Front wheel kickback

I have a 2012 Goldwing CSC Viper that is new to me. I have ridden it approximately 800 miles. It has the rake kit. It has what I feel is excessive “kickback” from the front wheel at slow speed. Thoughts?

Thanks, Ken

Underdogmc1 said:

I have a 2012 Goldwing CSC Viper that is new to me. I have ridden it approximately 800 miles. It has the rake kit. It has what I feel is excessive “kickback” from the front wheel at slow speed. Thoughts?

Thanks, Ken

Click to expand...

Not quite understanding what kickback means......Is your front tire overinflated ?....

Or should i say what PSI are you running in the tire..?

Not understanding "kickback"?? Do you mean handlebar wobble or shake at low speed or during deceleration??

What degree rake? Have you checked the torque on the steering head bolt?

What psi are you running in the front tire? Recommend 36psi. Is the front tire cupping?

It has 6 degree rake. By kickback I mean handlebar shake caused by any minor distortion of the road surface. There is no cupping of the front tire and it is in good condition. I feel the fork spindle bearings may be a bit loose. There is no movement in the fork bearings detected when I apply the front brake. I just feel a minor amount of drag there would be good. I will check the tire pressure this morning. This may be a common thing to trikes but I was surprised by it. What is suggested for front tire pressure? 2012 Goldwing with CSC Viper kit.

Does it have a fork brace?

Underdogmc1 said:

It has 6 degree rake. By kickback I mean handlebar shake caused by any minor distortion of the road surface. There is no cupping of the front tire and it is in good condition. I feel the fork spindle bearings may be a bit loose. There is no movement in the fork bearings detected when I apply the front brake. I just feel a minor amount of drag there would be good. I will check the tire pressure this morning. This may be a common thing to trikes but I was surprised by it. What is suggested for front tire pressure? 2012 Goldwing with CSC Viper kit.

Click to expand...

Re-torque your upper fork stem nut (not the top lock nut, but the second from the top nut) to 40 lbs, turn it full hard left and right a few times till at contacts the stop with a fair amount of force, then re-torque it to make sure its seated at 40 ft lbs. Do this with the front tire off the ground an inch or so. Do that and your head shake will be gone, unless there is a front or rear tire issue.

Loaded and heading back to South Dakota from Texas in the morning. Plan to pretty much self quarantine when I arrive because of my travel exposure and desire not to cause troubles for others. Will have time to torque and check results. I feel this is the right direction.

Thanks, Ken

Even with a 6 degree fork modification or "rake kit", there remains some "trail", it's not all eliminated nor would you want it so. Trail is what causes the front caster wheels on a buggy at Walmart to follow and let you steer by handle pressure. The rake kit reduces trail to lighten steering effort, but some is better for safe directional stability at speed.

On your trike, your feeling the trike being pulled right or left at low speeds as the rear wheels encounter bumps or dips or other resistance causing surface defects.

The torque on the stem nut is a means to reduce it, but don't be surprised if some remains at lower speeds.

Thanks, I understand from visiting with others that some may remain. I feel in this case it is a bit much. My description would be “too free” if that makes sense. We rode 650 - 700 miles in four days touring the “Hill Country” of Texas. I am getting much more comfortable with the transition to a trike. I had 15 miles of trike experience when we came down. That was on a straight road in 37 degree temp and 25 mph wind. Ha. Traveled with a great group and had a good time in the afternoon “debrief” sessions.

Ken

ken papa zook is the expert. my experience supports his expertise statement. you will not be dis-appointed

Can you give an update?

Underdogmc1 said:

Thanks, I understand from visiting with others that some may remain. I feel in this case it is a bit much. My description would be “too free” if that makes sense. We rode 650 - 700 miles in four days touring the “Hill Country” of Texas. I am getting much more comfortable with the transition to a trike. I had 15 miles of trike experience when we came down. That was on a straight road in 37 degree temp and 25 mph wind. Ha. Traveled with a great group and had a good time in the afternoon “debrief” sessions.

Ken

Click to expand...

Hi Ken,

I have the same issue with my 2012 GW / Viper trike. Did you have a chance to tighten the steering head bearings, and did it fix the problem?

Thanks,

David

Underdogmc1 said:

It has 6 degree rake. By kickback I mean handlebar shake caused by any minor distortion of the road surface. There is no cupping of the front tire and it is in good condition. I feel the fork spindle bearings may be a bit loose. There is no movement in the fork bearings detected when I apply the front brake. I just feel a minor amount of drag there would be good. I will check the tire pressure this morning. This may be a common thing to trikes but I was surprised by it. What is suggested for front tire pressure? 2012 Goldwing with CSC Viper kit.

Click to expand...

It's absolutely normal at lower speeds. You'll notice it more in private driveways that maybe weren't as well graded as state highways, the yard, farm roads, etc.

Trikes like yours and mine have two rear wheels and a single front steer wheel, to make steering easier yours and mine have "rake kits" that simply kick the fork tubes out at increased angle to move the axle forwards in relation to the steering stem axis to reduce trail. You do not want to eliminate all trail, trail is what makes for higher speed stability and willingness to go straight ahead. I've said it before, … think of the casters on a shopping cart, when loaded and headed to the car, the cart wants to follow the down grade. If a rear wheel hits a bump or pavement seam, the cart tries to turn that way. So does your trike, but at speed there are other forces that reduce or eliminate the desire.

Bikes have 4 or 5 inches of trail, but when steered they lean and to turn left, you initially turn right and kick the tire over onto it's left side and you go left, just like rolling a penny across the table. On a trike, like a tricycle, you turn the front tire left to go left, very pronounced too. With 4 or 5" of trail, centrepidal force tries to straighten the front by sheer weight, inertia, mass, etc …. so we eliminate some trail and steering gets lighter, the ride more fun, control increases, fatigue is reduced. At low speeds, the right rear tire goes in a dip and tries to pull the trike to the right and you feel it. it is normal.

If you were to eliminate all trail, the front would act like a old JD tractor like grandpa had, you could turn it & let go and it would stay in a circle. Normal MC trail makes for a heavy steering Trike, it's tiring, and if accelerating from a stop while turning, it wants to fight you and straighten out.

If you go so far as to introduce lead, then you're pushing a caster backwards, it'll want to turn full lock and be one extremely dangerous ride of short duration. So we keep a little bit of trail in the equation, life is better if the front follows your lead via handlebar control.