Someone Added Weights To My Front Wheel

[Road Runner]

The original Dunlop Road Smart would scallop quick. I've been running the Dunlop RS3's and they have been great. Last set went 6500 miles and still some life, and no scallop, but most miles were slab.

[FJRoss]

The original Dunlop Road Smart would scallop quick. I've been running the Dunlop RS3's and they have been great. Last set went 6500 miles and still some life, and no scallop, but most miles were slab.

I had a set of RS II and they were awful. Scalloped quickly - didn't last long. I have run at least four sets of the RS III and found them to be very good value - especially with the manufacturers rebate. Very little cupping, decent grip and good lifetime. Currently running Bridgestone T32GT and I am impressed. I have a set of Roadsmart IV waiting for next season...

[raYzerman]

I have opinions.... the PR4 front is just asking to scallop with all those sipes. How you ride into corners will affect that. I have an old riding buddy who always seemed to go in too hot most times and apply front brakes and he would shred any front tire. So perhaps try an adjustment and go in neutral so to speak and accelerate out.

I'm not somehow believing PR4's last longer than RS3's. The compounds are harder on the RS3's, and they do seem to wear evenly. Know nothing about RS4's..... The PR4 rear is (for me) a good compound, albeit softer sidewalls, so gotta keep the pressures up.

Data point..... I mentioned this somewhere, and we'll have to call FJRPittsburgh to the white courtesy phone for FJR experience..... when I bought my CBF1000, it had brand new Shinko Ravens installed by the PO. I never had a problem with grip wet or dry, and they wore well. Replaced the rear with a PR4, they seemed to wear about the same. The front however lasted forever... I sold that bike with the same front on it, 23,000 kms. on that tire and it was still not to the wear bars. A bit odd looking, but outstanding wear, very uniform..... but that bike weighed 550 lbs. and would steer where you pointed it. I wouldn't hesitate to put a Raven on the front of an FJR and try it out with any rear of your choice. I have one on the VFR, and usually one would think you'd want sportier tires on that, but it also weighs 550 and steers a little heavier than the CBF.

On my FJR's I ran mostly Metzeler Z6 fronts and PR4 rears. The Z6 front is dual compound and has softer sides. If you do a lot of highway, it would wear a long time.

[FJRPittsburgh]

I've been running Shinko Raven 009's front and rear for some time. I go through 2 rear tires per 1 front tire. I've never had any real complaints. I keep the front and rear tires at 42 psi. I can get 5,000 to 8,000 miles on the rear tire depending on how hard I ride. Good low priced tires. Good tires for following Gray Ray at SEO.

[HotRodZilla]

Run your rear suspension on the "Hard" setting. If your bike is an ES, go with the 2-up setting. Low tear suspension will make the bike more straight line stable, ie, harder to turn.

I've never had a set of tires I thought handled badly. I've had sets that wore fast or got the triangle front thing or weren't worth crap in the rain, but new, they all handled pretty well. I think I adapt to the tire changes well, and don't realize how nice a new set feels until I put them in.

Being around 250lbs, running 41 front and 43 rear was a game changer for me. The bike completely transformed. The next transformation was getting forks upgraded and adding a Wilber's shock. The slight rise in the rear helps in the way the bike handles.

Again, I've never thought my FJR handled badly, but the tires and properly set up suspension made it better than it was.

Good luck. I think a tire swap will help a lot.

[Cav47]

Run your rear suspension on the "Hard" setting. If your bike is an ES, go with the 2-up setting. Low tear suspension will make the bike more straight line stable, ie, harder to turn.

I've never had a set of tires I thought handled badly. I've had sets that wore fast or got the triangle front thing or weren't worth crap in the rain, but new, they all handled pretty well. I think I adapt to the tire changes well, and don't realize how nice a new set feels until I put them in.

Being around 250lbs, running 41 front and 43 rear was a game changer for me. The bike completely transformed. The next transformation was getting forks upgraded and adding a Wilber's shock. The slight rise in the rear helps in the way the bike handles.

Again, I've never thought my FJR handled badly, but the tires and properly set up suspension made it better than it was.

Good luck. I think a tire swap will help a lot.

I have added a 190 tire to the back often and can seem to tell the subtle difference on the turn in with the back just a touch higher.

As for the ES, don't both of the shocks increase ride height at the same rate? They don't "tip" the nose of the bike down creating the faster turn in. But maybe I am wrong.

Good luck with your fixes. I think it will be mitigated by the new tire. And yeah, I run Shinko Ravens all the time and after warmed up, they are a great value. I do not experience some of the steep "fall off" in performance like some of the other say. But that might be because I don't ride as fast as they do.

[raYzerman]

Fork preload on the ES is fixed, not adjustable. Increasing the preload on the rear will essentially increase the ride height, ie, ass end goes higher.
Alternative to raising the rear is to raise the forks in the triple clamp by some amount..... e.g., 10mm up will lower the front end by 10mm, very similar to putting a 190/55 on the rear.

[Cav47]

Fork preload on the ES is fixed, not adjustable. Increasing the preload on the rear will essentially increase the ride height, ie, ass end goes higher.
Alternative to raising the rear is to raise the forks in the triple clamp by some amount..... e.g., 10mm up will lower the front end by 10mm, very similar to putting a 190/55 on the rear.

Ray,

Does the front of the ES raise in proportion to the back? In other words, when I set the suspension to Two Helmets and Bags, does the front raise the same amount as the rear?

I do know that when I have had the 190 on in conjunction with the 2 helmets and bags and the seat in the high position, I have a hard time moving the bike backwards. My feet are just barely touching.

[raYzerman]

The front end does not change height, because the preload never changes up front...... or more accurately, the rear rises while pivoting on the front wheel axle... if the rear end went up an inch, the seat goes up say 1/2 and inch and the front doesn't.

[Festus]

There was an article on the interweb by a guy that said his FJR was slow to turn and he set out to correct it. He ended up dropping the front forks in the triple tree and said it really changed the way the bike went into turns. I can't remember if he had them sticking out the top 1/2" or 1". It's been a while since I read it. He seemed pretty methodical in his process and even said he thought he would get flamed for it, but in the end, it worked great and he was happy. I'll see if I can find the page.

[FJRPittsburgh]

Try this:

https://motorcycleparadise.net/2015/11/ ... asier.html

You're welcome.

[raYzerman]

That was one heck of a shift..... forks up 25mm AND raised the rear 30mm...... jeez!

[Hppants]

Uh yeah - that should do it. That puppy should turn like the unicycle it is.

[escapefjrtist]

If true, that must be one nervous FJR running down the road...

~G

[danh600]

I have heard Dave Moss talk about the MT07 not handling well unless you lower the front end. Never heard that about the FJR.

[HotRodZilla]

Run your rear suspension on the "Hard" setting. If your bike is an ES, go with the 2-up setting. Low tear suspension will make the bike more straight line stable, ie, harder to turn.

I've never had a set of tires I thought handled badly. I've had sets that wore fast or got the triangle front thing or weren't worth crap in the rain, but new, they all handled pretty well. I think I adapt to the tire changes well, and don't realize how nice a new set feels until I put them in.

Being around 250lbs, running 41 front and 43 rear was a game changer for me. The bike completely transformed. The next transformation was getting forks upgraded and adding a Wilber's shock. The slight rise in the rear helps in the way the bike handles.

Again, I've never thought my FJR handled badly, but the tires and properly set up suspension made it better than it was.

Good luck. I think a tire swap will help a lot.

I have added a 190 tire to the back often and can seem to tell the subtle difference on the turn in with the back just a touch higher.

As for the ES, don't both of the shocks increase ride height at the same rate? They don't "tip" the nose of the bike down creating the faster turn in. But maybe I am wrong.

Good luck with your fixes. I think it will be mitigated by the new tire. And yeah, I run Shinko Ravens all the time and after warmed up, they are a great value. I do not experience some of the steep "fall off" in performance like some of the other say. But that might be because I don't ride as fast as they do.

Until you said that, I forgot that I run 190/55 in the rear. I LOVE that rear tire and will pay the extra it always costs.

[WRThumper]

Status update:

Suspicions have been confirmed.

Tires were just replaced, and the technician found the front tire was lined with lead weights.

Put on a set of Road 6s, now she handles wonderfully!

The collective, as usual, was correct.

[N4HHE]

I never liked the PR4GT on front but happy with it in the rear. Steering too sloppy with PR4GT. Wonder how it would steer if mounted backwards?

Current favorite front is T31GT or T32GT. T30 and T31 not-GT wears much faster. Have not observed difference in wear rates between PR4 and PR4GT.

Why did you have to mount a new tire to observe “the front tire was lined with lead”. Inside the tire? I can’t imagine any amount of weights short of many pounds affecting the quality of steering.

[wheatonFJR]

Weird thread.

[chazglenn3]

Never heard of weights inside the tire before. So weird!