front wheel alignment?

[edls]

hey guys just need your help with this issue. I recently got a new front and rear tire. I took the wheels off myself to save a few dollars and had the dealer just mount the tires. Everything is back on the bike and it was pretty easy to do. The only problem I have is that the front wheel pulls to the right and the steering feels heavy. Do you guys thing my front wheel is off alignment or something? Should I take the front wheel off again? Is there something I have to align? I have the service manual but it didn't mention any way to align it.

Btw, I ran the correct tire pressure, tire is mounted correctly, and I see some new wheel weights on it so Im pretty sure the dealer balanced it correctly. The one spacer is there and everything looks good. I even spun the front wheel a few times when the bike was on the front stand, and it looked good. I had the same problem before on my old R1 after a tire change.

any tips would be cool, thanks in advance.

[singh0121]

http://www.onthethrottle.com/content/view/72/40/

[alpo]

Assuming you didn't mess with your forks and put the assembly together properly there's not much to aligning a front wheel: loosen the pinch bolts, tighten the axle, bounce the front end a couple of times (or push it against something like a wall), tighten the pinch bolts. I like to measure the axle play in the right leg and set the leg in the middle, just to eliminate excess fork stiction, but that's just me.

You could do a rough check on your wheel balance with a couple of jack stands and a 1/2" steel rod. Add a roller bearing to each end of the rod and you have a good balancer.

[edls]

thanks for the replies...the onthethrottle video is a big help. I'm gonna take off the wheel again and retry my steps. I like the idea of the bungees for the calipers too.

I'll let you guys know how I make out.

[Plarp]

I have a hankering that it's not so much your front wheel, but rather, the rear being seated crooked. Either that or you didn't tighten a few of the bolts correctly. Hard to say without looking at it personally.

Let us know what you find out.

[Chugs]

u could loosen the pinch bolts on both sides, then bounce the front end of your bike a few times then, torque the pinch bolts, double check rear wheel alignment as well

[1qwik6]

Off topic, a not on the vid...I had the pleasure of meeting the guy in the wheel chair Aaron, the Pirelli rep at Miller. Super nice guy, and for a guy who can't walk he can sure rip it out there on the track. Truly an amazing sight to see.

[rraiderr]

FORK ALIGNMENT |
| |
| This will need to be done every time you have a new tire installed or |
| you remove your front wheel for anything. The forks are two tubes that |
| are attached to each side of the wheel. These two tubes must be |
| perfectly parallel, if they are not you will experience premature fork |
| seal damage and leaking. |
| |
| Check the triple clamp bolts to make sure they are all snug. You should |
| torque them. Over torqueing these bolts can crush the fork tube (on |
| inverted forks). It can severely mess up your day if you damage these. |
| These are almost always torqued in inch-pounds not foot-pounds. |
| |
| Now you need to check the front axle torque, I also assume that a |
| dealer would have slapped the axle on and didn’t set it up right. First |
| loosen all 4 pinch bolts that tighten the forks to the axle. Next using |
| a torque wrench torque the axle nut to specifications (I can’t tell you |
| a number here because it could be torqued anywhere from 50 to 120 foot |
| (pounds). If the axle spins and you can’t hold it you may need to make |
| sure the axle is seated on the nut side and tighten the pinch bolts on |
| that side ONLY. |

| Now with the pinch bolts loosened on the fork leg opposite of the axle |
| nut, get on your bike and hold the front wheel up against an immovable |
| object such as a wall. You need to compress the forks at least a dozen |
| times or until the axle stops moving. DO NOT USE THE FRONT BRAKE as |
| doing so will not allow the lower legs to move freely. |
| |
| If you don’t do this, the fork tubes are usually closer together at the |
| bottom than at the top after driving an axle through them. When the |
| suspension compresses you end up binding the forks, this damages |
| bushings and seals. Ever known of someone who has their fork seals blow |
| out of their forks all the time? This may be why. So after you get done |
| aligning the front forks, gently get off the bike and tighten the pinch |
| bolts (don’t overtighten these or strip them out). That’s about it for |
| that. |

[Rkhard]

your problem is in your back wheel.. easy way to allign the back without special tools is to measure from back of swing arm to the rear of the axle block. dont use the tick marks as they arnt always accurate.. but id deffiently put my money on your back tire being out of allignment.

[edls]

Update:

I finally had some time to work on the bike this afternoon. I watched the OTT video a few times to help me out. Bike feels much better now and the problem appears to be gone. I rode it about 15 minutes and it felt good. It's supposed to be nice tomorrow again so my buddy and I are gonna ride a couple of hours.

Basically I took off the front wheel again and took my time putting the front wheel back on and did it the same way as on the video. I think my problem was that I didn't bounce the front a few times and I also torque all the nuts while the bike was on the front stand, then I lowered it and noticed the front felt all heavy even moving the bike in the garage. And of course on the test ride it was pulling to the right. Which was my original problem.

So today I did it like this:

1. lifted the front rim/wheel and slide axle through
2. install calipers and tighten bolts goodenough
3. finger tighten the axle nut
4. tighten axle pinch bolts on the left side of bike goodenough
5. snug the axle nut with wrench (now that left side axle pinch bolts are in)
6. tighten axle pinch bolts on the right side goodenough
7. press brake lever a few times to get brake pressure to the front.
8. remove front stand, lower front wheel
9. bounce the front a few times. I did it like a few times on the rear stand, then off the rear stand just to make sure, with no brakes at first, then the last couple of times I pressed the brake lever
10. now with the front wheel on the ground I tighten brake calipers bolts to 28 lbs./ft, axle nut to 72.5 lbs./ft, then finally left side axle pinch bolts to 16.5, and right side to 16.5 lbs./ft

Moving the bike in the garage felt better already, it wasn't all heavy like last time. Then I put my helmet on and went for a ride, what a difference.

thanks for all the advice and the video, it was a lot of help!!!

[Mugen]

Not to hijack the thread but can somebody please answer my question.
After putting my rear tire back where it belongs I noticed that when the bike is on the rear stand and in gear(rear wheel spinning) It wobbles a little... I'm curious what can cause it? I installed driven 520 kit torqued it to the proper spec(the sticky one) and it wobbles... Any ideas? I can post a video if that would be any help. Thanks in advance.

[edls]

Originally Posted by Mugen

Not to hijack the thread but can somebody please answer my question.
After putting my rear tire back where it belongs I noticed that when the bike is on the rear stand and in gear(rear wheel spinning) It wobbles a little... I'm curious what can cause it? I installed driven 520 kit torqued it to the proper spec(the sticky one) and it wobbles... Any ideas? I can post a video if that would be any help. Thanks in advance.

If you see it wobble a little then your wheel might not be lined up correctly. Watch the OTT video posted above and it should give you some pointers. Also go on youtube and search, How to remove motorcycle wheels. The videos help and it should guide you in the right direction.

[SoCalMatt]

Originally Posted by singh0121

http://www.onthethrottle.com/content/view/72/40/

How did they get the rear caliper to stay in place? Mine always flops off and is the hardest thing to get back on when inserting/lining up rear axle.

[SPL170db]

Originally Posted by edls

I have the service manual but it didn't mention any way to align it.

Sure it does.

[Dman600]

Originally Posted by alpo

Assuming you didn't mess with your forks and put the assembly together properly there's not much to aligning a front wheel: loosen the pinch bolts, tighten the axle, bounce the front end a couple of times (or push it against something like a wall), tighten the pinch bolts. I like to measure the axle play in the right leg and set the leg in the middle, just to eliminate excess fork stiction, but that's just me.

You could do a rough check on your wheel balance with a couple of jack stands and a 1/2" steel rod. Add a roller bearing to each end of the rod and you have a good balancer.

Sorry this is a huge revival.. ha. But im trying to pinpoint why my wheel is twerked after my light wreck.

The pinch bolts you are referring to are on the axle? Correct?

I tried loosening the pinch bolts on both tripples and bouncing them, but I dont see a difference.
I might just end up taking everything off to inspect and reinstall hopefully everything pops back into place.

[berencam]

What do you mean the wheel is "twerked"? Might be a lower tripple

[LynnM]

Pinch bolts are on the front forks. When looking for the wobble look at the rim NOT the tire