Brand new 2012 concours pulls to the right

[Canuck]

I have an 09, 38,000k : about 25,000 miles,  i just got bbsck from Montana and I can still take my hands if the bars @ 70mph and go straight as an arrow or steer with my feet and ass. As it should do, a high performance bike shouldnt pull in my opinion.  Im glad it didnt do it at 175mph!   However, when i put 2" bar risers on it  got really floppy at low speeds. I have removed them, have you modified your bars?

[Canuck]

Have you checked your tires?  My stock bridgestones were shot after only 400 miles of skyline/ blueridge parkway. I was left with a raised ridge down the centre of the front, then it wouldnt hold any line.  I wore the sides off on all rhe corners.  The Next set were pirelli & much better. Current set is Michelin pilot road 2, and im putting those back on again next month.  Not as sticky as the battleaxe but last a long time.

[556ALPHA]

Another member recently commented how his used to pull until he re-routed his lines and cables.  After that he had no pulling issues and changed nothing else. 

[pistole]

- moved some stuff around on the panniers and its perfect now.

- if you have ditched the heavy stock exhaust , the bike's side to side weight changes alot.

.

[Mr. Man]

For what its worth, I picked up my 2012 yesterday from the dealer and road it home (176 miles). It rode straight as an arrow and I can't get this grin off my face. Love this bike. 

[scootertrash]

So after complaining to the dealer of it pulling they had someone from kawasaki in california fly out. When he got here he said he wanted to get a demo bike. He said the demo bike pulls to the right as well.
The kawasaki guy and the tech at the dealer both said that my bike and the demo both pull to the right exactly the same way and that it is just a characteristic of the bike.
I dont know, just doesnt seem right to me.
Kinda upset about this, I would trade it in for something but I do like the concours. Just dont like the pull to the right.

Um, bullshit. plane and simple. If you could get the kwak rep and teck's names, I would really enjoy embarrasing them for there incompetent opinion's and terrible troubleshooting abilities.
All you have to do is put a straight edge(I bought a 2 inch, thin wall square aluminum tube for 20 buck's) to use for wheel alignment's when i was racing. If the rear wheel is not parralel and centered with front, or very close to it, the bike will pull left or right. If the frame is bent, or the front wheel is not installed right, it will pull. If the tank cannon bazooka exhaust is there, there might be so much aerodynamic drag as to make the bike unrideable(I've rode several stock c14's, and they all went straight, enen after a crash, and the artillery on the right).
If the right front brake caliper is dragging, or if you but lead in the right bag, with left empty, you may get a pull(theoretically). But I CAN'T IMAGINE A KWAK REP SAYING THAT IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE BIKE! Unless of course, he said that, and really meant" yes your bike is defective, but we here at acme cycles just don't wan't to do anything about it".
Either way, you should maybe see another dealer, and or ride a different 2012 connie. If the crown of the road, load or wind doesn't explain it, and the frame isn't bent( or wheel isn't crooked, than Maybe the rider is leaning to the right, and need's to shift left, because theres just not much to to it than that.
I'm sure this has all been talked about, so i'm just puttin my chip's into that pile. But a characteristic of the bike! That's like saying 2 out of 20,000 connie engines smoke, and it's just a normal event!

[Caffeinated]

The right hand pull was fixed on my 2011 after installing the Heli Horizon bars.   Has to be the cables causing the issue. The heli's require rerouting the throttle cables to the front of the fork, and giving the other cables more slack. I would try giving the large wire looms more slack and see if that helps. If not move the throttle cables to the front or the triple tree.

[Gsxrdude]

Hi all, first time post. I too bought a brand new 2012 Concours sometime in early 2013. But my problem is different it pulls to the left and I mean hard you let your hands off the bars try to coast and it changes Lanes instantly.
I have to jerk my body with my hips to the right trying to correct it in it's lane just trying to take my hands off the bars for a second. This is about my 30th bike I've been riding about 40 years now never had this problem before with any bike so it has nothing to do with riding style. Also I kind of blew it off my first 3000 miles on the bike which took me 3 years to do because I assumed that when I took those garbage stock tires off and put good tires on the bike it would correct the problem.
I was wrong I put new Dunlop Q3 s and I've done another thousand miles my bike. It now has four thousand miles on it and still pulls to the left like a mutha.
Anyway just thought I'd chime into the thread that my bike pulls but not to the right.  I have the stock exhaust and I always load all my gear that I take with me in my right saddlebag to try to compensate.   Nothing seems to help.
Anyway upon reading all these posts after doing a search I went and checked my bike over quickly last night.
The suspension settings are even, 4 clicks each Fork from fully in.
The forks are evenly sticking up through the upper triple maybe a millimeter each.
And I centered my handlebars leaned back on the bike on the center stand to pull the front wheel off the ground and my handlebars do not pull in either Direction They free-float there's no binding at all in either direction.

Soon as I get my torque wrench back from my father-in-law who borrowed it I will go through and retorque the front forks and see if maybe they were torqued wrong from the factory and then again from Kelly's Kawasaki who replaced my tires but since a tire change didn't do anything for me I doubt that's the problem.
Anyway just wanted to get in on the thread so I can be alerted if anybody comes up with a solution as to what's causing the pulling.
My thoughts are probably a manufacturing defect in the alignment of the swingarm to the frame. This is my first shaft drive bike and I love it with good tires but I don't see any way to adjust the rear tire alignment at all so I'm assuming it just is what it is.

[VirginiaJim]

Did this just start or has it been doing since day 1?

[Gsxrdude]

Did this just start or has it been doing since day 1?

Since the bike was brand new on day one.

[maxtog]

Since the bike was brand new on day one.

Eeew, I certainly would have taken it to the dealer under warranty and had them look into it.

[VirginiaJim]

+1.   It may be something with the rear setup then.  Have you checked to see if the wheels are aligned?

[just gone]

When mine was new I never tested it to see which way it went when I took my hands off the bars. I just didn't do that. Later after I had farkles installed and been on a few trips I tried it and it almost instantly went to the left. I wouldn't call it a "pull" but definitly a directional wander. The effort needed to correct it is so minimal that I never notice it. However I recently moved my oversized tool bag (I think it's oversized, but I have seen worse) to the right saddle bag and it now wanders to the right if I let go of the bars. I plan on getting two smaller bags, dividing the tools and placing one in each saddlebag. I'm not in a big hurry to get it done. (<--- My wife says that last sentence is my life motto about everything.)

[Gsxrdude]

When mine was new I never tested it to see which way it went when I took my hands off the bars. I just didn't do that. Later after I had farkles installed and been on a few trips I tried it and it almost instantly went to the left. I wouldn't call it a "pull" but definitly a directional wander. The effort needed to correct it is so minimal that I never notice it. However I recently moved my oversized tool bag (I think it's oversized, but I have seen worse) to the right saddle bag and it now wanders to the right if I let go of the bars. I plan on getting two smaller bags, dividing the tools and placing one in each saddlebag. I'm not in a big hurry to get it done. (<--- My wife says that last sentence is my life motto about everything.)

On a normal balaced bike I can tilt my head over to one side and  make the bike turn, its all in the body.  I wouldn't think your bike has a problem just because the tool bag was moved.  You can put more pressure on one but cheek to correct something that little.

When I say my bike pulls, it PULLS.  You can not correct it even by hanging half off the bike

[Gsxrdude]

Eeew, I certainly would have taken it to the dealer under warranty and had them look into it.

Yeah i wish I would have done that too.
Luckily it's not effecting the handling, I can scrape both peg feelers evenly

[just gone]

  You can put more pressure on one but cheek to correct something that little.

Admittedly my butt cheeks are a little on the bony side in my advancing years, but no I can't do that.

On a normal balanced bike I can tilt my head over to one side and  make the bike turn, its all in the body.

None of my bikes do that, smaller head I guess. I still require counter steering even on a balanced bike.

When I say my bike pulls, it PULLS.  You can not correct it even by hanging half off the bike

Mine is the same, it moves quick when I let go of the bars (to which ever side the tool bag is on), but I don't use the word pull because there is no real "pull" to the bars to correct it.
I haven't hung half off of the bike because my skill level (lack there of) requires me to grab the bars to hang half off of the bike. I have tried to shift my weight to the side as far as I could go without hanging on to something and it didn't do much for going straight.
 Now I've had junk cars that had PULL, and it was a constant job to keep them going straight to the tune of a sore shoulder on a long drive.

[B.D.F.]

No, no, Marty, he means to move the 'big' head, not the little one (Easy Boys!).

And try switching the pocket you carry your wallet and change in. And do not be a smart AZZ and change from the rear to the front, you MUST switch sides to be a valid test!

Always ready to help,
Brian

Admittedly my butt cheeks are a little on the bony side in my advancing years, but no I can't do that.
None of my bikes do that, smaller head I guess. I still require counter steering even on a balanced bike.

Mine is the same, it moves quick when I let go of the bars (to which ever side the tool bag is on), but I don't use the word pull because there is no real "pull" to the bars to correct it.
I haven't hung half off of the bike because my skill level (lack there of) requires me to grab the bars to hang half off of the bike. I have tried to shift my weight to the side as far as I could go without hanging on to something and it didn't do much for going straight.
 Now I've had junk cars that had PULL, and it was a constant job to keep them going straight to the tune of a sore shoulder on a long drive.

[just gone]

And try switching the pocket you carry your wallet and change in.

 

If only there was enough weight in my wallet to have any effect.   

[Gsxrdude]

Strange that you can't off set your body weight in any way to change the projection of your bike but just moving your tool bag around does.
I could say I find that hard to believe but in all honesty before 2013 I would have thought a motorcycle having an alignment issue was hard to believe.

I always thought two things in life would never have a balance issue and since fully under human control would operate properly. That's motorcycles and two wheel dollies.  One day I was told by my UPS guy that he loved his new Dolly because it was perfectly balanced in his hand.. I still scratch my head to this day trying to understand that concept.

[gPink]

Strange that you can't off set your body weight in any way to change the projection of your bike but just moving your tool bag around does.
I could say I find that hard to believe but in all honesty before 2013 I would have thought a motorcycle having an alignment issue was hard to believe.

I always thought two things in life would never have a balance issue and since fully under human control would operate properly. That's motorcycles and two wheel dollies.  One day I was told by my UPS guy that he loved his new Dolly because it was perfectly balanced in his hand.. I still scratch my head to this day trying to understand that concept.

Ther's gotta be an 'Easy Boys' in there somewhere.