I just had my first run with the 22" rear klaws on sand. I noticed the steering is kind of twitchy it feels nervous and wants to pull in the direction of the turn especialy when the terain gets lumpy.

i know that i will need to go up to bigger front tires ie 23" to compensate for the rears and i am also aware that new a arms will cure the problem, But i dont want to spend any more cash on the ds right now. I have another bike in mid rebuild, and looking to buy a fireblade.

so how far can i adjust the toe setting or will this not help, also would taking away some sag on the front help? (im thinking not) Any other suggestions ?

 

You are right about the adjustable a-arms being your best bet. The next best thing to do is get as much caster as you can by larger tires up front or dropping the rear. This in effect adds more caster. On the toe in I went to 1/4 inch out. This helped make the steering a little slower. In the end I went with the ASR adjustable a-arms to get more caster as the factory is somewhere around 5 degrees ???? I ended up with 7.5 with my new a-arms . You can get the upper a-arms for around $159.00. Almost as cheep as buying new front tires. Just try diffrent settings on your toe in. I read in one magazine where they went as far as 1/2 inch total toe out. Your mileage may vary though as each beast is different. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

ditto pretty much everything there,
take as much sag outa the front shocks as you are willing becasue the less sag the greater the caster angle will be.
I ran 1/8" toe-out measured with me on the seat for better higher speed stability. your turning radius increases with toe-out, but the dartiness decreases so you gotta find the best of both worlds for you.

but with aftermarket a-arms like the $159 ASR's off e-bay are a great addition - I have them and set caster at 7-8 degrees, camber at 2 degrees, and run 1/4"-3/8" toe-IN now. the caster tamed the higher speeds and the toe-in really makes for great trail ahdnling and tighter turning radius.

 

thanks for the advice

I will try and adjust this problem out as far as i can, but it looks like i will have to bite the bullet and get the arms/ tires. Which is a shame as i have polished my alloy arms and like how they look.
i guess i can always get the new ones chromed or powder coated.

i will try 1/4" out and see how that goes and maybe lose a half inch of sag.

 

if you get the a-arms, you can run whatever tire size you want and set caster accordingly

 

i had a look at the ASR arms, are the ball joints on them the dry type with a nylon/teflon bearing in them ? its hard to see in the pic
and how do they hold up in sand and dirt ? are they stronger than stock or just the same ?

on a different matter i noticed my rear brake which never wqas much good is completly defeated by the extra tourqe of the 22" rears any one else found this ?

 

My ASR A-arms do not have ball joints instead they have heim joints on both ends. I have only rode aprox 30 miles on mine and so far they have held up well. The sand does not seem to bother them at all. Over all a good investment and quite the improvement in the handling department.

 

you do get what you pay for, the ASR's are very inexpensive and the Heims are not the highest quality, mine are a year old now with lots of sand time and also mud and creek time, there is a slight amount of play in them now but nothing that bothers me yet. My buddies are two years old, the play is getting excessive. I expect to replace all the heims inside of another year, and will perhaps seek out a higher quality. You don't want to oil them, cause the dirt and grit will stick and excellerate their demise, but I do hit them with a little silicone after each washing, otherwise they will squeek a little but the silicone is great.


Your rear brake must have a problem, I run 22's and can't hardly keep from locking up the rear without much brake pressure at all. You may need blead, which can be tricky for some. I put 4 foot length of vinyl tubing (any hardware store) on the bleeder screw head, crack it open, and suck on the other end of the tubing like a straw and watch the bubbles rise up the tubing, all the while keeping the reservoir full with cap off, and once I have a steady stream of fluid with no bubbles coming up the hose its done.

If you have no air in the system, there maybe a problem with the caliper. Your '04 is too knew to have a worn out rotor and pads I'd guess.

 

thanks for the info on the joints.

i had the brake calliper off today, while fitting a skid plate to the swing arm. its all free, working and good pads and disc, i got my wife to press on the pedal to check, but she got pi$$ed off before i got as far as bleeding. women get funny when they are eight months three weeks pregnant[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img].

I will bleed them later on, i might have got some air in the system a couple of rides ago as the bike spent a while upside down before i was able to pick it up.