Anybody besides me notice that the front end on the Z400 seems kinda squirly at high speeds? I'm talkin flat out in 5th gear. On a flat dirt road...the thing seems to drift all over the place and has a hard time holding a straight line. It's kinda scary tryin to race side by side with somone!!! Any thoughts? Any fixes? Lets hear it!

 

I just bought mine and I noticed the same thing. I thoght it was just my riding.

 

mine does that and has reversed front wheels, try getting your weight twords the front it seems to help.

 

i have the same problem but i found it just takes some time to get use to.shifting weight forward helps some.

 

Mine is a little light in the front too. But I have found that a little weight shifting takes care of that, it helps if you are 230 lbs {like me} too. The 400ex seems a little more stable but it is hard to attain high speeds with the Honda! HA HA HA! Just had to poke at my 400ex buddies a little!

 

Mine too, but not too bad. You'll get used to it.

 

Have you tried a stabilizer?

 

Sounds to me like you guys need to set your toe on your front wheel alignment. It is amazing how many new vehicles, cars included, are delivered misaligned. Sometimes factory spec is "conservative" and is toed-in. Set your toe to near zero, no more than an eighth in or out. With rider.

 

I guess i'm not alone here eh? I'm thinkn the toe could be the problem too. But i can tell ya this...Im a tech. for BMW...and if ya set the toe to 0 degrees on a car...it will be squirly as hell! Almost all car specs. are set to a positive toe in...helps keep em stable and goin straight. So i guess some experimentation will be in order here. The tip on making the adjustment with the rider in place is a good one. Ill post my results here. If anyone else finds a good setting...please post your results here too! Thanks! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I just joined this site and do not race as of yet, tempting but at 48 I will think harder! I just got my Z and am fortunate enough to have a nice riding area that is old farm land and so it is mostly fields. I have been carving out some nice tracks in it though! I have noticed the same feeling of the front end being light at speed and I thought it was just the grass fields.

I think that the geometry of the Z is such that on the straights you have to get as much wieght forward as possible like has been mentioned. The other things that I have come up with is the tie rods are very small and hollow and would tend to flex at Hi speeds causing a wondering of the front end. The toe in would add to this effect even though I know how important it is. The other thought I had was why don't someone come out with a brace system to tie each opposing side of the A-arm pivots together?