ok so i bought this like a week ago. and noticed it pulls to the right when on dry pavement. so should i load it up and take it in.? or is there something you can have me check first?
the tires are teh radial badlands. with a max psi of 5. and the lowest my gage will read is 5.
might it just be a tire low on air? and where is a good place to get a pressure gage that will read 0-and up.???

thanks again.
i love this AC 500. :-)

HR

 

It could just be tire pressure. Buy a good low pressure gauge and check them first. If that is OK and it is a new unit under warrenty take it in and have them check the alignment.

 

Might check tire pressure in all tires,Make sure their all the same.Are your front tires both running straight, atv tie rod ends are adjustable just like a car.Have you checked you tool pack that came with your atv.I believe I've seen tire gauges come in some of these packs.I know rockymountainatvmc.com has these gauges for about $3.your local atv dealer should also have these gauges.

 

HR,

It has been my experince that if you have a tire a pound or two lower psi than the other front you will not notice it pulling to one side. If one tire was totally flat yes, otherwise , no. You would know if it was nearly flat as the weight of the machine would make it bulge just from its weight.

I suspect its your front end alignment. One tire or both are out of adjustment. It is an easy fix but if its under warranty take it in and have them do it.

You can give it a quick check by measuring center of the tread on the left tire to center of the tread on the right tire then compare that to the same measurements taken on the back edge of the front tires. There should be about 1/8 inch diffenerence. depending on whether its toe in or toe out. Oh, I almost forgot the handle bars have to be straight like you are driving straight ahead to do this.

Also, for safety reasons, you shouldn't do too much riding on pavement.

SJ

 

I agree with swampy. A low tire unless flat rarely cause a pull to either side. But alignment is a killer for pulling and steering effort.

 

HR,

The bike's tool kit should have a low-pressure tire gauge.

Check the rear tire pressure. With positraction if your rear tires are not the same diameter the bike will pull. I would put the same pressure in all four tires and try it again before taking it back to the dealer.

Tire pressure is the first thing the dealer will check.

If the road has a steep crown the bike will pull down hill. Try driving on the wrong side to see if it pulls the other way. Cars increase caster or camber setting on one side to compensate for the crown of the road.

If your front tires are toed out it will be hard to steer on hard surfaces. The tires should be toed in 1/8? to ? ?. I think the closer you are to ?? the easier it is to steer. Being toed out will not cause it to pull just hard to steer. If your Camber or Caster is off it will cause it to pull, but I doubt that will be the problem.

 

well i havent had a chance to ride but i checked the tires. and Oh man i tell you...
the RR was 9 lb, the LR was 3.5
RF 5.5 Lf 7
so i evened then off as best as the gauge under the seat could to... i don't give it much trust though. but i's been snowing so i no longer have dry pavment.
i have to drive one mile on pavment to get to the great outdoors. as the forest servise closed all the trails i made when i was a kid to get to the good riding areas. oh well.

one more question. about how far will this go on a tank of gass with moderat riding. i'm not a speed demon but i don't put at 5 mph. i average 15-30. pending on the trail...
my Hancher AT would get about 100 per tank.
Thanks again

HR

 

I bought a high quality round gauge at Sportsman Warehouse that holds the reading until you release it with the push button release and it is a 30 pound gauge so you can see 1/4 lbs differences.

The 500 should get better than 20 mph so doing 100 miles on a tank shouldn't be out of the question.

 

There are many things that can cause it to pull to one side (and yes many more than just tire inflation), but as the owner of a new machine the only one you want to be concerned with is tire pressure, and if thats not the problem then take her into where ever you purchased it.

Even though its obviously easier to bring it into the dealer I am sure you might be interested in what else you should look at as the cause, and this would also help after the warranty is out (or for others who are not covered etc).

In order of typical likelyhood of happening: tire pressure, alignment, brakes, bent tie rod, worn a-arm bushings, worn swingarm bushing or bolt, and bent frame.

Obviously the more time there is on a machine the better chance of any of these things happening is, and I know it was suprizing to see some newer machines that had issues with the brakes from crap getting caught up in the discs or whatever and causing some to hang up.

Remember not all of these causes will produce as noticable results, and many are really hard to notice unless the problem is severe. An example is that you will most likely notice a bad tierod from the clunking or feedback thru the bars long before you would notice any changes in it tracking straight, but if you bend one of the tie rod arms good enough (not hard to do either) you would be able to tell much easier.

Hope this, and also equaling out your tire pressure helps.