[Andy_7676]

I have noticed this for awhile now but never thought much of it until after I started riding a really nicely setup Honda VFR.

My ZX-6R seems to want to "stand up" in the turn, meaning I always have to apply some countersterring force to keep the bike leaned over. I noticed on a this nicely setup VFR that the bike will just stay leaned over without input. Basically I give the bike one countersteering input and the bike would track through the turn properly and I feel almost liek I could take my hands of the bars in mid turn and it would stay leaned over until I choose stand it up with a counter steering input.

MY zx-6r isn't like this, it wants to stand up itself so I'm always fighting it. I'm running pretty bad D207 and was wonder if this is primarily a tire thing or if their is some suspension or alignment things to look for? I'm just tired of having to muscle my light supersport around when I ride the "pigish" VFR and it take less effort.

 

[Strong Bad]

Worn tires are probably a significant contributing factor. Even Massimino Tamburini admitted that good tires can somewhat mask a crappy chassis. I've ridden a Michelin-shod 2000 ZX-6R and it did well by any standard. Time to spoon on some new rubber y0!

 

[Andy_7676]

yeah i have some new rubber on it's way, some BT010/BT020 combo which should be nice, but I was hopping to find out what possible suspension or allignment issues might casue my bike to want to stand up constantly just incase the tires dont make a big difference.

 

[Lee]

Tire and tire pressure have a major impact on this. On my old 207s I had to fight to keep the bike over just like you're saying. When I switched to Pilot Sports, the bike went over easy and loved to stay there.

Low tire pressure can also contribute to this effect.

 

[Grunt_99]

Have you modified your suspension settings at all? I recently put on the PB suggested settings. Although a good start, I found it too harsh for the street (I'm light). I seem to have foud a happy medium. I'll update that thread shortly, you may find it somewhat useful.
/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6824

 

[Andy_7676]

Well I hear alot of guys have the same problem with the D207's so I"m going to wait until I put new tires on my bike before I get to stressed.

I also fixed my sterring stem bearings and that seemed to help the bike sterring some too...

p.s.

I always run pretty high tire pressure, like 36 in front and 42 in rear....

 

[Grunt_99]

Originally posted by Andy_7676

Well I hear alot of guys have the same problem with the D207's so I"m going to wait until I put new tires on my bike before I get to stressed.

I also fixed my sterring stem bearings and that seemed to help the bike sterring some too...

p.s.

I always run pretty high tire pressure, like 36 in front and 42 in rear....

Tire pressure makes a big diff...you won;t see pressures that high at the track. But, you're wanting good mileage right...low pressures don't help in that area. Ever think of raising your rear 8-10mm? Or lowering front and raising the rear by the same - don't exceed 8-10 though (combined for both). At least that's what I've read in several places. I'm doing -4mm front +4mm rear soon.

 

[Andy_7676]

yeah a friend mentioned that lowering the front end, but the bikes seems to turn in fast enough for me, just I wish it didn;t require so much work to keep it leaned over...

and yes those pressures are what I run on the street...

 

[Andy_7676]

Actaully it seemed my rear tire was slightly out of alignment causing it to want to stand up in left hand turns...I also fixed my steering stem which was way too loose and that really seemed to help as well. the bike feels much more neutral now, and it should only improve when I get my BT's on...

just wanted to update this...

 

[Transman]

MICHELINS are the only way to ride

 

[Andy_7676]

actually the Bridgestones made a hige difference..the bike is much easier to ride...

i think the 207's just wore badly...cause I dont remember them being as bad when they were new...

 

[azzole]

What do you think caused the steering problem? You said you fixed the steering stem. Can that be caused by coming down hard on the front end from a wheelie??

 

[azzole]

Just wanted to know if that is a repair that I will end up having to make.

 

[Andy_7676]

"You said you fixed the steering stem. Can that be caused by coming down hard on the front end from a wheelie??"

yes wheelies can mess up your steering stem bearings, it turns out my steering stem was just loose and i needed to tighten it...bearings were not damaged...

after tightening my steering stem, aligning my tires using the string method and installing new tires the bike handles soo much easier now...it doesn't want to stand up in the turns anymore which makes it much easier to ride...Also the front end seems so much more stable now, but that is becasue I tightened my steering stem properly...