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Old August 2nd, 2011, 03:16 PM   #1
Rosie
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Tires and wobbly front

Hi guys,
I've been riding my '07 Ninja for about 1 year now, and lately I have noticed that the front is getting all wobbly whenever I hit grooves on the road. It doesn't have to be big ones.. every time the road is not perfectly smooth I get this weird feeling my front is jerking way too much. For example when lane splitting, just hitting the little bump between the lanes makes it jerk.
I think it's the tires, although they don't look too worn out. Could it be they are not correctly inflated? I was going to check the pressure tonight just to make sure, but before I fork out some $$ on new tires, I want to make sure that is the problem and not something else.
The bike has a little over 9K miles on it, but I only put 2K on it, and I have no idea if the tires were changed before I bought it or not.

Any idea? Thank you for your help all!
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Old August 2nd, 2011, 03:24 PM   #2
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Definitely check tire pressure, and if that appears normal, look at the condition of the tires. How much tread is left front/rear, does it look like it's wearing evenly, etc. If they are the original tires, at 9k miles and 4 years old, now's not a bad time to replace them with some better ones.
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Old August 2nd, 2011, 03:43 PM   #3
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Thank you Alex! I'll check the tire pressure tonight.
I just went outside to take a look at the tread and it looks a little worn out in the middle but that's about it. It doesn't look too bad but obviously my level of experience does not allow me to use the sides too much

I was just wondering if the cause could be something else and not depending on the tires? Something mechanical?
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Old August 2nd, 2011, 07:32 PM   #4
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Another thing to check is steering head bearings. If they're loose, you might notice hands-off wobble at 45 mph and instability on sharp bumps.
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Old August 3rd, 2011, 06:28 AM   #5
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Depending on the tread pattern, some tires follow road grooves and imperfections more than others, especially tires with rotary grooves as opposed to those with grooves at an angle. What kind of tires do you have?
Like Alex said - Definitely check your tire pressure. Low pressure will make your front squirrely on the road.
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Old August 3rd, 2011, 07:53 AM   #6
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This might also be good to look into. It's possible that it's something as simple as your forks aren't aligned right. Try the quick and easy method it might work it might not.

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/I_need_...nd_front_wheel
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Old August 3rd, 2011, 08:03 AM   #7
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What kind of tires are on the bike? WHile there are several non tire reasons for hte front end to do what you described, it sounds like it's a tire issue. If htey're old, and especially if they're the stock ones, then you will need to buck up and replace them. On the plus side, there are at least 3 choices in the $125 shipped category that are waaaay better than stock.
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Old August 3rd, 2011, 11:15 AM   #8
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I had the same problem with an '02 Bandit. Every time I would hit a bump, it would feel as though the front end kind of shifted to the left. In the end, it turned out that I had a bad fork seal. The problem went away when I replaced the seals.

I'm going to be replacing the seals on my current pre-gen this weekend since it has the same problem right now.
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Old August 4th, 2011, 07:07 AM   #9
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Tires are Dunlop K630 which I believe they are the stock ones.
Pressure was only 20 on the front, so I put it to 32.. Taking it to work today and let's see what happens!
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Old August 4th, 2011, 08:38 AM   #10
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"Like Alex said - Definitely check your tire pressure. Low pressure will make your front squirrely on the road."
That's enough to cause that almost every time, every time you turn the wheel, and make the bike feel heavy on the road.
A little preventative maintenance, like checking tires pressures at least once every week or two, goes a long way, especially as the weather and temps change.
Hopefully that will solve your problem and it's usually the simple things that go first instead of looking for more exotic problems that don't exist.
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Old August 4th, 2011, 08:50 AM   #11
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Yep.. that was definitely the issue. Lesson learned!
I still plan on getting new tires eventually since I'm pretty positive I still have the stock ones and they were never changed, but for now getting the pressure up to 32 solved the unbearable jerking problem
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Old August 4th, 2011, 08:55 AM   #12
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Quote:
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Yep.. that was definitely the issue. Lesson learned!
I still plan on getting new tires eventually since I'm pretty positive I still have the stock ones and they were never changed, but for now getting the pressure up to 32 solved the unbearable jerking problem
20PSI.... Holy crappy rubber batman!

If you want to know if hte tires are original to the bike, look for the date code stamped on the side wall. 4 digit number set in an oval. (XXXX). If the last 2 XX are equal to ro less than 07 then they're probably original.
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Old August 4th, 2011, 08:56 AM   #13
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Check the date stamp on the sidewall, they may be 4-5 years old now, and even if you still have tread remaining, should probably be changed at at least 6 years old.
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Old August 4th, 2011, 10:16 AM   #14
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Checked the stamp on the side wall.. last 2 digits are 06, so they are definitely the original ones.
Since the tires have over 9K miles, I think it's time to shop for new ones.

I was going to get the Pirelli Sport Demons since a lot of people are saying they are good, but they also say that one of the downsides is they have a "negative effect on turn-in". Ehm... say what? Anyone care to explain what this may translate into? Anything a non-expert rider like me should worry about?
I just want sticky tires that will not let me down!
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Old August 4th, 2011, 11:30 AM   #15
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I have no idea about what they mean by that. The performance will be improved in all aspects by replacing your tires with sport demons. It would also be improved by replacing them with the same exact tires (but new), but they still are inferior to the stickier rubber.
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Old August 4th, 2011, 11:34 AM   #16
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What's the recommended psi for the front on a pregen? 32psi sounds kinda high.
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Old August 4th, 2011, 11:44 AM   #17
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Can't go wrong with 28f 32r, but anywhere close to that will likely be fine. I'd much rather be at 32 in front rather than 20.
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Old August 4th, 2011, 12:01 PM   #18
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They say 32 front, 36 rear
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Old August 4th, 2011, 12:48 PM   #19
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The tires do, or the bike manual does?
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Old August 4th, 2011, 02:23 PM   #20
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You should go by the bike manufacturers recommendations (most of the time) but a couple of pounds either way within the 2 limits won't matter that much. Start at the lower end and adjust a few pounds up and see how it rides. You will know when you have it right for you.
Remember to take it real easy with new tires for the first 100 miles or so, they can be slippery until scuffed up and worn in.
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Old August 4th, 2011, 07:56 PM   #21
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Quote:
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The tires do, or the bike manual does?
Tires.. didn't check the manual
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Old August 4th, 2011, 07:59 PM   #22
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Yeah - what's written on the tires is typically the "max psi" they are rated for, not the optimal psi for best mileage, handling, and performance of the tire on a particular bike. My hunch is that the max PSI on that front tire is actually 42 and not 32, but I could certainly be wrong. Nevertheless, 32 front and 36 rear are likely going to suit just fine.
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Old August 4th, 2011, 07:59 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrlmd View Post
You should go by the bike manufacturers recommendations (most of the time) but a couple of pounds either way within the 2 limits won't matter that much. Start at the lower end and adjust a few pounds up and see how it rides. You will know when you have it right for you.
Remember to take it real easy with new tires for the first 100 miles or so, they can be slippery until scuffed up and worn in.
Thank you!
I'll definitely pay extra attention when I get new tires until they're worn in!

The 32 psi may have been a little on the high side, but the handling felt sooo much better than when it way only 20! I'll definitely check the tire pressure more often now on..
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Old August 4th, 2011, 08:01 PM   #24
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Quote:
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Yeah - what's written on the tires is typically the "max psi" they are rated for, not the optimal psi for best mileage, handling, and performance of the tire on a particular bike. My hunch is that the max PSI on that front tire is actually 42 and not 32, but I could certainly be wrong. Nevertheless, 32 front and 36 rear are likely going to suit just fine.
It seems to work out, I didn't have any issues when riding to-from work today. It felt like a different bike!
Thank you for helping, sometimes I just get lost in little things like these.
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Old August 4th, 2011, 09:00 PM   #25
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We're all glad we helped you and you got your problem fixed. If you do the regular checks and preventive maintenance you will have very few problems and the more you ride and pay attention to the bike, you will quickly learn when something is wrong.
If you don't have one, download the owners manual and read it from beginning to end. It will teach you many things you may not know, or think you know.
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Old August 5th, 2011, 08:40 AM   #26
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take the seat off of the bike and on the bottom side of the seat there is a sticker that lists the correct tire pressures. the minimum that kawasaki reccomends is 28 front 32 rear. however if you are riding 2up or with a load they reccomend 32 front 36 rear and also if you run a little higher than the 28/32 you will have less problems with "cheese grator bridges" and "road snakes". aside from that the 1 thing that will help the most is non oem tires. here is a link i found that should help.http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/What_ti...hould_I_use%3F
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Old August 5th, 2011, 12:50 PM   #27
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Nice, thanks for the info guys!!
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