Is my rear wheel straight? Can I trust the marks on the swingarm?

[Oakie]

I adjusted the chain on my bike today and the thought occured to me that it would be nice to really know if my rear wheel is straight. I know there are adjustment marks on the side of the swingarm but I've never really trusted them. Are they trustworthy? When I adjust I just tighten each side up by the same amount and the theory is that if was was straight originally then it'll still be straight.
Can you tell please of an easy way to check that my wheel is pointing straight ahead and is not a few degrees off true? There's nothing to indicate that it is ... no odd wear patterns and the bike seems to track straight ... it would just be nice to know is all.

[Ocean1]

I adjusted the chain on my bike today and the thought occured to me that it would be nice to really know if my rear wheel is straight. I know there are adjustment marks on the side of the swingarm but I've never really trusted them. Are they trustworthy? When I adjust I just tighten each side up by the same amount and the theory is that if was was straight originally then it'll still be straight.
Can you tell please of an easy way to check that my wheel is pointing straight ahead and is not a few degrees off true? There's nothing to indicate that it is ... no odd wear patterns and the bike seems to track straight ... it would just be nice to know is all.

They're usuall good. Simple check is to hold a straight-edge along the side of the rear tyre, (as high up as possible) forward to the front wheel. Hold the front straight and check both sides, should be the same gap between the straight-edge and the front wheel both sides.

[Oakie]

They're usuall good. Simple check is to hold a straight-edge along the side of the rear tyre, (as high up as possible) forward to the front wheel. Hold the front straight and check both sides, should be the same gap between the straight-edge and the front wheel both sides.

Yeah that's what I have tried in the past. Unfortunately the only straight edge I've got that has any length to it is a clamp which is about 1.8 metres long but is really too heavy to be able to hold in place.
I've tried measuring the distance between the side of the swingarm and the rim of the tyre but I guess there is no guarantee that the swingarm is the same distance from the tyre on both sides anyway.

[Ocean1]

Dude, how can you survive without a straight-edge?

Don't have to be good for a thou or less, piece of nice timber would do.

[Sam I Am]

You can use string ....

[laRIKin]

You can use string ....

As he said use a string line or you can measure from the swing arm
pivot to the center of the wheel axle.

[laRIKin]

Here you, that is if you have never done it before.
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/howto/string_align_motorcycle_wheels/index.html

[MSTRS]

The other way to get a good idea of straightness, is to (remove the chainguard if necessary) sight along the chain. With the rear up on a stand, spin the wheel - you will soon see if the chain is tracking straight between the sprockets.

[Oakie]

Here you, that is if you have never done it before.
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/howto/string_align_motorcycle_wheels/index.html

Thanks for the link. I'll give that a crack.

[laRIKin]

Thanks for the link. I'll give that a crack.

I sometimes use to put a bit of box steel or wood on each side of the rear wheel tire to make it easier to make align the wheels as you get a bigger gap and are not touching the front wheel as much.

[Blackbird]

Or you could build yourself a simple laser alignment rig as I did, mainly because I was curious as to how well it would work. You could build an adjustable one for a whole range of tyres but my simple one works perfectly and I've used it for a good few years now.

See: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=6141&highlight=laser+wheel+alignment#post6141

[Ocean1]

Or you could build yourself a simple laser alignment rig

Nice work dude.

[Oakie]

Or you could build yourself a simple laser alignment rig as I did, mainly because I was curious as to how well it would work. You could build an adjustable one for a whole range of tyres but my simple one works perfectly and I've used it for a good few years now.

See: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=6141&highlight=laser+wheel+alignment#post6141

That is quite remarkable! Quite cheap and fairly easy to manufacture. I might give that a crack just for a laugh. Thanks

[puddytat]

Dont trust your swingarm marks....mine are 15mm out of true using the stringline system. This came to my attention after seeing the damage it did to my new PR2's....:shit::weep:

[Oakie]

Dont trust your swingarm marks....mine are 15mm out of true using the stringline system. This came to my attention after seeing the damage it did to my new PR2's....:shit::weep:

Ouch! Yeah I had a feeling from when I was a biker in my youth that you shouldn't trust those marks without question. Cheers

[The Lone Rider]

Ta for everyone who put some info here, bike has felt since yesterday like it wants to turn right at the rear tyre and two minutes on here and found a solution to get the thing lined up.

Pot hole is my guess..

[vifferman]

That is quite remarkable! Quite cheap and fairly easy to manufacture. I might give that a crack just for a laugh. Thanks
Almost makes me wish I didn't have a single-sided swingarm. :confused:
Then again, if I did test the VFR's wheel alignment and it was off, I'd be rather pissed of.

[Grub]

Here is the way a racer showed me. I've spent hours and hours trying different methods ... this one is quick, easy and 100% accurate

The trick is to get a card of elastic from the super market and stretch it around both wheels. You need to make it as tight as possible so it holds a straight line. Because the back tyre is wider than the front there is a gap between the elastic. Make sure this is equal on both sides of the front tyre. Any mis-alignment will now show up as a gap between the elastic and the front edge of the rear tyre.

It should look like this <img src=http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/albums/thumbs/9/3a29562d8620e009525281b86e3d20bd_9247.jpg></img> (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/picture.php?albumid=967&pictureid=9247)

[OutForADuck]

Ouch! Yeah I had a feeling from when I was a biker in my youth that you shouldn't trust those marks without question. Cheers

I completely agree... Don't trust the swing arm marks they are bollocks... go for the string. (Beware the "gap" method though as this allow a margin of error dependent on the back tires size).

NOTE: you only need to do it every so often because once aligned you should just count turns on the adjusters for most chain tensioning exercisers.

[The Lone Rider]

Tried string.. I get the princple but has been a bit tricky with the four pipes and the brake stay rod and all that.

The bike to me felt like it was leaning right at the rear.

Haven't done enough riding at the moment to get a feel for the new adjustments. Might get someone on the CHCH WNR to have a look.