Ok, at the end of the season last year I installed some pretty aggressive tires along with rim locks front and rear. I didn't get to ride that much after the install since winter was upon me.

This year, I found that when riding, the front end just doesn't feel stable. It happens at low and high speed. Any little bump in the road (both dirt and pavement) makes the front end wobble a bit. I removed the front wheel and brought it to a bike shop and had them balance it since I thought maybe the rim lock was causing the wheel to be out of balance. That didn't really help anything.

The bike is rideable but I have to say that the stock front tire inspired more confidence than this one does (Dunlop 908). I've got about 23 psi in the tire and I lowered it from 30. That didn't really help either.

The back tire is fantastic and I've definitely noticed a huge improvement in traction over the stocker.

Please, if anyone has any advice on how I can fix my front end, I would be very interested in hearing your opinion. It's making riding unenjoyable.

Thanks

 

Try 16 PSI.

Once you "scrub" it in (think about 50 km of gentle road work at 16PSI) the tyre will give much more confidence.

 

Mark- I'm assuming you used the spoke weights in the front as well as the back. If you didn't use the spoke weights in the front, then I'd really be interested to see how the shop balanced the front wheel. I don't see how an aggressive tread would cause wobbling. Especially off road. I just replaced a Pirelli Scorpion XCMH on the front and it was a very aggressive tread. I experienced no wobble at all from the tire.

I don't know how many miles you have on your tires, but sometimes the bead takes some time to set. When I installed my latest tire, the bead didn't set properly until I did some riding on extremely rocky terrain. Then it finally 'popped' in.

If the wheel is ballanced and the bead is seated properly, with proper installation then you shouldn't be getting the wobble effect. If push comes to shove and you can't resolve this then you might want to un-install the rim lock, etc... Your problems probably are relared to that. Good luck.

Mike

 

how many miles have you put on it, that tire need about 100-150 miles to break in. i ran mine at about 18-20 pounds, pending what i was riding. 16 would probably be fine, but check the pressure more often then.

 

Mike, I used the weights but the front needed a bit more. The shop balanced it up using the weights you gave me and little bit more.

Punk, the tires have about 200 miles on them. I'm pretty sure they're broken in.

I am really bothered by this problem. The bike is running great with the 351, the controls are setup perfectly, the bike looks great, etc. It's just this front end thing that is not very confidence inspiring. I need to get this resolved soon.

I will try 16 psi tomorrow. I hope that helps but I'm doubtful. I really don't want to spend $500 on a steering stabilizer.

I have read that sag setup is critical to front end stability so I may look into that. I found a great write up that I may analyze a bit more.

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/thr...ion-on-klx250s

 

heres a good question, how high are the forks in the clamps? this affects the balance of the bike a lot. i have mine as low as they go (caps even with top clamp) and i have no problem.

 

punk, i'm not sure. I will check tonight when I get home.

 

I would make sure that the bead is seated. I had a problem like that many years ago and didn't pump the tire up enough to seat it. Can you get the front tire off the ground and spin it and see if wobbles. If you can't you may pull the fender off and try looking at it while riding. Very slow that is. Anxious to hear the outcome.

 

40 PSI at the gas station air line will have it seated, then just deflate it to 16 PSI. Don't forget to loosen the rimlock first (if fitted) and tweek it up once you've set the pressure (16 PSI is good for a 908F.)

 

Yes you could do that. When my bead wouldn't seat I took it to the shop and the mech said he blasts the air pressure up really high to 'pop' in the bead on dirt bikes. Again, mine corrected itself after a good ride on rocky terrain with some small jumps and hopping over downed trees. When the front wheel hits the downed logs and launches the bike over them it's hard for the tire not to get where it wants to be.

Generally if you had no problems before the changes, then the problem occured because of them for one reason or another.

Mike