S2 with a bended fork?

[abynormal]

Whe have 2 FZ6's at home. I drive a 2005 FZ6 while my wife is driving a 2008 S2.
This weekend whe did a nice trip in the black forrest in Germany...
Back home I asked my wife if she enjoyed the trip and she answered that she felt uncomfortable on her bike especially on low speed turns.
So I decided to take her bike for a short spin and to my surprise her bike does handle different than mine...
She has hande bar risers fitted to hers, 1" up and 3/4" backwards...but when driving the bike into slowspeed corners I have to counter the handle bar...
In a RH turn while in the turn I have to push the handle bar to the LH, pushing on the RH side...I have the feeling I have to counter steer more when taking RH turns than when taking LH turns.
My FZ6 is very neutral in slow speed turns, no counter steering needed.
While driving her bike, letting loose the handle bar, the bike just goes straight so I dont have the feeling that the front is bended.
On the other side has the bike some marks from a crash. The RH aluminium cover on the radiator has been in contact with the engine-you can stil see the marks on it. Further has the tupperware(fairings)no real heavy marks from a serious crash...the bike just has a few scratches and marks from being dropped...
Fact is that you need to work harder on the S2 than on my FZ6, resulting that its less fun to drive the S2.
I have always assumed that the frame and fork set-up has been te same between the FZ6 and the FZ6 S2.
For info, tire pressures have been checked and adjusted before the trip being 2.5kg on the front and 2.8kg on the rear on both bikes.
Any idea's welkom...

 

[PhotoAl]

A couple of things to check - have been doing some of the same things recently on my bike as something doesn't feel quite right.

Tires and pressure: Is the rear flattened in the center? I ride a lot of straight line and at the end of the rear tire's life it will be flat in the center which makes a difference in how it turns into corners. Front tire wear can make a difference as well - on my bike the PR2 front will cup somewhat which can make it feel a little different at low speed but not so much at highway speeds.

Head bearings: check the headset bearings to make sure they are properly adjusted, well lubed and not worn or rusted. Was a problem on many of the early FZ6's.

Front wheel bearings: check to make sure they are OK

Front forks: May not be bent but may be improperly aligned. Loosen the clamping bolts and bounce the front end firmly but gently to get everything aligned then tighten all bolts to specs (proper torque) - help me out here folks if I have not said the correctly as am writing from memory.

Front Forks II: the top of the struts should be even or very slightly above the top of the top triple clamp. Some people will lower the triple clamps on the struts which gives quicker turn in but does change the geometry of the chassis which will make it feel different and can make it worse.

 

[turbid]

also i would check the handlebar if its bent. they are made of jelly and in a low speed crash they can easily bend. check that at full lock the distance between the mirrors and handlebar is the same on both sides, and also the distance between handle bar and tank.

 

[abynormal]

Rear tire is flattened in the center and indeed the front tire shows minor cupping...
Tire pressures where adjusted and checked.
Head and wheel bearings...its a 2008 with 22000km's on it. Well I suppose anything is possible...
Position of fork legs is the same as on the 2005 FZ6.
Will measure the handle bar to check if its not bended. I am shure the bike has been in contact with the ground on several occasions, it has been fitted by previous owner with huge stoppers - not without reason I believe!

If anything else comes up guys, keep posting as my wife is considering selling this bike...it would be a shame though!

 

[FinalImpact]

Does she feel comfortable on your bike??? Lets say you both weighed the same and sat the same on the bikes. Whats different? Photo suggested someone may have moved the stanchion tubes in the clamps, well the spring health and preload effect how the bikes maneuver also.

I would suggest measuring the SAG and seeing just how different the bikes stack up. The more the nose drops the easier its going to be to steer but it can become less stable at speed. So although the bikes may seem the same seat height; one could be high in the back/low in the nose = basically fit the same, while the other is high in the nose and low in the back is going to take more effort to steer. Add the squared off tires and it may feel a bit more unforgiving at low speed.

Also - the squared off tires tend to be very unforgiving of dissimilar surface heights. Like where two separate pavement types come together and have a slight variation in height. The fresh tire tracks over it being less disturbed than the squared off tire.

 

[abynormal]

Been talking with a lot of people about this item and did some furhter checks on the bike...
The handle bar is straight. I do feel that the front suspension/fork seems to be weaker/softer than on mine. Just with both bikes sitting on their side stands there is 0.5cm difference in height between the 2 bikes with the S2 being the lowest. It feels a lot softer to...Rear chock adjustments are the same on both machines...
Some people saying that the front tire could be causing this behavior...so an option could be fitting the frontwheel from my 2005 into the S2 to see how it drives and feels in corners before replacing the front tire. I believe the front tire on the S2 has to much life on it to replace it for trouble shooting purposes.
Also because the rear need replacement too...

Its not that whe cannot drive the S2 for the moment, just that it is harder work in slow corners. Maybe whe should keep the CBF600 (3rd bike in our garage) which is for sale currently for the summer months, after all this one is a lot cooler to drive and handles really nice in corners.