a severe handling problem?.I have a givi touring screen fitted,the rear shock was set at standard,tryes have only done 2k.Any ideas please.

[Juvecu]

The front pressure is a bit high and can cause a light/skittish feeling. With the weather being this hot tyre pressures also go up much more than we're used to. Drop it to 31psi and it will help. The Wee's aerodynamics aren't great at speed either, particularly when you have a stock spring on the rear and the bike is loaded and squatting a bit. The 'angle of attack' (as Greywolf puts it) of the front fairings acts like a wing and lifts the front of the bike. The reduced weight caused by the lift and the combination of the front tyre being slightly overinflated will give very light steering. Wind will be able to push the bike around very easily and even more so with your bigger Givi sail/screen on the front. If you don't have a fork brace you can also add fork flex to that. It all adds up to a very unnerving experience.

Best things to do is to get the rear suspension sorted, crank up the preload and if that doesn't carry the weight you need to consider a stiffer spring (Hyperpro make a good one for the Wee.) You can drop the forks up through the triple clamps to lower the front of the bike a bit so that it doesn't scoop wind at a bad angle. Using a tank bag for some stuff to load the front instead of having it all in a top box can also help. If you don't have a fork brace you can consider one of them, they make a huge difference, particularly in windy conditions. And obviously you need to sort the front tyre pressure out. The rear on 38psi is fine for loaded solo riding, if two up then use 40psi and remember to take the temperature into account.

[trijap]

Yes I think a combination of having the preload at a lower setting+high tyre preessure being to high on front may have caused the need to change boxer shorts.Cheers

[Jacko]

Pressures and suspension setting are important, and a problem with one can be multiplied by a problem with the other. Juv knows his stuff, try changing things and test.

[Strommerboy]

I've had the same problem a couple of times when traveling on the French autoroutes in windy conditions. On both occasions I was fully loaded, with preload set accordingly. As far as I'm aware my tyre pressures were also fine. The problem was worse when the wind was on the nose.  It did seem as if the air was getting under the fairing, buffeting the bike and  and making the steering light. It was a disconcerting experience and the only way I found to alleviate the problem was to slow a little - a bit of a pain - but safer and more comfortable.

[trijap]

Update.Just back from test ride having adjusted preload+trye pressures(fully loaded).A lot better than before,passed a few hgv's with no problems,where as before the dirty air was a issue.Was also thinking of lifting screen to the higher setting increasing airflow under the bottom of the screen thus more downforce on the front end.What do you think??.Thank's Juv+others.

[Juvecu]

I doubt lifting the screen would make much of a difference in the way you want it to. It's more a case of light steering (because of previously mentioned issues) + big screen + wind making the screen a bit like a sail and "steering" for you complicating things a bit. If the other issues are taken care of then I don't think you have to worry much about the screen. I've had the really big Givi sail on my bike through a winter and although I could feel the screen "steered" in heavy winds it was never a problem because if the wind was that bad the bike was already moving about and I was expecting it. I changed back to my smaller (stock) screen as I felt the really big one didn't give me enough benefit in terms of weather protection compared to a smaller well set up screen on a Madstad bracket. Nowadays I ride with a tinted sports screen and only use the stock screen in the worst of winter.

[TravellingStrom]

You don't mention a fork brace, I suggest you invest in one as it really does help the front end especially in dirty air

[trijap]

Yeah Juv mentioned a fork brace,are they easy available for the wee?

[greywolf]

Adding a fork brace and lowering the front by raising the fork tubes in the triple clamps a bit will make a big difference. 10-15mm seems to be the sweet spot for a non ABS Strom.

[trijap]

Thanks Geywolf,going to Scotland the morrow,that will give it a good test.But I still will invest in a fork brace.I've had a good run out today with no issues,so life is gud+boxers are clean!.

[greywolf]

Probably the biggest difference comes from a relaxed rider. Holding the bars tightly causes wind on the body to produce steering inputs.

[trijap]

[Juvecu]

Yeah Juv mentioned a fork brace,are they easy available for the wee?

I have a Richland Rick's fork brace, cheapest I could find and does the job. There are prettier braces out there with perhaps a better paint finish and better machining, but they will still just do the same job. I recall mine working out about £65.

:text-link:to Rick's web site.

And here is a thread by the man himself with some photos.

[Jacko]

How do we avoid the import duty?

[iansoady]

How do we avoid the import duty?

I bought some peg lowering plates from Rick and didn't have to pay anything - they were just delivered as normal by friendly postie. He marks his stuff as "gifts" so in theory they should slip through.

I have in the past bought several things from the USA and have never had to pay anything on them - including an aircon compressor for a Land Rover Disco which was a fairly hefty lump.

[Jacko]

OK, thanks.

[Juvecu]

I also didn't pay any customs tax, but that was quite a while ago now.