Stiff steering

[Kilter89]

Hello all. I picked up my 2006 busa with 17k miles on her a few months ago an and since shes had a stiff steering bar. When I take off she focuses on staying straight an i have to force her to turn. I have 45 46 in psi and I still cant seen to figure it out. Can someone help

 

[jeffgordons24]

Hello all. I picked up my busa a few months ago an and since shes had a stiff steering bar. When I take off she focuses on staying straight an i have to force her to turn. I have 45 46 in psi and I still cant seen to figure it out. Can someone help

Welcome you must share pics! Forum rules!! Jkjk but we do need to know year, miles etc so we can offer input and advice

 

[Sandow]

Hello all. I picked up my busa a few months ago an and since shes had a stiff steering bar. When I take off she focuses on staying straight an i have to force her to turn. I have 45 46 in psi and I still cant seen to figure it out. Can someone help

Steering damper damaged?old?loose?

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Kilter89]

How can I find out

 

[Kilter89]

No there is no damper

 

[Kilter89]

Welcome you must share pics! Forum rules!! Jkjk but we do need to know year, miles etc so we can offer input and advice

Edited

 

[Sandow]

How can I find out

I wasnt sure if you have a gen 1 or gen 2.
Thats why its always useful to post the basic data ,model, year, miles etc of your bike first!

 

[jeffgordons24]

No there is no damper

Are you sure? It would be in the nose cowl if you look straight down from your bars it would be visible. I have a lightly used gen 1 damper if you need but it sounds to like it could be head bearings or just possibly over torqued. That is not a factory bar clamp, make sure your cables aren’t giving you a tight steer as well. A wrong routed cable can be just as likely to cause your symptoms as anything else.

 

[Kilter89]

Are you sure? It would be in the nose cowl if you look straight down from your bars it would be visible. I have a lightly used gen 1 damper if you need but it sounds to like it could be head bearings or just possibly over torqued. That is not a factory bar clamp, make sure your cables aren’t giving you a tight steer as well. A wrong routed cable can be just as likely to cause your symptoms as anything else.

No theres no damper. An when I'm sitting on her an turn the wheel from left to right I feel a bump in the middle when tire is straight

 

[jeffgordons24]

No theres no damper. An when I'm sitting on her an turn the wheel from left to right I feel a bump in the middle when tire is straight

Sounds like head bearings to me,

Steering Head Bearing... To tight? | Maintenance and Do-It-Yourself

I would replace your head bearings and torque to spec...start there. And put a damper back on if you want mine you can have it for $25bux shipped.

 

[Kiwi Rider]

1st thing to do is get the front wheel off the ground and turn the bars left to right, you will soon know how much resistance there is in the steering head bearings

 

[jeffgordons24]

The pic you see of my fork legs is where the factory damper was mounted. You don’t need one but I recommend it if your new to the Busa. Last thing you need is a tank slapper.

 

[jeffgordons24]

1st thing to do is get the front wheel off the ground and turn the bars left to right, you will soon know how much resistance there is in the steering head bearings

I would listen to Kiwi before me though, I am the one that was removing my tank by removing the 4 barely accessible screws
Oh Kiwi btw I never noticed those 2 damn 12mm bolts lol it was much easier this time around!

 

[GAmedic]

Sounds like bad bearings.

 

[sixpack577]

and let some air out of that front tire before you get killed

 

[Kiwi Rider]

and let some air out of that front tire before you get killed

Yeah, no more than 36psi, no less than 33psi, over 40 is ridiculous!

 

[GIXERHP]

As stated it sounds like bad bearings,, many people will buy the Allbalz tapered bearings witch need to set up very different to the manual's instruction.
This problem you are talking about needs inspection, as well as some dismantling of the bike to find out

 

[Mr Brown]

Have you ridden a long bike before? Looks like it's got extensions.

 

[Kiwi Rider]

Have you ridden a long bike before? Looks like it's got extensions.

Well said Sir! That may very well be the problem, but the steering definitely needs inspection also.
It's so important to go over any used bike with a fine tooth comb, regardless of what you are told by the previous owner about work done and service info etc.
@Kilter89 my advice is to take the bike to a reputable bike mechanic and have a general check over done, you may pay a couple hundred dollars, but well worth it to know where any possible problems lie, and work that needs to be addressed now, and in the near future.

 

[Mr Brown]

Well said Sir! That may very well be the problem, but the steering definitely needs inspection also.
It's so important to go over any used bike with a fine tooth comb, regardless of what you are told by the previous owner about work done and service info etc.
@Kilter89 my advice is to take the bike to a reputable bike mechanic and have a general check over done, you may pay a couple hundred dollars, but well worth it to know where any possible problems lie, and work that needs to be addressed now, and in the near future.

Agreed, it's money well spent. A longer bike wants to go straight, which is one of the symptoms the op described, that got me thinking.