Steering/fall in/ counter steering (new owner)

[mrt1364]

Hello all. I picked up my first RT ever today. A 2018 R1200RTP.

I noticed that when I lean the bike at all at slow speeds, the wheel falls in, meaning turns to the direction of the lean.
If I lean right the bars turn right with a heavy feel, and I have to exert pressure to prevent it the bars from turning all the way.
Even at higher speeds, 15-30 I have to counter the fall in turn feel, meaning I have to apply counter steering pressure to prevent the bars from turning too far.
I did a test ride on a 2023 R1250RT at a dealer 1-2 years ago and noticed this.

I own a 2019 R1250GS and this does not happen at all. The bars have a very neutral feel regardless of lean.

Im assuming this is normal?

[EasyRider]

First thing i would look at would be the front tyre for any flat spots on the side of the tread.
Years ago i use to ride my one of my Hayabusa hard and this happened to the front tyre.

[mrt1364]

I had the tires replaced today with Dunlop Roadsmart 4s. I take back what I said about the handling.
It's not great. Not that much different than the GS. Obviously there are differences with wheel size and the bars. GS bars feel freer moving and the width has something to do with that.
But the RT handles as well as I thought it would.
The tires my used bike came with were Michelin PR4's or 5. I forget. Not the GT version.
The front was pretty worn and cupped. Plus the material felt gluey, like it had been sitting too long in the heat.

[jesim1]

Glad your sorted, I can't say I've noticed this on mine, but like above, tires are 90% of the time going to make a difference good or bad, but most of the time it's good as the old ones have worn or don't suit the bike.

The GS is a different animal, big bars and sitty up position, I sold mine as it was too much like a sale and I was getting bad buffeting at "high" speeds

[RickO]

Easy Rider is correct, you should check for a flat on one side of your tire. To be more specific, you will see that on the left hand radius from edge to centre this looks normal and on the right to centre this looks like a straight line. I am of course speaking of UK roads. This is caused by the camber in the road when there are a few thousand miles on the tire.

However, the thing I found to be the most important fix for this is tyre pressures. If your front tire is Soft in relation to the rear tire then you will definitely get this affect. When your tyres are at the correct pressure (I’m a tyre pressure nerd) then you will find your bike has neutral steering other than the boxer engine torque effect under acceleration.

On my RT 1200 Ellie the tyre pressures are 2.6 bar front 2.9 bar rear. This is very important. Make sure you use a good tyre pressure gauge and keep them at this from cold.

Hope you noticed the difference!

Rick T.Eng MIMI MIRTE