85 200es pulls to the right?

[trucker101]

Like the title says, My 200bigred pulls to the right. I have good rubber all around & psi is equal in all the tires but it seems to pull to the right. I'm at a loss as to where to look to fix? I have a couple of 250 bigreds also but they don't have the same issue (I was thinking maybe it was a power/torque thing.)

Any ideas?? Thanks...

[dman10]

Have you checked the frame? Could be torqued.

[wonderboy]

It's your tires.

Just a small difference in pressure (few tenths) will cause it to pull.

Do one of two things:
- use trial and error and air down the tire on the outside (if it is pulling right, air down the left side)
- put the back end up on a block and measure the circumference of each tire and match them

[redsox]

you should be running very low pressure, so i'm not sure thats making any significant difference. have you checked your front forks? are your handlebars bent, or frame or axle bent? is this something that happened gradually, or after a wreck?

[Ghostv2]

I think it's uneven tire pressure. That is the most common reason for this to happen. Get a low pressure tire gauge, check it again. Then check your forks and frame. Also maybe one of your tires got overinflated and stretched. Happened to mind from the PO.
Does it only happen on paved road? Then it when on trails you don't notice it?

[dougspcs]

Swap the rear tires left to right then take it for another spin..see if your pull goes the opposite direction after.

That'll separate tire problems from anything else..

You said it has 'good rubber', but are the rear tires the same or are they mixed tires??

If they aren't a matched pair change them..same size, equal pressure, but if different construction or manufacturer will be like mixing a running shoe on one foot and a work boot on the other then trying to run!

[wonderboy]

you should be running very low pressure, so i'm not sure thats making any significant difference.

It'll make a huge difference. Absolute value of pressure is irrelevent. The difference between the two sides can make a difference. Especially if one was ever over-inflated and got stretched. The exact same tire of the same age and wear can show a very difference circumference at the EXACT same pressure.

Either do like Doug said and swap left for right, or just put it up in the air and measure. You can just use a string if you need. Just make sure you measure the same way on both side (hit the same tread lugs). Just match them (to within an 1/8 or a 1/4 inch) and go from there.

[trucker101]

Swap the rear tires left to right then take it for another spin..see if your pull goes the opposite direction after.

That'll separate tire problems from anything else..

You said it has 'good rubber', but are the rear tires the same or are they mixed tires??

If they aren't a matched pair change them..same size, equal pressure, but if different construction or manufacturer will be like mixing a running shoe on one foot and a work boot on the other then trying to run!
Yes the tires are the same on the back & a different one same size on the front. I'll swap the tires & see what happens

[El Camexican]

Yes the tires are the same on the back & a different one same size on the front. I'll swap the tires & see what happens

My money is on Doug's suggestion. Pressure may be the same in both but I doubt that every tire made is identical in diameter (just as the guys who work on NASCAR teams). If it turns out not to be tires I'd look real close at the frame around the diff and steering head. Cracked paint with rust in just one area is a telltale sign of stretched metal. Short of putting the frame in a jig what you can try is to take all the wheels off and run a round bar through the front axle that is the same length as the rear axle. Then holding the bars straight measure from the hubs of the rear axle to the bar and see if it differs from side to side. If it does something is out of alignment.

[trucker101]

Have you checked the frame? Could be torqued.thanks, I'll be checking it later today.

[trucker101]

thanks for all the suggestions guys.

[trucker101]

I ran out of time today to do some of the checks you guys suggested, but I did take a few photos of of it. you'll see that the front tire is very different than the back ones &amp; I'm wondering if the previous owner put the front tire on in the <strong>reverse rotation</strong> than it should be? I did find out one thing today about it to describe it better to you. Even in 1st gear going dead slow the steering goes to the right. It's not like it's hard to get it back to the center, it's just a pain.

[briano]

Just looking at your pics it looks like the right side tire is lower than the left side.

[Ghostv2]

Front tire having a different tread pattern will have nothing to do with it. Some trikes came from the factory with different tires on the front than the back (tread pattern too). If you have equal tire pressure but it appears from standing at a distance behind it that one is lower than the other, more than likely it's stretched from over inflation as I mentioned before. Briano thinks the right one is lower. You can check it by what wonderboy suggested with the string. That's a clever idea.

[wonderboy]

...and if you want to make it even simpler, just give the right side tire a shot of air (couple seconds) and try it out. I'll bet that after a little trial and error (without measuring anything) you can get it tracking straight.

I agree with the above comments: the right side does look low, which will make it pull that way.

[Ghostv2]

Well he said they had equal tire pressure. If he gives the right side a shot of air and that fixes the problem of it pulling to one side he still has the problem of a stretched tire. On top of that he now has unequal pressure in the tires. Either way something's not right. :lol:

[trucker101]

I adopted the KISS formula for repairs. I put the right tire to 7psi & left dropped to 4.5 and yes it goes straighter but not straight yet. I haven't had time to measure the tires yet but I will. I have noticed on my other trike (a 250es) it has an indent that it sort of falls into when the steering bar is in the center position. The 200es doesn't do that,should it?

Thanks to everybody for your replies.

[oscarmayer]

nope they do not.

it is tire pressure as mentioned. it looks like at some time in it's life someone pumped a crap load of tire pressure on the left tire and over inflated it and as mentioned despite pressures being the same, the left tire is taller. so that means you need to let more air out of the left side take it down to 4lbs or even 3.5lbs and see what happens. but you defiantly have a tire "size" issue. jsut visually it can be seen w/o a doubt.

[rg97]

did you try a quick swap of the tires? i think that would confirm/bust our is-it-the-tires problem 100%