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Tire snobs

Concours was designed to eat up super-slab highway, not so much tuck into tight corners.

Can you (tilt) reposition your handlebars forward ? That will result in what I refer to as power steering like control. tilt them back and you are in motocross mode <- riding the rear tire more. You are shifting the rider weight from front to rear or visa versa and altering the leverage you have relative to the steering head bearing. Moving the bars forward relative to that point will require slightly less conscious rider input. Moving them way back like vintage cruiser pull back bars will result in what I call tiller steering.

If handlebar adjustments are impossible or not making any difference, then you might want to look at your saddle height and foot peg locations. The bars and pegs are your motorcycles input controls when you are not just traveling in a long flat straight line.
 
Handlebars are already as far forward as they will go without hitting the screen for the gauges. Footpegs are lowered 1.5". The seating position feels right.
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Ya, that happens a lot, two piece bars, all those connection points and almost none of them offer any usable adjustment.
 
jeff96 said:
I don't mean to take this too far off topic, but what do you mean by feels like riding through glue?
I have a new to me bike that seems to need a lot more countersteering effort than my other bike to make it lean into a turn. I assumed it's just a matter of getting used to it, but someone suggested tires. Would different tires of the same correct size cause a bike to 'ride on rails'? (The tire has low mileage but is 5 years old)
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Check the basics - tire pressures (with a GOOD gauge), wheel alignment and rudimentary suspension settings.
Until you establish a baseline, its hard to know whether different tires will make any difference.
My vintage bike has a very long wheelbase and suspension designed for an oxcart, without spending stupid money on shock and fork upgrades this is as good as it gets.
 
I'm not concerned to the point where I feel like I need to spend money to correct things. I'm not even sure if anything needs to be corrected at this point. For now I'll check the basics as you suggested and get a few thousand kms on her. I suspect after riding awhile, it will become obvious if I need to change anything

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jeff96 said:
I don't mean to take this too far off topic, but what do you mean by feels like riding through glue?
I have a new to me bike that seems to need a lot more countersteering effort than my other bike to make it lean into a turn. I assumed it's just a matter of getting used to it, but someone suggested tires. Would different tires of the same correct size cause a bike to 'ride on rails'? (The tire has low mileage but is 5 years old)

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High steering effort and the bike resists wanting to be leaned over, requiring a constant push to hold its lean angle without straightening out and running wide. Worn tires, low tire pressure, and wrong steering geometry contribute, but tire profile and construction are major factors. I am fussy about this. In roadracing, I want the bike to turn and hold its line. The other factor is that effort required to hold a lean angle masks the subtle feel of the front tire approaching its limit.
 
+1 for Brian's comment
and "5 years old" ....
Even though it may still have tread, the tire compound has probably deteriorated. Please give serious consideration to getting new tires. The motorcycle is on two wheels only and the tire-to-road contact patch is limited. Ride safe
 
and I'm supporting the tire size comment
that and the weight of the bike

first big bike with big tires will not turn in as easy
 
what chris said
5 years is max for tire life:
 
J_F said:
and I'm supporting the tire size comment
that and the weight of the bike

first big bike with big tires will not turn in as easy
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It's relative. My 83 GL650 isn't a small bike in my opinion.

Tires definitely need to be replaced soon. On checking, they were both 4-5 psi low. Suspension was also set a little soft; previous owner was smaller than me. After fixing those minor things and a few hundred kms, it's feeling much more nimble.

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jeff96 said:
I try to avoid crazy steep drops on a 650 lb bike. I'm a coward that way.

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650 pound bike is an answer in itself.
maybe a 530 pound cbf1000, with chain final drive, is what your looking for... wink lol...now lets go tire shoppin!
a well ridden large bike cornering - can be a beautiful thing
 
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Ah, nothing's gonna pry this from my greedy hands now. That shaft drive contributes to weight, but I enjoy the lower maintenance.
As for performance, technically it's got less power to weight than other bikes I'd considered, but it still has a ridiculous amount of power.
Fast, cheap, and reliable. For real.

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