You're counting on other people's experiences of pulling left to be the same as op though. So 8 out of 10 occurrences might be due to the camber and 2 by mechanical issue. This is why it's only opinions on forums not actual sound advice.
I think I know the answer to this problem.... ... don't try to ride with no hands? PS I actually agree it does do this. I tried to ride with no hands on a French motorway and managed for about a mile, but I had to move my weight around to keep it straight. But one finger on either bar was enough to stop it changing line.
Bugger me, you’ve solved it!!!! That’s why I’m not that bothered. It’s unusual for me to be drinking tea, lighting a cigarette and riding at the same time
I don't agree I'm sorry rainman, because it doesn't happen to me when I ride my Multi or my RT, or even when I have a go on my mates XR.
Wow I gotta admit I didn't expect this many responses- thanks everyone! To clarify a point made in an earlier comment, I don't have to "fight" or wrestle the bike. It is just pretty noticeable. For instance if I were to let go of the handlebar with the bike in the dead centre of the road, I guess it would start going off road in about 30 metres. Per Twin4me above though, I could correct this with my pinky finger. And yes I wouldn't really mind but on a long touring day doing say 500KM on the highway, I can def start feeling it in my left shoulder - hence my post. And this is true in the UK as well as abroad which is why I don't think it has something to do with the road camber. I'll follow the general consensus of changing tyres as mine are due for a change anyway and will report back in a few weeks. From what I read here Metzeler are pretty good. Thanks again for your input!
I know it's not what you asked but, I have a VFR 800i and when it was on the road, if I took my hands off the bars they would start to oscillate and if I didn't put my hands back on the bars quickly it would end up in a right tank slapper, anyway, when I changed the tyres on the bike this problem stopped. But even with the problem tyres the bike still didn't go to the left.
I agree. Look at the picture. This lady is clearly about to straddle the motorcycle in such a way that she’ll obviously not sit centrally upon it. This will cause the motorcycle to track to the left. And it may cause me to go blind, but that’s another matter...
I had a VFR750 and a VFR800 at different times, quite a while back. I did 50,000 miles on the VFR800 so I'm very familiar with it's handling. Your symptoms could be easily explained by a wheel balancing issue, maybe you lost a weight or the tyre has moved on the rim - it happens. A new tyre, re-balanced, and you're sorted, but the VFR's road tyres are the same as any other sports-tourer and not a good comparison with the Multistrada's much flatter profile OE Skorpions.
OK, so what tyres are you currently running? I'm guessing you're not running the OE Scorpion? This is the element which I believe is exaggerating effect of road camber, due to it's flatter profile. I'm running Bridgestone T30 Evo's on my DVT and I don't particularly notice it day to day but I'm aware of my Multi going left but only as far as I would expect in proportion to the camber of the road. Where the camber is visually noticeable then my Multistrada AND my MT10SP (running OE Bridgestone S20's) both will run left, but no more than expected. It's a long time since I've ridden on the OE Scorpion's, but I do recall the handling of my DVT being substantially better once I binned the Scorpion's. Any tyre that you can ride off the edge with minimum effort is not fit for purpose, in my opinion. Lots of grip in a straight line but they are truly crap. As I said previously, just because you don't notice the influence of road camber it doesn't mean it's not happening. If there is a camber then it's going to happen but we correct it unconsciously in a number of ways, but please feel free to explain where my logic is flawed. Update - your mate's S1000XR probably came with OE fitment T30's, which are a regular all-round sports-touring tyre. Not the half-ar$ed hybrid effort like the Multi's OE Scorpion's.
Firstly, without know more about the road you're riding it's extremely hard to draw any conclusions from your comments above as to what the issue might be, but I would also say that I can come across several stretches of road where the camber is severe enough to do exactly as you've described. Also, I'm more than a bit surprised that you're only changing your tyres now with several thousand miles on them when a lot of people seem to have trashed the OE Scorpion's in around 2500 miles. That would indicate that you're not riding terribly aggressively or particularly quickly (and I'm not criticising that and it's not a bad thing - you ride how you want) but you will notice the road camber effect more at lower speed, since the stabilising gyroscopic influence of your turning wheels will have less influence on the bikes ability to change direction quickly. Try this. One particular section of road that you'll find in the UK with much less camber will be the slip-road joining a motorway or dual carriageway - largely because the downward slope will be steeper and have a greater effect at clearing rain water than any camber being added to the road (and also the reason why you can sometimes find standing water at the bottom on these sections of road). Head for your nearest on-ramp and try it there. No point doing it leaving the motorway because going up the ramp might slow you down too much to be able to do it for sufficient time to be able to evaluate anything.
After recently finding my suspension settings (from the factory) were completely wrong, and that the manual was wrong too, I questioned Ducati uk. It’s worth checking your bike is set up properly, as per this guide they sent me. I’ve subsequently checked the preload using sag measurements and it seemed fine for my weight.
They were too soft. Min rear pre load, hardly any compression. Front was close to factory but I’ve since firmed it up a little. I haven’t tested the “pull left” since. I’ll report back when I’m happy the settings suit my riding style.
I'll give you a clue as to the tyres on my old TS Multi and the tyres on my DVT, the mileage on my TS was 3.5k and the mileage on my DVT is only 3k at the moment, and there's no chance I'll be changing them until their well and truly shagged as I object to throwing my money away.
Be warned, if you've made the front firmer then you'll likely get more feedback from the road which could make things even more pronounced. I would have waited until you've changed your tyres, because you might find that you'll want different settings again. The more I think about the more I'm convinced it's your tyres. With the mileage you've previously indicated suggests that they've got to be shagged and squared off, just making a tyre with a very flat radius even worse.
Well at 3K your Scorpion's have got to be shagged already, no? Mine were forked at 2K and my T30 Evo's last much better, at almost 3K for a rear. At 16.5K I'm on my 3rd front and my 5th rear, not including a 6th replaced after a puncture.
Er no, not shagged yet. They’re pretty evenly worn and scrubbed to the edges. But I’m easy on my tyres, being a smooth rider. Before anyone takes the piss, I’m a quick road rider.
