Ok, I dropped my 636 with my feet actually seated flat on the ground earlier today. Where I park the bike is in a little gazebo in the backyard, and the driveway curves to the right and slants upward a little. I let the clutch out a little with the wheel turned & she went down on me like Paris Hilton. I snapped my right foot peg in half, scratched the frame slider on the outter edge, and scratched the lower (non-painted) panel on the right. If you've read this far, then please continue, because I have some concerns about this bike. My first question: Does anyone feel that the right side of this bike has a good chunk of weight compared to the left? The only reason I even got to thinking this is because I have looked all over eBay, and other forums with people parting out their wrecked 636, and there is not 1 single right foot peg, NOT 1! This tells me almost everyone is going down on a right turn on their bike.

2nd Subject "Top Heavy?"/Chunky feeling...:

It's depressing because I am almost 26 years old, have been driving the crap out of ATV's, PWC's, and Cars all my life, and I cannot adjust to this bike. Anytime I try to pull away from a light or a stop sign and immediately turn right, the bike either starts dipping to the right without finess, or I have to swing out & almost into another lane to keep it from falling. A guy I work with has been riding daily for over 10 years whether it is raining or not, and driving bikes for over 16 years, and was very excited about the bike. I let him give it a little run since I dont know enough about motorcycles to know if something isn't functioning properly, and he went from excited before the drive (like a little girl excited), to nicely saying "if you can learn to drive this you can drive any bike out there for sure". I didnt quite understand what he meant, but I feel like I may be getting an idea. Yes, I realize it isn't smart to let anyone drive your bike, but he has a higher dollar bike than I do and the keys and titles would simply be swapped if mine went down (this was the joking but serious agreement). Well, my cousin which is a few years older than me & got his first bike over 16 years ago wanted to see my bike, and a buddy of his was excited as well. So, I drove out to see them. He jokingly said "you want me to drive it, right?". I said "sure, as long as I get your bike if mine goes down". He was all excited and went for a ride. He came back & almost looked like he'd seen a ghost, and his words were "Brent, just drive my bike. I cant explain to you what I want to explain, so please just drive my bike". I said "Huh? I havent been driving very long & yours is an 07 Suzuki 750, and a little heavier, so are you sure you trust me to drive?". His reply " if you can drive this, you will have no problem driving my 750. Just drive it because I dont know how to describe the difference". I first picked his 750 up from the stand and was immediately wondering why it felt litterally 50% lighter to lift, and was worried if it was going to feel too light once I started cornering. I felt like I was driving a Lexus with BMW suspension and balance. No funny feeling or loss of confidence in the turns, no worries getting on the throttle a bit coming out of turns, and no feeling of the bike wanting to drop to the side. Him and his buddy were very nice, and said "well, maybe it's just because our bikes have steering dampers on them...". I installed a steering damper this past weekend to see if it would help me feel more in control of the bike, but of course it just helped out on bumps in the road, but didnt change the feel when cornering, or coming from a dead halt when trying to keep the bike from dipping when turning coming from 1st gear.

I wrote all of this because I feel like a retard, and like I must not know how to drive or something... I have never met anyone to out manuever me on any type of vehicle no matter what surface, nor how many wheels, I have always had a strange talent for driving, and never been in an accident or anything close. I can drift a big 4 door BMW M5 like I am telling it exactly what to do, but I can't get the feel of this bike no matter how far I drive. I have gotten more used to getting the bike on out into the road when leaving the line and turning, but it is still very unbalanced at times if I'm not really concentrating real hard on the exact degree of the bike when Im trying to turn on out. I don't want people just trying to be rude, and want true logic and reason in you'r responses, but...Do I not know how to drive a bike? I read someone else saying that the '06 636 felt very chunky when trying to turn, but several posts immediately shot the comment down, but kind of seemed like people responding because of the fact that it is a product they own. Keep in mind, mine is an '05, but I dont think there is supposed to be a whole lot of difference over the past few years.

I have increased the compression in me front forks to help with turn in, and it seems to help with confidence and feedback on turn in, but the thing still can just feel monstrously huge even compared to larger bikes. I hate the way a Suzuki's headlights look, and it seems like everyone and their brother has had or still has a Yamaha R-?, and the Honda's seem dull to me for some reason.

My question of reason to everyone is... Do I need to give up riding a bike all together, get a different bike, or does it sound like I need alot more time behind the....front fairing/wheel? This is very depressing for me. I feel so stupid like I can't figure out something very simple. I have never had a problem controlling a vehicle before. I am fine even in a straight line with the front end off the ground, but put me into a corner and I feel like I'm on a knifes edge with this thing. People with a decent attitude, please help me out. Thank You!

 

05 636 HERE ... no problems ,

 

05 636 here also- it did feel a little heavier or not as nimble to move *walk/turn/park* as my r6- but after a little while- it became just as easy. It takes time to learn to maneuver your motorcycle on the street and while just moving it or parking it. Just give it time- perhaps you are just frustrated with the learning curve-it does get easier after a while.

Riding a motorcycle takes practice, time and patience. Anything worth doing or having usually does.

 

Dang, give me a couple of days to deciphor your read!!!!! lol

 

Most people in the states prefer the left hand corners. Look at Flat track or Nascrap. Taking a corner harder on the left is easier for most which may be a false safety. That or either a side stand issue.

edit: spelling and would think that the right side would be easier to get.

 

First of all, i love that joke about paris hilton, I hope you dont mind me stealing that from you, lol. I have an 05 636 and I drive it likes its stolen and have never hadany problem withthe cornering. The bike drives mint. You probably just have to get use to the bike.

 

05 636 here. I don't know about the bike being one-side heavy, I've never really noticed, but I WILL say that I am more comfortable taking it a lot lower in a turn to the left then to the right. I suppose it could be because the bikes are one-side heavy, but besides turns I've never really noticed it. Dunno.

Although, I sat on an '07 ZX6R today and they feel a million times lighter then my 05. That, and I would love to have the gear light that the 07's have.

 

BINGO!!



sorry DragoneI hit the edit button at first not the quote

 

Have you checked to see if all your suspension adjusters are the same? Maybe someone at the stealership messed up and didn't make the suspension the same. You could try turning all the adjusters to one side and then counting as you set it back to your desired setting so you know that the suspension is adjusted equaly. This was the first thought I had when reading your post. So try giving this a try. Its not that hard or time consuming to do. If you decide to do this just remember to adjust them all.

I also feel more comfortable making left turns than right turns. I know that I lean a lot furthur in a left turn without a doubt.

 

I don't notice any problems with my 05' turning right. Like everyone says leaning left is more comfortable then leaning right. Maybe if you take it to a track day where most of the corners are right handed at least here on the east coast like Mid-Ohio that might get you more comfortable. More seat time....more seat time...moe seat time.