Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

this is my first year riding and corners are not my friend, although, they should be. the bike doesn't seem to want to snug the road and you really have to fight the bike to lean. i've had a friend who is an experienced rider ride it and their feed back was you really have to will it to lean and turn. are there any adjustments that can be made? i've ridden several other bikes that lean marvelous with a just a shifting of weight or turn of the handles...mine, not so much. i absolutely love it and do not want to trade in if i can figure out what the problem is. i do know i need way more seat time, but at least others riding it seeming to have the same opinion. i just got it this year and it was brand spanking new, no miles, an '09.
Thanks!
lori p

Hi Lori and welcome.
I have just added a custom one off lower bars on my bike {which I hope get made for our bike soon },which make it sportier and much better frontend feel ,but with out being to head down arse up of the clip ons which alot of guys have clip ons.
It makes a huge difference to the bikes handling .

Search clip ons or handle bars ...will get alot of results.

First thing to do is check tyre pressures are correct. When I first picked mine up (s/hand from a dealer) it didn't want to turn either. 22psi in the tyres will do that. Second is to check the sag / preload is correct or close for you. Get this right to make sure the bike is sitting correctly for your weight and not high in the front. If it still doesn't want to turn you can try raising the forks through the triple clamp by about 5mm.

Remember, it's a sports tourer not a sportsbike. It has a fairly lazy steering angle (26 deg.) which is fine for a sports tourer, very slow for a sports bike (22-24 deg.) so it gives you stability at the expense of flickability.

Hope this helps.

BTW, maybe introduce yourself to the forum for your first post. Keeps a lot of the members onside more

Al.

What tyres do you have and is the front squared off, my OEM front Bridgestone was OK ish when new but once squared off the bike did not want to engage into a corner you had to really push it in.
When I changed the front to a BT 023 it was a different bike just fell into the bends, I rode a friends BMW with Michelin tyres and that turned in too fast you had to pull it back up again which was not a enjoyable experience. So if you have looked at the suspension and all is well check the tyres.

Steve

Take a look at your suspension settings. Getting it set correctly should be your first priority.
Suzuki have a tendancy to set the front pre-load way too soft and the rear should definately be set to your weight.
If you're still not happy after that, look into some 1" raising links (about $40). This will transfer a little more of the bikes weight forward,
change the rake angle, force the front to track more and give better feedback at the bars. The suspension definitely needs to be set correctly
if doing that - well worth it though!!!

If you are still not satisfied, you can then raise your front forks up though the clamp 4mm to begin and work up to a maximum of 16mm. For every 4mm you will
reduce the angle of the rake by aprox. 1 degree and make turning sharper. Doing this has the same affect as the rear modification but trickier to set up.

check tires and rembember when going in to a corner there are 2 things the rider must do to get the bike to lean easy. Frist look as far in to the corner as you can see not right in front of you. 2nd don't lean the bike by moving your weight or turning the handle bars both these ways are wrong. All you need to do is look at the corner and push the bar on the side you want to turn. I'ts very simple and don't knock it till you try it you will be very suprised how fast the bike automacticly justs drives you around the corner with no effort. But where you look is most Importan.


Try it and give some feed back

As this bike maybe heavier then some of the other bikes you have ridden ,you should get into the habbit of steering quicker ,because its lazy to turn if you are.
Do this practic drill.....From super bike school

Find a corner and go around it at the same speed over and over ..,but each time pick a turn in point on the road and go into the corner later ...which makes you turn the bars quicker to make the corner .This is called the flick turn ,you flick the bike into the corner.

I gotta agree with the tires! The OEM Bridgestones were total junk, and once they start to wear down they get very unstable. I had about 4500 miles on mine before I gave up and replace them, they weren't totally worn down but the front tire had lost most of it's grip. Several times I had the front end wash out on me and luckily I was able to get the bike upright and keep from low-siding. I replaced the OEM's with some Michelins and the difference was huge. Very confidence inspiring and even without adjusting my lean angles any further I am taking turns 10-15mph faster.

The other thing is that this is a heavy motorcycle, and you simply have to use a good bit of force to throw it around.

sounds like you had the same issue as i did mate. I agree with the blokes here though. First of all, watch twist of the wrist 2... You will be a better rider from about 2 seconds into that movie, and if you're doing something wrong with you're cornering technique, you'll learn how to fix it pretty damn quick! Second of all, if you, like me, still have trouble turning, chuck some vortex bars on your bike. You have to lower the front of th bike to get them on, so it increases the turn response 10 fold! Now i just have to look at my handlebars the wrong way and the bike wants to flick in! I went from having to hang off the seat fighting the bike all the way through the corner, to shifting my weight and countersteering so quick that i was dragging my footpegs going around roundabouts... An incredible difference! But definately start with twist of the wrist mate. Sounds like you're having a few troubles with you're cornering technique...

Thanks to all of you for your information and help. I've got a few friends that are ready to take the bike down and get it into gear from lowering the front, to countering the suspension amongst other things. Thanks for getting me into the right direction and i hope this helps, because i love love my blue machine! compared to my husband's ninja zx11...i now have the big bike in the house! by shear size only of course! Thanks again! i'll update and see if there's progress, but it's getting pretty cold, so i hope we get it done soon!

No no no!
Unless you can't flatfoot it, don't go lowering anything! Get your suspension set up correctly for your weight, then learn to ride the damn thing!
Also the factory tyres are crap, yes, but they don't prevent it turning in...

Somewhere in this forum someone posted a video on how to corner. It was pretty good but I can't find it now

Found the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wYD9SSBBNQ&feature=fvw

Hi Lori, first if your under 120 pounds and about 5.3 to 5.6 the 650 might be an issue
for at low speeds. The big thing is "then learn to ride the damn thing!" NK very correct

After u get feel for the 650, u can dial it in. Some dial in for sport touring
, Drag strip, or fine tune to be more sport less touring.

If u do not know how to do or wrench on your 650, have a good rider friend or top shop do
the dial in tunning for u.

Just a note the 650 IS very capable of high speed cornering yet u can get into
big issues, if going in during and exit with improper riding skill and position.

well, i've greatly enjoyed the flick of the wrist 2 video....will watch that one again..haven't watched the video posted below, but will do that. Got some angels put on the bike and those tires are way better than what i had on them...handle sooooo much better. next we're going to work on the suspension. she road great at 115..smooth and sweeping corners were great. my cornering is high speed problems...i want to do them smoothly and am still practicing..gotten some great advice from a few instructors and free use of a training area...but it's cold here and i hate the cold...so more practice on those odd warm days. thanks again for all of the help...we'll see how the suspension goes..but, probably be a bit because of the weather.