Rolling resistance...

[groundshock]

Bear with me here.

Always park in the warehouse at work. Boss has a 03 1200 sportster, which is quite nice.

He let me take it for a ride today, and it's amazing the difference in how his bike effortlessly rolls around and coasts compared to mine.

Just parking it and pushing it in the garage, you dont need to push on it hardly at all, just give it a little nudge and it rolls in without incident or fuss.

My bike, you have to lean into it to push it around, coasts quite poorly... it just doesnt carry it's weight nearly as well as the Hog.

Chain is greased up to the hilt, didnt notice any bads on the wheel bearings, etc.

Is it normal that this thing should be so much more resistant to moving or is it just my imagination? I mean, I thought it was all well and good til I played with this Harley...

[Guest]

if in neutral gear...

1. wheel bearings (incl the axle nut torque)
2. brake pads drag

(it's not your imagination)
your bike should roll as freely as the hog

[groundshock]

I dont see any evidence of the brakes dragging, or any wheel bearing damage...

I thought maybe it couldve been attributed to the belt-drive, but i dunno.

[rapidray]

Put your bike on the centerstand & see if the rear wheel spins easily. If it does, check the front by lifting it & spinning the wheel. If one does turn harder than the other try prying the brake pads apart & try again. If it is the brakes you may need to rebuild the master if it isn't releasing. If still hard, loosen the axle nut & turn again. If STILL hard, BEARINGS!!! Also, too little chain slack will make the rear wheel harder to turn. Ray.

[catbed]

was the sportster running radials? i dont remember if my dads did, was a long time ago. radials have lower rolling resistance than bias-ply.

[Guest]

They gotta make 'em like that(Harleys) cause they spend a lot of time being pushed.Cheers,Simon.

[JayH]

Harley, Harley made of tin,
Ride em out, push them in. :-)

Seriously though your GS should roll around easily unless one of the pads is dragging on the rotor(s).

[drhach]

You're doing an apples to oranges comparison. Compare to another similar GS. I have three different bikes that get shuffled around quite a bit in my one car garage. All of them roll pretty easy but there is a different feel to them all too. In other words, different centers of gravity, different leverage point because of variation in seat height and bar position, different mass on the forks. So, they all feel a little different.

Also, how old is the grease in your wheel bearings? How tight are they? Maybe you have the wrong pre-load on them. There are many things that could affect this. Also, it is additive. So, one might contribute a little here and another contributes there and pretty soon it all adds up to high rolling resistance. You should probably avoid sitting on Harleys anyway. Clearly that is what started this whole thing and you were probably fine before you did that.

[bwringer]

The different center of gravity makes a big difference -- the Harley's is a lot lower than any four-cylinder GS, so it will feel lighter.

Also, I've noticed that new tires definitely have lower rolling resistance than old tires. Most Harleys don't get ridden enough to wear out the tires very often...


It would also be a good idea to rule out any problems with your bike, though (bearings, brake drag, tight chain, etc.). The front and rear should spin pretty freely. The chain on your GS should have lower resistance than the rubber band drive on the Harley.

[tkent02]

Tire pressure?