Handlebar is grabbing to the right. I have to muscle it in order to run straight.

Trojan

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Jan 25, 2021
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5
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Philippines
IMG20210128133514.jpg
At no-hander (cruise control mode), I need to lean further to the right side for the bike to run straight.
Troubleshooting done:
1. Torque checking (Everything including the spokes).
2. Tires were replaced.
3. Removed the panniers and accessories.
Symptoms persists
 

Tenman

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Dec 7, 2013
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Natchez Ms USA
You are not alone. My gen1 has always had a slight pull to the left. Nothing big. I can adjust my Madstad a little to offset it. I can stick my left knee out for drag and make it go straight.
 

Thrasherg

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Oct 16, 2017
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Dallas, TX
I have a 2016 ES, and I like to set the cruise control and ride for a while with no hands on the bars, I have also noted that I have to move my body weight significantly to the right for the bike to continue in a straight line when doing this, I have been too lazy to find the cause, but interested to see what people suggest..
 

Eville Rich

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Sep 15, 2016
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Wisconsin, USA
I agree with checking axles and triple clamps. Also check to see if one front brake caliper is dragging (not sure if that would make a difference or not). On my 2016 last summer I rode with cruise and no hands for about five miles in the UP of Michigan. Just used my hands in the wind to keep it where I wanted. I suppose the very slight crown I the road might have hidden a pulling tendency, but certainly not at the muscling level. I've never noticed an issue.

Eville Rich
2016 S10
 

Cycledude

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Rib lake wi
“Handlebar is grabbing to the right. I have to muscle it in order to run straight.”

That is quite a description !
Both of my Tenere’s rode about the same and I’ve never had much success attempting to ride them with no hands, a few miles is about all I ever got.
My Goldwings are much easier, rode my 1992 GL1500 fifty miles once with no hands and the only reason I had to stop was because I got boxed in traffic.
There are all kinds of things that effect this, pavement condition, wind, tires, crown in road,traffic, some days I’m simply a better rider or more in the mood for it, I don’t seem to attempt it as often as I used to.
 

Don in Lodi

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My experience has been that most all shaft drive bikes go one way or the other with your hands off the bars. Non issue, don't do that.
 

WJBertrand

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My ST1300 would veer directly right if I released the bar. There was a specific revised torqueing sequence released later by Honda that in my experience reduced it but did not eliminate it. When I got my Super Tenere I was struck by dead straight ahead planted it was compared to my ST1300. My Tenere will slowly drift left or right depending on pavement crown, wind, etc.
 

Ride

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Long Island, NY
My ST1300 would veer directly right if I released the bar. There was a specific revised torqueing sequence released later by Honda that in my experience reduced it but did not eliminate it. When I got my Super Tenere I was struck by dead straight ahead planted it was compared to my ST1300. My Tenere will slowly drift left or right depending on pavement crown, wind, etc.
ST1300 is known for that. Not every bike but some.
 

Checkswrecks

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Hi Trojan -

It's customary for new members to post a couple of basics about themselves in the intro section, so this thread is being moved to there. From your wording and IP address, it looks like English is not your first language, so it probably would help people understand if you could include your home city/country in your profile. We also may have a member not too far from you who could say whether the shape of the roads are part of the issue.

Otherwise, you got some good advice above and the SEARCH block works well.
 
Joined
May 10, 2020
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78
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Lake Worth, FL.
I noticed the same thing and posted about it 6 months ago. The consensus was that it had to do with the shaft drive since quite a few riders are experiencing this and it always pulls left. I remedied it somewhat by packing my right side pannier about 10lbs heavier than the left. Did the trick.
 

Ulrich

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Sep 12, 2019
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Kharkiv, Ukraine
I was experiencing very similar symptoms on my 2017 ES, and they were pronounced enough to cause discomfort on the long highway stretches. At first, I thought that the different size of my left/right Givi cases was the problem, but eventually, it turned out that the issue was primarily caused by the front tire that had been unevenly worn out and squared off. The previous owner ran that tire on a damaged rim for several thousand miles, and that rim apparently damaged the tire as well. I put on a new tire and that basically fixed everything. The motorcycle may still not run perfectly straight when I take my hands off the handlebar (probably due to the road crown, shaft drive, wind, etc.), but definitely not to the extent that I’d have to “muscle” it in order to keep it going straight. I would have never thought that this kind of problem can be caused by an unevenly worn-out tire, to be honest.

UPD: Somehow, before posting this, I did not notice you mentioned your tires were replaced. Anyway, even though my remedy did not work in your situation, I'll still keep this post here just in case it helps someone else.
 
Last edited:

Trojan

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Jan 25, 2021
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Philippines
Hi Trojan -

It's customary for new members to post a couple of basics about themselves in the intro section, so this thread is being moved to there. From your wording and IP address, it looks like English is not your first language, so it probably would help people understand if you could include your home city/country in your profile. We also may have a member not too far from you who could say whether the shape of the roads are part of the issue.

Otherwise, you got some good advice above and the SEARCH block works well.
Hello!
From Philippines
XT1200Z 2018 made in The Netherlands
By the way, I just got my bike back from YAMAHA servicing/troubleshooting.
They did the a lot of fault finding for few days according to service manual (as attached).
Recommended to change the tires again so I did. Brand new Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR is on.
Unfortunately... grabbing is still there... And there's a lot of difference in characteristic in tackling left curve than the other,,,, its heavier to counter steer on right side curves regardless of the road.
So.. I acquired toolset, micrometers etc.. and spending few valuable days this rainy season for a D.I.Y.
Thank you for your feedbacks.
Be back here when its done properly.unstable handling.JPGunstable handling2.JPG
 

DamonS

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Apr 27, 2021
Messages
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Location
Ontario, Canada
having dealt with race bikes for 20 or so years, lots of crashes and rebuilds, a common pilot complaint is bike pulling one way or another.
Assuming frame and swingarm are straight (aka not crash victim)

First thing.. is your windscreen aligned? is one side back further in a way that would cause a boat sail effect?

Check the triple clamp
1) first check that there is no bearing play in the headstock, any bearing play will cause the triple to "lean" slightly and can cause vertical alignment issues. you'd normally get head shake (speed wobble) at speed if the top bearing goes but if the bottom bearing is bad, i've had riders at 100+mph with no headshake fighting to keep going in a straight line and bottom bearing was bad.
2) undo the fork clamps and pull the bolts entirely. Make sure the mating halves of the clamp (that you just pulled the bolt from) actually line up on their own and not have to be lined up by force. if they are out of alignment, you can try heat bend to align, but honestly you may feel more confident with just replacing that clamp.
3) make sure the 2 fork bodies are at the same unloaded length (they can be short valved accidentally if they are rebuilt, we do it sometimes to lower the bike or decrease travel). you may need to accommodate for this difference in unsprung length to make sure the longer fork isn't causing slight sprung torsion on one side.. (this would be a theory test, solution would be to rebuild the shock valves to full extend to same length.
4) if things check out above, reinstall forks and make sure they are same height in the triple clamps. I generally just use the depth gauge on my verniers, but they don't have to be laser precise, as too many other factors will cancel out their precision.
5) make sure the top and bottom parts of the triple tree are aligned.. generally though you'd be fighting the bike to centre the bars if they were out of alignment, but i've seen so many off just enough to be noticeable by the rider, but not noticeable on the paddock stands or when you give the old eyeball from the front.
6) check front axle. pull it out, make sure its straight. check bearings while you are there. a small bend you won't notice while pulling through the inner bearing race, a big bend.. well you aren't getting the axle out. a small bend is enough to toss alignment out of spec, and considering this bolt is thread captured, it'll always land in the same bent spot when you reinstall, so (like some bikes i've worked on) you can't simply spin the axle and see if the behaviour changes. More than likely though, if its pulls out smooth, its not your issue.

Move to the back end
1) swingarm bolt, pull it out, clean it up, check for true, more importantly, is it worn flat in any spots, if its off just a bit it'll move your rear wheel out of alignment just enough to make it pull .. it actually doesn't take much of a bend to cause it to drift. you'd likely notice odd tire wear, that seems to be off centre just a bit as the tire malforms to adjust to the fight in alignment.
2) rear axle.. check if its true.. given the Super Tenere is captured on both ends permanently (unlike when you have a chain and can do left/right tensioners), the only thing that could be bad is the axle
3) check bearings in there while you are at it.. never hurts if you've got it apart.


if all that checks out, then realistically it could be a big combination of little things that are doing it.. it sounds like you've tried doing external factor changes, but have you considered your riding position? Is your butt centred on the seat? does your body relax in a method that puts weight off centre.. me for instance, a bigger boy and the sufferer of about 10 broken ribs over my racing career, when relaxed, my left shoulder slumps down further than right, which pushes my right bar out. if i let go of the bars, my body does seem to naturally counterbalance in the seating position and sure enough i can stop it if I center up and straighten my back. If I'm unsure, I ask a friend to take for a rip and ask if im imagining things. sample set of 2 is better than 1 :)

about all i can think of.. my S10 runs dead straight otherwise, but i did a full teardown when I bought it (used) to give it good once over and cleaning as a winter project, and I did notice that tolerances aren't super tight for some things, where routine maintenance is supposed to catch them as problems.
 

Trojan

New Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2021
Messages
5
Location
Philippines
having dealt with race bikes for 20 or so years, lots of crashes and rebuilds, a common pilot complaint is bike pulling one way or another.
Assuming frame and swingarm are straight (aka not crash victim)

First thing.. is your windscreen aligned? is one side back further in a way that would cause a boat sail effect?

Check the triple clamp
1) first check that there is no bearing play in the headstock, any bearing play will cause the triple to "lean" slightly and can cause vertical alignment issues. you'd normally get head shake (speed wobble) at speed if the top bearing goes but if the bottom bearing is bad, i've had riders at 100+mph with no headshake fighting to keep going in a straight line and bottom bearing was bad.
2) undo the fork clamps and pull the bolts entirely. Make sure the mating halves of the clamp (that you just pulled the bolt from) actually line up on their own and not have to be lined up by force. if they are out of alignment, you can try heat bend to align, but honestly you may feel more confident with just replacing that clamp.
3) make sure the 2 fork bodies are at the same unloaded length (they can be short valved accidentally if they are rebuilt, we do it sometimes to lower the bike or decrease travel). you may need to accommodate for this difference in unsprung length to make sure the longer fork isn't causing slight sprung torsion on one side.. (this would be a theory test, solution would be to rebuild the shock valves to full extend to same length.
4) if things check out above, reinstall forks and make sure they are same height in the triple clamps. I generally just use the depth gauge on my verniers, but they don't have to be laser precise, as too many other factors will cancel out their precision.
5) make sure the top and bottom parts of the triple tree are aligned.. generally though you'd be fighting the bike to centre the bars if they were out of alignment, but i've seen so many off just enough to be noticeable by the rider, but not noticeable on the paddock stands or when you give the old eyeball from the front.
6) check front axle. pull it out, make sure its straight. check bearings while you are there. a small bend you won't notice while pulling through the inner bearing race, a big bend.. well you aren't getting the axle out. a small bend is enough to toss alignment out of spec, and considering this bolt is thread captured, it'll always land in the same bent spot when you reinstall, so (like some bikes i've worked on) you can't simply spin the axle and see if the behaviour changes. More than likely though, if its pulls out smooth, its not your issue.

Move to the back end
1) swingarm bolt, pull it out, clean it up, check for true, more importantly, is it worn flat in any spots, if its off just a bit it'll move your rear wheel out of alignment just enough to make it pull .. it actually doesn't take much of a bend to cause it to drift. you'd likely notice odd tire wear, that seems to be off centre just a bit as the tire malforms to adjust to the fight in alignment.
2) rear axle.. check if its true.. given the Super Tenere is captured on both ends permanently (unlike when you have a chain and can do left/right tensioners), the only thing that could be bad is the axle
3) check bearings in there while you are at it.. never hurts if you've got it apart.


if all that checks out, then realistically it could be a big combination of little things that are doing it.. it sounds like you've tried doing external factor changes, but have you considered your riding position? Is your butt centred on the seat? does your body relax in a method that puts weight off centre.. me for instance, a bigger boy and the sufferer of about 10 broken ribs over my racing career, when relaxed, my left shoulder slumps down further than right, which pushes my right bar out. if i let go of the bars, my body does seem to naturally counterbalance in the seating position and sure enough i can stop it if I center up and straighten my back. If I'm unsure, I ask a friend to take for a rip and ask if im imagining things. sample set of 2 is better than 1 :)

about all i can think of.. my S10 runs dead straight otherwise, but i did a full teardown when I bought it (used) to give it good once over and cleaning as a winter project, and I did notice that tolerances aren't super tight for some things, where routine maintenance is supposed to catch them as problems.
Thanks a lot, this would be of big help for me, lots of pointers too.
 

PhilPhilippines

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Joined
Jun 20, 2020
Messages
952
Location
Philippines
Hello!
From Philippines
By the way, I just got my bike back from YAMAHA servicing/troubleshooting.

So.. I acquired toolset, micrometers etc.. and spending few valuable days this rainy season for a D.I.Y.
Thank you for your feedbacks.
Be back here when its done properly.
Hi from Luzon.
I would be very circumspect about any casa maintenance. I have watched the "mechanics" at a Yamaha dealership and it was wholly unimpressive. If you know a recommended reputable mechanic, that is known to be thorough, then avoid Yamaha. As you are probably aware, good mechanics are very scarce, so generally I do my own servicing (I do not own an ST btw, but I will be doing the majority of the work when I do. Same as on my Husky)

Getting your tools will give you a sense of accomplishment and you will know it is done right - just measure three times with different measures and cut once...
 

Squibb

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Joined
Aug 10, 2014
Messages
1,064
Location
Bedford, UK
Check the triple clamp alignment as suggested - easily twisted if the bike has ever been on it's side, or sometimes when transported.

Next most likely culprit, the steering head bearings - binding or simply worn.

Then it could just be you - I have known riders sit the bike to one side, without being aware of it, usually when they are short on the in-seam & need to drop to one side to flatfoot the bike.
 
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