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I recently (last week) got a CBR125 2013 and the more I am riding it the more I get the feeling I may have made a huge mistake.

Firstly, I feel that it needs to be said, the bike has some minor scratches on the one side of the fairing, no cause for concern right, just some aesthetic damage? But the bike really is otherwise in great condition, the engine pulls well (for a 125) and everything seems to be well looked after... But notably the bike is also desperately needing new tyres, and initially I thought this might be the source of my problems.

The cause for alarm is when j take my hands from the handle bar... It seems to want to go left... Also when I ride I feel like I'm subconsciously having to keep it straight. This is something I could have dealt with until I took it for its first service and tyre replacement until this morning:

In a underground parking lot with a very smooth surface (absolutely terrible for traction, felt myself slipping on acceleration with my previous bike) I suddenly needed to brake really hard, and almost instantaneously the tyre locked and pulled the bike and its tyre to the left.

Later I decided to test it on normal tar. And with almost no effort on my part, it locked again and the bar turned to the one side again.

So my questions are: Worst case scenario, what could be broken?

The worn tyres are obviously just making these effects more obvious due to their decreased traction, but could it possibly be that it's the tyres causing the pulling to the left?

Will the guys fitting new tyres be able to fix this or should I get a mechanic to look at it first when I take it for a service?

I really would appreciate any help!

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If there has been an accident the fork legs could be missaligned in the yokes (aka triple trees). To reset them -Raise the front wheel off the floor to take the load off the front suspension, then loosen the yoke pinch bolts that clamp the forks to a allow a them to return to the natural, correct possition. You should see that the top and bottom yoke are in line. You might need to help it back into alignment. Tighten the bolts to the correct torque and the bike will ride straight again.

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  • I am getting new tyres put on the end of the month, would they do this for you usually?
    – Tiaan
    Commented Jun 11, 2017 at 20:19
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    @Tiaan not usually
    – gh0st
    Commented Jun 12, 2017 at 6:01
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    Ask them to. They're 80% of the way there when they're putting the new front tyre on. It's really only a couple of extra bolts to loosen, and bouncing the front end a couple times. I would describe what you are experiencing and ask them to have a look at the forks, front wheel, and triple tree.
    – raydowe
    Commented Jun 21, 2017 at 15:05

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