Q: I think I messed up. I tried to ride away with the disc lock still attached to the front brake disc on my Yamaha YZF600. After an abrupt stop in my tracks and my body slamming forward into the tank (ouch!), I got off, removed the lock, and continued on my way.

So, the disc lock is all marred, and it left a good-sized scratch on the fork leg. Other than that, could I have done any serious damage to my front end?

Carl Hummer
Via e-mail

A: It’s not too likely that you bent the fork tubes with a sudden stop like that. However, you mention that you noticed a scratch on the fork leg. If that scratch is deep enough, or has also indented the fork leg around it, you may have formed a “high spot” on the inside surface of the lower fork leg.

This high spot can interfere with the smooth action of the fork as it compresses. If you notice your fork action feeling sticky or harsh, such a high spot is likely to be the cause. It’s important to note that if you’ve noticed a sticky feel to your front suspension since this lock incident, and it seems to be going away over time, you may still have a problem. What’s probably happening is that the lower fork tube bearing is being worn heavily as it moves past the high spot over and over. If this is what you’re experiencing, I highly recommend that you disassemble your forks and inspect the relevant bearing and fork leg.

Scott Hodgson
Progressive Suspension

Q: I ride a Honda Valkyrie with a trike conversion. It has excellent rear brakes, but the front tire wears away like a pencil eraser. Does anyone sell or manufacture a proper front tire for trikes? There are many trike builders and installers out there, and most seem to use the front tire from a motorcycle. But when you convert a motorcycle to a trike, you give up some of the front braking ability, along with a whole bunch of miles of front tire wear. (The front tire contacts the road with only the center 2" of tread.) Why doesn’t somebody offer a squared-off profile, like that on an auto tire, for a trike’s front tire?

L.L.
Via e-mail

A: A tough one. A trike’s front tire is used much differently than a motorcycle’s, owing to the forces created by the two rear wheels pushing the front around corners (so to speak). I think most companies do not offer a special front tire for trikes because the market isn’t big enough to support the costs of the tire’s development.

The other thing to consider is that most tire companies would never develop a tire to be used on a bike or trike in conjunction with a competitor’s car or bike tires. That means that both the four-wheel and two-wheel divisions of a tire company would need to work together to develop both front and rear trike tires. Again, what slows that kind of project is the small amount of trikes that are in the market or are sold on a yearly basis.

Jeff Johnston
Metzeler/Pirelli RB