Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: Bike dumps when turning left, honda hurricane, throttle cable

Question
When I'm turning left at a slow speed my bike will not stay upright and dumps to the ground.  What would cause this and how would I fix this.  My bike is a 1988 Honda Hurricane 1000

Answer
This could be two things: the bike, or you. There is no reason why the bike should fall down on left turns and not right turns. It's probably more psychological than anything else--the same thing would probably happen to you on a different bike! Think of it this way: I can throw a football right handed, but not left handed. What's wrong with this football?

Check your tires for uneven wear. Make sure your forks have the same type and amount of fluid. But it really sounds like the throttle is contributing to the problem. I'm not much of a mechanic, but I'll try to help:

It could be a problem with the throttle cable, perhaps it isn't adjusted properly and sticks or binds when the bars are cranked over to the left.

I suspect, though, it's a combination of the throttle cable and your riding style. Bikes are unstable at low speed, and if the throttle input isn't smooth as glass in a low speed turn, it upsets the suspension and the bike can either fall in (if the motor bogs) or lurch and run wide (if it revs). This is probably what's happening.

So practice very smooth throttle control and counterweighting--leaning "out" in low-speed turns. It takes years to be really good at these things, so be patient. Plus, your bike is an older bike and may have some throttle cable and carburetor tuning issues. I'd guess that a cable adjustment and carb rebuild would help solve the problem.

To see if your throttle cable is sticking, try this: crank up the idle temporarily to about 2000 rpm by turning the idle screw in. Sit on the bike, straight up and down, with it running in neutral. Don't roll on the throttle or anything, let it idle high at 2000 rpm. Now, gently turn the handlebars full lock to the right. Then back, full lock to the left. Back and forth. If the rpms change noticably as you do this, you need to lube and adjust your throttle cable. If the overall throttle response on your bike is kind of "all or nothing," (bouncy, lurchy, rather than smooth) you probably need a carb tune up.

Best of luck, and check out my book Ride Hard, Ride Smart on the web and in bookstores.

Pat