Sounds strange to me. Ive never had any bike pull left on me or when I've rode anyone else's. Are panniers loaded up? Could be more weight on one side or something silly. Wheels aligned properly? Steering head bearings ok? Id be checking all these things.
Its been discussed a few times. All bikes seem to have be fine when checked, and common consensus seems to be camber, albeit the multi seems more susceptible than most other bikes. Could be weight bias thing, or how some sit on the bike.
There's nothing strange at all. All bikes do it to one extreme or another and someone that's been riding 5 minutes likely won't notice it at all. Bikes with a sharper geometry, like a sports bike, will be setup to influenced by camber more, however many sports bikes have a steering damper which by design is intended to absorb unwanted feedback artefacts and could negate any tendency to pull one way or the other completely. Also, sports bikes also tend to run with a tyre radius which is much more extreme and are therefore more tuned to running on the side of the tyre, so again this would negate that too. In theory a sportsbike COULD exaggerate it, but in reality there are many more elements that are introduced to a sportsbike's setup that would actually negate it completely. So, if you don't have a damper and have worn-out, squared-off tyres on a sportbike you might notice it. By contrast, the OE tyres on the Multistrada have a fairly flat profile. They're a hybrid tyre, as when you look at them they have a pattern which is clearly road-biased, but they get their semi-off-road traction by having a much flatter contact patch - and I know that because I can ride off the side of them without much effort. That type of radius is going to follow the road camber like a train on a rail - and they definitely do. Best thing I ever did for my Multi was ditch the Skorpion's for proper tyres that aren't a compromise, and it will be the first thing I do for my 1260 when I get it and finished running it in.
So how come in all my years of riding in all weather's and different bikes including a multistrada with all different tyres have I not experienced this everyday occurrng thing?
I normally load heavier stuff like tools in the right pannier and light stuff like waterproofs in the left pannier. Then the bike runs straight and true, no problems.
In countries which always have ice and snow in the winter, it is better to have little or no camber on roads. Driving on an icy road with a marked camber would be more difficult, a flat road is easier. In the UK we traditionally make no preparations for snow - we just struggle and moan when it comes.
I can't speak for your own particular riding style or experience but it's probably because if you've spent 98% of your riding career riding in the UK then you're just dialled into it, or perhaps you unconsciously sit on your bike which distributes your weight in a way which offsets it? I'm totally guessing. The fact is that I just don't know, and neither do you unless you have a way of actually measuring your position continually while you're riding. You can't possibly tell me that you sit on your bike perfectly central, but I could say with more confidence that in all probability that you don't. The fact is that almost all UK roads have a significant camber sloping down to your left, so the road surface is never perfectly flat and level - it's just not and that's the end of it. The geometry of your bike has nothing to counteract this - so it has to have a tendency to go left. That's just physics and a scientific fact. The reality is that without measuring the rider's position and setting the rider up in a brace so they can't ever move whilst riding you can't prove anything scientifically. One rider might notice it, another might not, and there are literally a hundred reasons which could influence the outcome either way. What is odd isn't that someone is experiencing a bike which pulls left, but what is actually much odder is your statement about never experiencing it. The camber on UK road is there and it's measurable, and it's always been there. If you took a vehicle of some description which had no way of steering at all and had perfect weight distribution and just rolled it along a UK road, it will veer to the left and that is an undisputable fact and that is all there is to it. It has to happen ... unless the rider is doing something to counteract it (which when you think about it actually the rider HAS to do to avoid leaving the road) but very likely it's done subconsciously.
I never said that the road doesn't camber or that I haven't felt it. What I said was my bikes all run straight and I don't have to consiously counteract them pulling left. The guy obviously hasn't felt this on any previous bike hence him posting about it so that would point to me that something wasnt right. Bikes run straight as wheels have inertia and are aligned to do so. You shouldn't have to make a bike run straight.
Let's not forget that the "issue" is evident when he takes his hands off the bars with CC on, which to me would suggest he's travelling at a decent speed where wind resistance would play a part, no? Don't forget, the muilti has wide bars, with handguards, mirrors and all sorts sticking out from behind the fairing and unprotected from the wind where any slight gust will push on the bars.....it doesn't take alot of effort to turn a multi! If your looking for it, you'll find it on every bike, and i'd suggest that because the OP in aware of it, this is why he's noticing it everywhere (just my opinion).
I didn't say that you disputed that, I'm saying that you're clearly not aware that you are doing something to counteract it, subconsciously or otherwise, and I can completely understand why you (and probably most people) believe that you're not. No, not at all. All bikes are different, they get fiddled with and adjusted, run different tyres and bikes ride differently when tyres have done some miles. There are literally loads of reasons and combinations thereof which might mean that it's not been experienced previously, and as I said the OE fitment tyres of the Multistrada could easily be the factor which brings it right to the surface and makes it obvious. That's not strictly true. A faster object has more inertia and its mass is also a factor. In fact it's not so much inertia that creates stability, it's the gyroscopic moment of the wheels, but equally the gyroscopic moment can create instability, which is why you counter-steer a bike (probably unconsciously, again) to get it to start turning - "For every action there is an equal and opposite action". With regard to noticing or not noticing whether you're actively doing something to counteract the UK road camber, answer this :- Do you actively and deliberately counter-steer/steer your bike to turn into a corner? Or does it just happen without much thought?
For me personally I can tell the difference between being pulled left and the road camber adjusting my line. Cars are worse for this having 4 wheels. From the op's wording he said he's having to fight it to go straight and aching on one side. Doesnt soumd normal to me. I can let both hands off panigale and sit up straight and don't have to add any inputs until I get to a corner.
Wind resistance will likely have very little effect. With hands off the bars the bike is going to follow the camber, every time, unless he leans to counteract it. On a heavier bike with slower geometry you will need to make more of an effort to do that, because you've got to overcome the static forces inherent of the shallower steering geometry. So the effects of camber would be quite noticeable. As I said, the wind won't affect it at all in that regard as you don't tend experience more wind pressure on one side than another unless in a noticeable poppy, gusty, side wind, and even then the surface area of the profusions isn't likely to have create a substantial difference in drag from one side of the bike to another. They are also sculpted to deflect wind. That said, your observations on the width of the handle bars is absolutely valid. The wider bars provide more leverage which means less conscious effort to correct any tendency to follow the camber. More than a hint of truth in that too. Once you start to notice something, and if it's not easily explained as far as you are concerned, it's very easy to start obsessing over it. It's just human nature.
No, cars are not worse for having 4 wheels. Cars are worse for having a completely different profile of tyre and a larger and flatter contact patch with the road. Even if you had a unicycle, if fitted with a car tyre it would still be worse than almost any motorcycle. Try this. Get the spare wheel out of the boot of your car and just push it down the road so it rolls on it's own and see what happens. Spoiler alert - it's going left. Now get a motorcycle wheel do the same. It will also go left but to a lesser extent as the road contour has less influence on the much reduced contact patch due to the radius which forms a motorcycle tyre .... but it will still go left. In fact if you just get the motorcycle tyre on it's own, no wheel, it will have much less inertia, but will still travel straighter than the car tyre which will be heavier and therefore much more inertia - which should help to explain why inertia has mush less to do with this issue than the profile of the tyre being used. Your Panigale runs an OE tyre which has a much more pronounced radius than the Multistrada's OE tyre, and therefore you won't notice the camber "as much", but it is there.
Well seems like you've decided it's camber. I'm surprised we can even turn right with this massive force thrusted upon upon us from the road.
OK, so I've tried to present a rational and sound scientific argument and rather than you call me out on it and tell me why I'm completely wrong with a counter argument, you come off with a completely childish response - so from hereon in I don't see a need to continue to engage with you.
Because you're fixated on road camber and discounting everything anyone else has said. It's a forum none of us have seen the bike or rode it. It could be one of many things. People are aware of road camber and subconsciously ride with it everyday without issue or noting it's presence. So for someone to suddenly realise this on a new bike says to me something else is going on. If op keeps us updated im sure the issue will come to light.
Chaps, I can say with certainty it’s not camber on my bike. If it was, it’d track left, or right, given the side of the road crown I was on. It just mooches left. When it’s in for it’s serbice in April I’ll take thier demo out and see if it’s different. Plus I’ll ask thier opinion. For what it’s worth, the bike handles fine and it’s not causing me concern.
I’d say so yes (although I’m sure camber has some effect on this and it probably is worse in the near side of the crown). Any ideas on a squeaky brake disc (sounds like it’s rubbing or catching). Which gets worse in the wet?
I'm not purely focussed on one individual's experience because this is something that has been reported by MANY people, and for which I'm trying to explain why lots of people will notice it. The reasons for which are quite sound, and if what I've written is incorrect then you're free to tell me otherwise - but it seems you can't. I'm not saying that the OP doesn't have a fault, because if he does then it's pretty easy to track down if you just use your eyes, as I'm sure he's had to check the alignment visually to adjust his chain on a non-single-sided swingarm bike at least once in his life. The only thing you can cock-up on a Ducati to screw up the alignment is to misalign front wheel (details of which have been posted previously). The title of this thread wasn't "mis-aligned bike" it was "unbalanced bike".
