kz550 ltd pulls right

Finally got my 550 together and took it for a spin. The handlebars do not appear to be at 90 degrees to the front tire. It also makes right turns easily but is hard to make lefts. The steering is not stiff but it is just more effort to turn left. Any help would be greatly appreciated,thanks in advance, Brad.

maybe your forks aren't square in the clamps?

When you're riding and you take your hands off of the bars do you have to shift your weight onto the left arse cheek?

Your problem could well be caused by a maladjusted rear axle. Do not trust the alignment marks on the swing arm. Their inaccuracy is well documented in KZ lore.

Keep us posted.

Bill

has bike been laid down in past?eyeball frontend from differant angles,look for bent parts

My uncle had that with a 550 LTD. Turned out the PO had laid it down at slow speed and the front end had twisted in the triple trees. Nothing was bent but going down the road he said it was enough to make your head hurt watching it crab. He loosened the triple trees and centered the wheel then re-torqued the trees and everything was as it should be. Turned out to be one of his favorite bikes. But he was 6'9" and looked a little strange on it. My father got him to sell it to him and I got to ride it for a while. It was a real nice bike. I should have bought it. Still kick myself.

Ok the forks and wheel and Kawasaki badge all look out of alignment. This bike "Looks" like it has never seen rain. I bought it as a rolling chassis. How do I get the forks straight in the tripple tree? It really doesn't appear to have been dropped.

try loosening up the bolts holding top triple tree to fork tubes and big bolt top center of triple tree then see if you can straighten it any
if the bike was a roller when you bought it,somebody might have tried fixing it and gave up

silverado wrote: Ok the forks and wheel and Kawasaki badge all look out of alignment. This bike "Looks" like it has never seen rain. I bought it as a rolling chassis. How do I get the forks straight in the tripple tree? It really doesn't appear to have been dropped.

Could try slightly loosening forks in the clamps (loosen fork tube clamp bolts).

Then stand over front wheel, facing the headlight, gripping wheel with knees, and pull the handlebar grips left and right as required to align both the handlebars and the front wheel to face directly forward.

After alignment, re-tighten the clamp bolts.

Good Fortune!

So kind of like a bicycle when I was a kid? I'll give it a try. Thanks.

So heres an update. I loosened all the bolts on the triple tree. Held the wheel/tire and tried to move the handlebars, they didn't move. My buddy confirmed the wheel and triple tree were not at right angles. Tried again. Sat looked and thought. LOOSEN the fender. So that I did. Tried again, Big snap, and everything moved.Tightened everything back up and it rides pretty nice. Not as nice as my 650f but figure thats due to the high bars of the ltd. Many Thanks to all that gave their input.

yeah i didnt think about front fender acting as a big fork brace! :laugh:

An aha moment. Should be a testament to those who chose to run without a front fender or fork brace. Your front fender IS A FORK BRACE. Just because you like the look of something does not mean it's a good idea. If it can hold a dumped front end askew then it helps hold it straight too.