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Pulling to the right.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 7:47 pm
by Brett
Me again, more advice please. Just had puncture fixed. I rested the bike on it's forks when the wheel was off, raised up on slabs. I did this all very gently, and all went ok, put the old girl back together, all seemed well. Rode her and she pulls to the right and seems very twitchy around bends. All very upsetting as the other day I was king of the road.

Please advise?

p.s. tyre pressure is spot on.

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:05 pm
by RedexRobB
thats a weird one, didnt do the spindle up too tight did you?

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:08 pm
by masterofinsanity
sounds like the brakes are binding on the right hand side.

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:10 pm
by Brett
They could both be right, I need to get a torque wrench.
Why would the brakes bind now when they weren't before?

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:14 pm
by Brett
p.s. If I have done the spindle too tight why would it do that and will it damage it permanantly?

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:40 pm
by RedexRobB
My reasoning was since thats probably the only thing you will have changed, apart from the tyre (and i assume thats been done properly), that may be the cause. As for why it does it i dont know i could be wrong, but worth checking all the same :)

Possible damage i believe it that the fork seals may get ruined, other than that i dont know.

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 9:07 pm
by Brett
I did loosen it and tighten not as much and it seems a little better, although it still feels a little funny. I think it may be a little psycholgical, due to a lack of confidence in my mechanical skills.

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:06 pm
by jake
check the forks to see if one has slipped thru the yoke a little. make sure all yr pinch bolts are nice and tight-not to tight tho...
On my bike, sometimes if the speedo housing isnt in its right place, the wheel does'nt spin freely.

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:20 pm
by Brett
The speedo i think is ok, it's in the little slot anyway, although it looks different? My paranoia again!!!

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:27 pm
by jake
dont get paranoid dude! just make yourself a brew, take the front wheel out again. spin the axle, if its nice, put wheel back in making sure evrythin is cool with the speedo drive( make sure it sits in between the 2 lugs) and spacer, tighten up. and eliminate that if its still doing it..
i had a problem with my speedo drive. i thougt it was in properly, but it used to spin around and stiffen up when i tightened the axle. They seem a bit hit and miss, cos it has'nt done it for a while..and my wheels are in and out very often.

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 9:54 am
by rene
did you put all the spacers back in AND in the correct places?

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 4:15 pm
by Brett
There's only one spacer on the right hand side isn't there? The others just the speedo housing?

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 7:57 pm
by jake
yep, thats right, just the one on the opposite side to the speedo. Any luck ?

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 1:11 am
by Brett
Phew, not yet, thought I'd made a big mistake then. No luck yet, will take the calipers off tomorrow and then bleed them. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for all the advice though. Will get back to you all with results.

Re: Pulling to the right.

Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 5:18 pm
by Locry
hehehe, even if you totally removed one of the front calipers you won't be experiencing "pulling to one side"...it's a common misconception... taken from how a 4 wheeled vehicle behaves when there is a braking imbalance. :)

a single front tire has obviously only 1 axis/track... doesn't matter which side the braking force is applied... there's only one track/axis to brake. :) that's why smaller displacement bikes sometimes just has 1 disk brake upfront... not to mention all the bikes which have only one disc at the back.

what CAN cause "pulling" to one side are misalligned front-to-rear tires... travelling in a straight line do your tires create just one "track"?