New Street Twin Tracks Left

Have to agree - but not sure Mr Dealer will -

 

Strange. I have a 2018 Street Twin and its runs straight as an arrow !!

 

I have a 2009 America , just turned over 132,000 km , still runs dead straight , even when I'm towing my trailers.
And only clunks into first and second gears when the engine is cold and oil is possibly still bit sluggishly thick.

 

Hi.
Is it straight as an arrow with No steering input...like.. hands off the bars?
If I take my hands off I have to lean way right to stop it going off to the left...

 

If you do the hands off test on the same piece of road but on the RHS (when safe!) does it still track to the left? Anything to do with camber of the road?

 

Thinking about why the demo bike has the same issues as mine, both these bikes are from the same batch as they are both about 2 weeks old...

 

Without meaning to be rude, you're the common denominator. Could it be something to do with your riding position and/or not accounting for road camber? My Street Twin (2018) certainly didn't suffer similarly.

 

A very understandable point of view.
Not wanting to upset other riders, I have pointed out to more than one that their bike is not 'True' and they then realised that they had been holding a correcting bias on the steering without realising.
One said 'I wish you hadn't told me...I notice it all the time now..'
A Honda dealer whose CB1000F demo wasn't straight said 'it's like you're pushing down on the right peg..' but no other customer had mentioned it. I bought a new one from him after he guaranteed it would be straight. It was.
So my point is that if you never relax your grip on the bars you will not feel it pulling out of true. The acid test is : Lift your hands off the bars . If the bike is straight it will continue straight. Try it.
I buy a new bike most years, and have had three Sprints, Honda, Suzuki, Yam and Kawa. in that period. In the last 20 years I have not bought one that was not true.
Until now.
So it's me.
Which is what Mr Dealer will say.
So he can just sell it on to the next punter, after all, he will never notice, will he..?
Cheers
Phill.

 

Who is the dealer?

 

I had best not say till he has had a day addressing the problem, then I will go public on his excellent, or not, service.
I think that is fair.

 

Ok, no problem. I saw another post regarding some issues with a tiger that mentioned a dealer that is in the vicinity. I wondered if it was the same one as I am looking to book mine in for a service and wanted to exclude them if it was the same dealer

 

If you are outside the Brum area you are clear!

 

As I said, no offence was intended. Anyway, I've highlighted part of your reply; I'd say if the bike is straight it should continue straight; that is, if there's absolutely zero road camber and no rider positioning bias (I've ridden behind plenty of riders who don't sit squarely on their bike for one reason or another).

 

None taken!
All my new bikes of the last 20 years have gone dead straight..on normal roads. Camber has have a slight effect, of course. But the drift on the Twin is much more than that. My trade--in 2019 CB500x was dead straight.
My SR400 which I rode to the demo bike test yesterday was dead straight.
I even tested the demo Twin in the middle of an empty road so no camber effect...it went left..A common denominator is that the demo bike and mine are likely from the same batch. They go to Hinckley, then to Coventry (what for?) then to the dealer. The same guy at Coventry (?) probably put both bikes' front wheel in, checked alignment and ticked the box. Incidentally, after I realised the bike went left, I checked the wheel alignment. It was out. Correcting it made no noticeable improvement though. The accessory socket was hanging out, unscrewed, and the clutch cable adjustment lock wheel spinning free - but these things happen, right?
Anyway, for the last 20 or so new bikes I bought from the main five manufacturers (plus BMW) just did not need bar pressure on normal roads to go straight.
Till this week.
25 years ago I bought a new Kawa 750 Zephyr.
It went left just like the Twin..The dealer agreed it did...so he tried on both sides of the road to see if it was 'camber' but even on the right it was trying to lean left..Bless him he was very concerned and stripped the front end and rebuilt it meticulously.
But he apologised because whatever he tried he just could not improve it.
I soon traded it back for an ER 500...straight as a die. But some poor sap ended up with it. (it's the camber)
Why are some bikes not straight?
No idea. 'No one else has mentioned that, Sir, etc'
Some Ford cars were known for it.
Ford policy was to 'blame the camber'
I rest my case.
Note to self - do not buy the replacement bike without agreement in writing that I get a test ride on the pdi'd machine Before I pay.
Regards
Phill.

 

Just a thought - are the front forks set at the same height in the yokes?
(I'm thinking if one was a little higher than the other, the front wheel will be tipped over by a small angle to horizontal and so require compensating to go straight)

My 2018 Street Twin goes nicely in a straight line, no need for any bias from me.

After getting mine from the dealer, I felt some gear changes weren't as smooth as others and so I did adjust clutch lever free play (as it had too much), also tightened the clamp bolt on the gear shift lever as it was a tad loose on the spline. And I needed to adjust the chain tension at just around 300 km. That did improve things for me I recall.

18000 km now, and if anything, gearbox is getting sweeter - but sometimes I do still get the odd slightly notchy (not clunky though) shift.

 

Thanks for your useful comments.
I am hopeful that the clunky box will quiet down eventually. Never had one as loud as this, though, so disappointing..The forks are level.
After some thought,
I used straight-edges across the handlebars and across the lower forks, through the spokes, to check alignment between fork top and bottom.
Surprise - the wheel is pointing off to the left compared to the 'bars.
Tempted as I am to get the spanners out, I will let Mr Dealer find this for himself this week - surely he will easily spot it and ask himself how it slipped past his detailed pdi ?
Just what am I supposed to say when I got the survey 'would you buy again/recommend/be confident in/ this dealer? I said No and No and No.
I guess he will be nice as pie and my friend for life. Not.
My heart says If it gets fixed, keep it.
My head says You can't trust them, time to leave.

 

I get your thinking to a point but surely it would be better to inform the dealer of your findings, get them to fix it to your satisfaction, keep the bike but go somewhere else for your servicing etc. The warranty is with Triumph and not the dealer so doesn't matter where you take it.

 

You are right. Another dealer is an option. I am curious as to whether my dealer tells me a) it's not our fault, we only oil 'em up, Triumph assembled it.
Or b) sorry - dunno how it slipped through, next service will be free
Or c) we found nothing - must be you Sir.

 

A further point is that in the past when I have pointed out to a 'professional' tradesman that I have found a fault in their work, many, though not all, try their best to prove you wrong and save their face. So I prefer to give them just one chance to fix things, and if they fail, never use them again, design them out.

 

Yes, hands off !!