Hello my name is chris, I am new to this forum. I recently just bought a 97 CBR900rr. I have been riding motorcycles for a long time, riding a 1979 Suzuki TS125 enduro dirtbike that I got for $200 when I was around 13. After that, I bought a 1988 Suzuki Katana 600 in 2006 which I still have. I wanted to get something alittle quicker and newer this year so I bought the 97 cbr. I am going to pick the bike up next weekend.

There is some issues that the bike has though and I was wondering if people could maybe help me with them. When I took the bike for a test ride (in 20 degree weather) I noticed that when I was going at slow speeds that the handlebars felt like they wanted to twist to the left on me. I almost had to fight to keep them straight. The issue also pops up when I accelerate at a good speed. When I am cruising along or not accelerating hard, the bike rides great.

The prior owner told me the bike was never wrecked and it has a clean title. The tires are pretty bald like 2/ 32's of tread at most left and the center of the tire seems to be raised higher than the sides of the tread. Any ideas if the tires being bad would cause this issue? Or is there something else I should check out?

Also the left turn signal works ok but when I went to put the right turn signal on it didn't work. If I push the button in and push it over to the right it started working but I don't think the rear right turnsignal was blinking or illuminating at all. The switch also feels like it has a little too much resistance to it. Any ideas what may cause this? It did appear to work on and off as the bike ran and warmed up some. Was it just the cold causing this or something else?

Also the clutch doesn't start to catch until the clutch lever is almost completely out. This is very different from my katana. Is there a way to adjust the lever so it engages the clutch sooner?

Finally I saw above the headlight is some kind of access cover with two screws in it and a plastic cover over it. On other bikes, I see that sometimes there is a small light there. Is there a way to install this 3rd light on mine?

Sorry for so many questions and the long post but I am a newbie to the cbr. I plan on getting a repair manual for the bike and want to do some mods. Would love to add that 3rd light in the front and maybe different turn signals. I am pretty mechanically inclined but need some guidance to put me in the right direction to fixing the turn signal issue and maybe the steering if new tires don't fix this. Thanks.

 

The pulling 'may' be tires but in my experience its more often frame alignment which would be very bad. Eyeball the front and rear tires from some distance in front and behind the bike see if they line up I.e. frame twisted.

Blinker switch could just need cleaning/lubrication , not uncommon, although its possible its worn beyond repair and require replacement.

The area in the front is for a running light so apparently the bulb is out or missing.

Uh.....what else.

Oh, the clutch has some adjustment thru the cable (and some times on the lever itself), if you've taken out all possible slack and the engagement point is still that far out, then most likely the clutch needs replacement as well.