[Tanhands]

I bought the bike a couple weeks ago but have not taken it riding because I went out of town right away and was waiting for the new tires to show up.
So I was working on it last night and I noticed that the Left Tie Rod is adjusted all the way in. This make it so when turning the bars to the right the Left wheel turns more then the Right and when turning the bars to the Left the left wheel hardly turns at all.
I know the Tie Rods can be adjusted and have read the Service manual on how to do this. My question is this, Do I need to lift the front end off the ground to adjust the Tie Rods? Do I need to disconnect the Ends from the where they meet the wheel, basically removing the Tie Rod from the Bike or do I just start turning the nuts on the Tie Rod? The Lock Nut they talk about, is that the Nut holding it to the bike with the Cotter Pin and do I remove that or just loosen it?
This is what the Manual says and the more I think about it the more confused I am getting.

"Loosen the locknuts (tie-rod end) 1 of both
tie-rods.

The same number of turns should be given
to both the right and left tie-rods 2 until the
specified toe-in is obtained. This is to keep
the length of the rods the same.

Tighten the rod end locknuts of both tie rods."

 

[QuadManiac]

If your bars are square with the bike when the wheels are straight forward, yet you have this issue - look at the pitman arm - where the tie rods connect to the steering stem - I'll bet you see that it is NOT square to the bike... this implies that the steering stem is bent/twisted. The only real fix for this is a new steering stem, about $75 on eBay.

To adjust the tie rods, loosen both inner and outer lock nuts and turn the center shaft (there is a flat on the shaft so you can grab it with a wrench).

Be aware, one side of the shaft is left hand thread, the other is right hand thread. So when turning the center shaft one way, the ends move in on the shaft, turning shaft the other way, the ends move out on the shaft.

You'll have to look at the threads at the each end of each shaft to determing which thread it is, and which way to loosen the locknut.

Once you play with them a bit, you'll get the understanding of how they adjust - turn both left and right rods in the same direction and the wheels will tip in and out relative to each other (toe in/toe out)... turn the two rods in opposite directions, and the wheels will both turn in the same direction - use this to square them both up with the bike.

 

[Tanhands]

Thanks for the info. The Tie Rod on the Left was completely tightened down and the one on the right was not. I tightened Both and then adjusted the same number of turns like the Manual said. Not the wheels seem to turn the same distance in both directions.
I am wondering why the last owner would have done this. Is it maybe a Sand thing? I was thinking maybe that would keep from having the steering "Turn Over" on the left but It drastically limited the amount of Right hand turn avail.
Either way it is done now so this thread is dead.
Thanks.

 

[QuadManiac]

Might have done it because he didn't have the excellent instructions from Raptorforum members and did the best his feeble mind could figure out?