Should Ryker Tie rods be the same length?

[Legomaniac]

Hello,

I purchased my Ryker about 2 weeks ago and I have been looking at the alignment. I noticed my left and right tie rods are different lengths. I measured them to be 1/2" different. Is this normal? Can someone with a properly aligned Ryker let me know if your tie rods are like this, please.

Thank you!

[Mikey]

How's it drive and handle?

[Legomaniac]

How's it drive and handle?

It was really bad before I started to tinker with it. Now it drives much better, but still doesn't feel right. I just find it odd that a vehicle with a mechanical steering rack like this would not be symmetrical. I had to adjust the right tie rod almost all the way in and the left one out to get the toe correct. I was just hoping someone would confirm this is normal - I don't think it is!

[Woodaddict]

'Tinkering' with it will only get ABOUT RIGHT. Not sure about a Ryker, but Spyders have a steering sensor to add info to the computer about VSS. So hopefully either before or after the tinker, that didn't get thrown off. Other factors play into the "feeling", tire pressure, poor Kenda tires (grip and balance), and alignment. Need to get it aligned with the ROLO laser system, that aligns the rear tire with the front 2.

[BajaRon]

Not usually a good idea to 'Tinker' with Spyder or Ryker alignments unless you have an extremely accurate way to get proper adjustment and alignment with the rear wheel. And BUDS to reset the steering angle sensor. If you get the steering angle sensor too far off you'll go into limp mode. Chances are that using the old tape measure method isn't going to get you anywhere near what you need.

[Legomaniac]

I am fully capable of performing my own alignment as I have my own laser system. I have verified the alignment of the front to the rear - that was not my question. I was simply asking those of you who own a Ryker and feel it is properly aligned with a stable, comfortable ride - are your tie rods this drastically different in length?

Thank you!

[Mikey]

It sounds like you have it all under control and handled, and fully capable! Good luck!

[Legomaniac]

Really? Since I am not familiar with this machine, I was simply trying to verify if the mismatch is by design from BRP, or if I potentially have a damaged or faulty steering/suspension component. Anyone here that owns a ryker or works on rykers should be able to tell me if it's normal or not.

[Peter Aawen]

See BajaRon's post #5 above - regardless of whether your tie rods being of unequal length or not is 'normal', without BUDS to reset the steering angle sensor, then there's not really all that much more that you can/should do about it anyway!!

I don't own a Ryker, but I have worked on quite a few, mainly regarding their tires &/or steering; only, because I've never really had any reason to do anything more than make minor alignment toe in/out adjustments to their steering, I've never really given the tie rod lengths on each side anything more than a thorough cursory glance. So while I too suspect they should be reasonably similar in length, if the steering has been set up properly to begin with - but then again, just like Spyders, these Rykers are a BRP Product, and as many of us know to our cost, that's a pretty rare thing... Anyhow, I too cannot help you with a measurement; and I sincerely doubt that too many Ryker owners would have looked at their tie rod lengths in any much more detail than I have!

So until someone who has a Ryker on hand & who can actually get out there and do a measurement comparison & then get back to you does read this & get back to you (which, given the nature of Forums could easily take a few days, maybe even a week or more!) then as has already been asked, is your Ryker currently riding and handling fairly well right now, even after your 'tinkering'? If so, then trying to do anything more now might REALLY stuff things up, and should probably be avoided until you know you can readily access BUDS to reset the steering angle sensor if/when that becomes necessary!!

So given that you've told us quite bluntly that you have your own laser alignment system and that you are fully capable of performing your own alignment, please do note that UNLESS you have BUDS and know how to use it after any further re-alignment that might make your tie-rods end up being even just a little closer to equal length (and then also sorting any other mis-alignments in your steering linkages anywhere between the handlebar controls and the wheels, mis-alignments which are probably quite likely ) then safely doing anything more to change what you have now apart from very minor toe in/out adjustments really becomes pretty unlikely! So DO you or anyone you know nearby have BUDS and feel confident enough to know how to use it to do this??

And please, from the tone of your replies, you might not believe this right now, but everyone who has replied so far HAS been trying to help you, maybe even stop you from doing something that, in the experience of MANY of us here, your dealer's techs may be seriously lacking in being able to correct if you try to do anything more!

However, there are few threads here in the Ryker section talking about some Rykers having issues turning one way, to the left, I think; and your description of mis-matched tie-rod lengths may actually help explain that; so it might pay you to do a little searching and reading before you do anything much more anyway - you may have just highlighted one of the possible &/or likely causes of those problems; but again, without BUDS and the ability to use it to reset the steering angle on your Ryker, you really can't do too much about it atm without potentially making things much worse....

Just Sayin'

Good Luck!

[Raven]

Ok, I just measured mine a got 16" centre to centre on both.
You said that you had to crank one in and one all the way out to get the correct toe in.
If you adjusted one out say two turns and the other in the same amount.
Would this keep the toe in the same?

[Legomaniac]

Ok, I just measured mine a got 16" centre to centre on both.
You said that you had to crank one in and one all the way out to get the correct toe in.
If you adjusted one out say two turns and the other in the same amount.
Would this keep the toe in the same?

Thank you for taking the time to measure and confirm they are the same length. After a performing a few tests I also found that they need to be the same length for the ryker to drive properly. I still find it strange that when I lock the steering in place using the bolt and spacer, it is so far off from center. I also aligned it to where the SAS center was programmed and it was better, but still different left to right. For my final alignment, I made both tie rods exactly the same length and reset my handlebars. This worked out perfect.

I want to thank everyone for trying to save me from myself by warning me not to tinker, but in my opinion, tinkering is sometimes the only way to learn and make progress. I don't have access to Buds, but through this entire experiment the bike never tripped any codes or experienced any unwanted behavior other than the inconsistent left and right turns due to improper steering geometry.