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Message started by Surviving Philly on 07/29/23 at 20:46:49

Title: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Surviving Philly on 07/29/23 at 20:46:49

Yo savages,

I've been noticing over time my rear wheel has been getting squirrelly in corners -- it's not like I'm losing control but the bike has been making some subtle yet unpredictable movements while cornering at various speeds, feels like the rear is weightless.

Tires have about 7k miles on them, Metzler 888s -- tire pressure is within specs for the tires, however I have a slightly oversized inner tube in the back. ( Possible contribution?)

Any ideas for where to start with a diagnosis? Wheel bearings?

Appreciated

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/30/23 at 01:18:34

Spokes tight?
Melted asphalt..?

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by zevenenergie on 07/30/23 at 04:11:08

If the climate changes while driving, this will have an effect on the driving behaviour of your bike ;)

But it is also possible that if your tire has become flat in the middle due to driving straight ahead, and in a corner you switch to the round part that can feel a bit strange.

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by LANCER on 07/30/23 at 04:19:36

Several years ago when a group of us were riding into the hills of S Texas I had the same experience. Everything checked but no answer; then I decided I wanted to tighten up my chain for the next days ride and when I attempted loosen the axle nut/bolt I found it loose already. Yep. It shocked me because it had been a long time since I had worked on the axle.
You never know, take a look with wrenches to make sure.

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by verslagen1 on 07/30/23 at 13:55:18

Lift the rear up and wiggle the wheel.
If it’s loose there’s your sign.
Fix what’s loose.

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Surviving Philly on 07/30/23 at 18:22:54

Great suggestions thanks guys

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by ohiomoto on 07/30/23 at 18:32:39

Inspect the swingarm where the rear pegs are mounted. A few of us have had them crack there.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1624400028/8

http://suzukisavage.com/yabb2.2/Attachments/PXL_20210715_012141240_2.jpg

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Surviving Philly on 07/30/23 at 19:22:10

Wow! Never would have thought of that och! What a strange failure point.

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Surviving Philly on 07/31/23 at 10:32:07

Spokes feel right, wheel looks fine (not squared). I have not noticed isolation in the rear wheel when lifted and wiggled, nor in the swing arm.

I do have two pretty pronounced dents on both rear shocks from different crashes, on the bottom cylinder. Could this be a contributor?

Both rear shocks are maxed in terms of setting (highest setting).

Thoughts?

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by ohiomoto on 07/31/23 at 17:12:26

Now that you mention it...

I blew out a set of shocks and it affected the handling quite a bit. I would take a closer look at the shocks.

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by springman on 08/03/23 at 15:14:07

I am not the expert that others on this forum are. But recently my rear tire was feeling squirrely. I did immediately look to see that the axle bolts were tight (and they were). My tire was due to be changed so I figured I would take a closer look when the wheel came off the bike. When I put the wheel back on, while tryin to adjust belt alignment I noticed a clicking sound coming from the wheel. The guys on the forum indicated the it was the bearing on the belt pulley on the rear wheel. I replaced the single row bearing with the double row bearing and the modified spacer. I have about 150 miles on the bike since the mod and it sure feels good.

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Surviving Philly on 08/05/23 at 10:19:24

Thanks for the suggestions everyone -- one thing Ive noticed immediately is that the rear pulley wobbles in the hub -- it's hard to explain but the pulley is connected to like a hub flange via the six bolts, the pulley it tight on that flange, but the flange itself wobbles in the hub. Could this be the cause? I'm thinking that bearing could be bad -- has anyone run into this issue? How much wobble is acceptable on the pulley?

Thanks

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by verslagen1 on 08/05/23 at 12:09:35

the pulley is held in place by 1 bearing and a ring of rubber dampers.
the dampers are mainly for rotational power pulses but do help with position.

I don't know the requirements but if you can't fix the squeaking with adjustment replacing the bearing is the next step.

see the tech section index

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Surviving Philly on 08/07/23 at 10:59:35

Searching through the tech section as I'm writing this but would anyone happen to know the size of the hub bearing? I'd like to replace it with a fully sealed/double sealed bearing if possible.

Thinking this may be my issue.

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by verslagen1 on 08/07/23 at 11:10:05

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1561964431

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Surviving Philly on 08/07/23 at 11:15:47

You the real MVP vers thank you

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by DragBikeMike on 08/07/23 at 11:24:29

While the pulley wobble is an aggravating problem, I doubt that it will affect your handling. It causes the obnoxious noise/whine associated with belt misalignment, but it shouldn't affect rear wheel alignment or cause the rear wheel to be loose.

Changing to the double-row bearing is a great modification. I've got over 50K on my Bejing bearing and it's still smooth as silk, and the pulley is wobble free.

You should be looking at stuff like your rear wheel bearings, swing arm bearings, tires, shocks, steering head bearings, etc.

Ohiomoto, WOW, that is one majorly cracked swingarm. That thing looks flat-out dangerous. Did you fix or replace?

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Surviving Philly on 08/07/23 at 11:33:46

Hey Mike thank you for confirming this suspicion -- while checking alignment and tracking and everything I discovered my aftermarket exhaust, while I knew it was very close to the wheel, was actually hitting the wheel while in corners particularly when leaning to the right -- I've since pulled it away and actually have the thing secured with aircraft clamps to the subframe mount so it's well clear of the wheel and I think this solved the handling issues.

But when I noticed the amount of pully play I kind of freaked out

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Armen on 08/07/23 at 13:20:52

If you do the ‘double wide’ bearing. You’ll need to modify the left spacer.
I do that, and have a few in stock ready to ship.
All the cool kids use them :-)

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Surviving Philly on 08/07/23 at 14:37:49

Armen do you provide the bearing along with the modified spacer? If so how much all said and done?

Appreciated

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by ohiomoto on 08/07/23 at 15:42:49

@DBM I just swapped it out with another swingarm. Luckily, I had a spare.

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Armen on 08/07/23 at 18:55:54

Hey Philly,
I don’t supply the bearing. Just look on Ebay or check with your bearing supplier.
$20 plus shipping makes it $30. I use a Priority box because the Post Office ate the one I sent in a padded envelope.
You have to send me your old one when you do the swap.
Shoot me a PM with your info and I’ll send it out this week.
You can use Paypal ‘Friends and Family’, or mail me a check. Or throw cash in the box with the spacer when you send yours back.
Folks on this list are pretty honorable, I’ve found.
If you are interested in the Kawasaki front pulley, do them both at the same time and save labor and postage. i have those in stock as well.
LMK

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by springman on 08/09/23 at 15:23:33

I did this mod recently and the bearing from ebay was under $20.00.

I'll throw in my 2 cents on the kawi front pulley conversion. I did that mod a few years ago and yes your rpm at highway speeds do drop a bit. I have actually considered undoing the mod though as you do give up a bit in the acceleration which I miss since my engine is stock. I believe this conversion is best for people that have done engine upgrades and have a bit more power. But if you plan to do a lot of highway riding and don't mind giving up a bit of your acceleration, then it is a good mod.

Title: Re: Rear wheel feels squirrelly in corners
Post by Tocsik on 08/09/23 at 19:20:49

+1 on springman's opinion of the kawa pulley. I've had it for 17K miles and it does help when I jump on the highway. And my bike still actually does great up in the mountains of Colorado. But I can't get my belt loose enough and it worries me all the time. Also considering going back to stock, but that's not a dig against the conversion. It's still nice.

But the double row bearing is fantastic and is easy peasey. I did the trick throwing the rear hub in the grill for a bit to heat it up and the old one fell right out with barely any tapping. Don't tap on the new one! I shot it it with a heat gun right away to rewarm it and the new one dropped right in.