I have been in the state of mind that I may not be able to ride my Audace too much longer I am 76 and the bike is getting harder to manage at slow speeds. I have attributed that to the weight of the bike and the 32* headstock angle. I have also noticed that my riding in curves is a bit notchy. I had the bike on the lift to change the rear tire just before I went to Broken Arrow. I thought the steering seemed a bit tight but then was not the time to further investigate.
When I got back home I put the bike back up on the lift to check it out further. Still seemed pretty stiff. So I got out the service manual to check disassembly procedures. I got it apart and decided I would setup the steering the way Harley recommends, which is that the wheel should just fall away from being centered. So that is what I did. While in the process I saw that the manual says to tighten the lower ring nut to 37 ft/lbs. Holy Moly! No wonder the steering was a bit tight. Or at least that is what I think. Anyway I set it up the Harley way. What a difference, whole new bike. Steady at slow speeds, no more snaking when coming to a stop. High speed turns are now stable with no more mid-turn corrections. I will be able to ride this bike for several more years or I at least hope to be riding for a lot longer.
So in conclusion, is this figure correct? Mis-print, supposed to be this way or did Luigi have two Grappas at lunch. I didn't check torque on dis-assembly as I have no means of using a torque wrench with a spanner but it was pretty tight. I set it up for the fall away and again have no way to check torque on re-adustment. What do you guys think?
kk