Steve,
How old are the tires on the front axle? You could be experiencing the usual
effects of a new set of tires wearing in. When they are first mounted and
riding on the vent nubs, etc., the steering is very easy. As the contact
patch increases with wear, the steering effort increases markedly. The
difference will be exaggerated with a lot of caster and camber. How much
caster do you have? The more you have, the greater the steering effort. I
wouldn't go more than +4.5 degrees on caster and more than -1.5 on camber,
and less if you are not after the ultimate cornering performance but just
want good drivability. If your point of reference is your Honda with power
steering, then a normal Tiger with 195/50-15 tires is going to feel pretty
stiff to steer. After a while, you will adapt. BTW, don't forget to check
the front tire pressures. Running less than thirty psig would make it harder
to steer too. If you still feel you have some sort of mechanical problem in
the steering, jack up the front end and check things out without any load on
the wheels. Check for upper and lower ball joint wear and looseness, how
freely the rack operates, etc. Maybe something will become obvious during
this inspection.
Bob
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