Help! Steering change mid ride.

I have a 2015 STS that I've put about 700 miles on and love it (brand new old model). I installed the Bajaron sway bar and links from Lamonster about a week ago and love the difference they made (rode all week after install approx 65 miles). However my wife and I are in Estes and on the way up here after riding for 2 hours half way through the canyon the back started to feel loose and it started to act very unpredictable in the corners, up to that point it was like riding on rails. I pulled over and felt all the connections for the sway bar and they felt good, going to check them as best I can in the morning as well as the tire pressure. It was just odd that it changed all of a sudden. Any ideas as to what to check would be appreciated I had to take it super easy for the last 10 miles and we'd planned on riding the mountains for the next two days straight. :(

Welcome to posting on the Forum Dom.

My first thoughts for why the back end might 'suddenly be feeling loose' half way thru a ryde would be that you've scored a puncture or rolled the tire on the rim enough to drop some pressure out.... :dontknow:

However, that is just a 'first reaction' sort of thing, there are quite a few other things it could be... like substantially 'wrong' front end tire pressures, a sudden imbalance in pressure between sides, possibly due to something like rolling a bead off the rim for a split second, or maybe even a front end slow leak type puncture; could be a DPS failure; a loose rear axle tensioner; a dodgy wheel bearing; compromised wheel alignment (you didn't hit a rock or a pot-hole did you?); or maybe even a blown or leaking rear shock (or maaaaybe a blown front shock too?) Probably more I haven't thought about, but due to the sudden nature of the change, I'd still be punting for it being something you've done to or picked up in that rear tire resulting in a pressure change.... :sour:

Good luck! :thumbup:

Thanks really hoping it's just a pressure issue and I can top it off tomorrow first thing I'm checking when there's light again. As for hitting a hole, nope was smooth sailing, fingers crossed for pressure :)

Just a passing thought, I have been in a car when an earthquake hit and the car feels pretty loose until the shaking stop.
Hear there was a earthquake in MT. Friends in Sandpoint ID felt it. Perhaps????:riding:

Dennis

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Originally Posted by dom

I have a 2015 STS that I've put about 700 miles on and love it (brand new old model). I installed the Bajaron sway bar and links from Lamonster about a week ago and love the difference they made (rode all week after install approx 65 miles). However my wife and I are in Estes and on the way up here after riding for 2 hours half way through the canyon the back started to feel loose and it started to act very unpredictable in the corners, up to that point it was like riding on rails. I pulled over and felt all the connections for the sway bar and they felt good, going to check them as best I can in the morning as well as the tire pressure. It was just odd that it changed all of a sudden. Any ideas as to what to check would be appreciated I had to take it super easy for the last 10 miles and we'd planned on riding the mountains for the next two days straight. :(

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:yikes::shocked: Sorry to hear a glitch in trip but better to know & have more test miles on parts before a trip. http://en-us.spyder.brp.com/dealer-l...ers/dealer_all
to be sure & hopefully safe find closest dealer to double check few things. They might even have some recommendations to side track you & help save the trip. :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by djhobin

Just a passing thought, I have been in a car when an earthquake hit and the car feels pretty loose until the shaking stop.
Hear there was a earthquake in MT. Friends in Sandpoint ID felt it. Perhaps????:riding:

Dennis

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good idea on the earth quake , I would not have thought of it , ---- on the rear end feeling loose --------> have the wife get it in reverse and roll it back on a straight road area , and make sure the rear tire is tracking true , ( not from a loose axle nut ) .. check the air ride on the shocks also , -- pressure --- good luck on your trip and safe journey

A sudden pressure loss in the rear suspension will make it feel different.

Any chance that the wind changed direction or became more gusty for the last part of the ride ??

Do the 2015 STS's have an airbag in the rear suspension?? I didn't mention air loss in that as being a possibile cause for the odd handling behaviour cos I didn't think they had airbag suspension... :dontknow: I thought it was a feature just on the RT's & some F3's. :opps:

Good points.. also road conditions and surface changes can give you this effect. We have had a lot of threads on rear shock issues especially on the F3 but not to say it cannot be an issue on the ST. Start with the tire pressures and shock condition and go from there. :thumbup:

To give a better than SWAG answer .... Has / did this steering condition continue after you checked things .... or when you got back on it was OK ...... Mike :thumbup:

So nice thought on the earthquake but no :), my sts doesn't have air suspension so no there as well, rear tire appears to be tracking true. Checked pressure at was 17/17.5 and 27 bumped to 21/21 and 30 and it seems to be riding a bit better, the steering still feels not near as tight as it did but the back end doesn't feel like it's swinging out anymore. It was enough that i could ride so long as I didn't beat it to hard today, which was ok as it rained and hailed through most of our ride until the last hour :). I'll double check everything when I get home and if I can't find anything it'll be off to the dealer.

Are you still running on OE spec Kendas?

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Originally Posted by Peter Aawen

Are you still running on OE spec Kendas?

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Yup bikes only got 800 miles on it.

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Originally Posted by dom

Yup bikes only got 800 miles on it.

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FWIW, I'm running 18 front and 26 rear. Manual says 20 front and 28 rear plus or minus 2 lbs. I went with the minus 2 lbs. Handles great. Headed to Gunninson Colorado tomorrow for a few days. We will see how it handles the curves up there. On the stock tires! 2016 RT SM6.