Motorcycle wheel alignment

[Grumph]

Not sure I'm reading this right but are you sure your rear wheel is aligned properly as far as how the adjusters are set?

When you move an adjuster on one side of the wheel it will point into a slightly different direction so I don't see why you can't move it until the centerline of it has moved 15mm at the front wheel so it is now spaced 15mm on one side and 15mm on the other of the front wheel?

True, grasshopper...but the chain line must remain parallel to the wheel centerline...

And no, I wouldn't like to pay your chain and sprocket replacement bills....

[BASS-TREBLE]

True, grasshopper...but the chain line must remain parallel to the wheel centerline...

And no, I wouldn't like to pay your chain and sprocket replacement bills....

Fully agree but I see no mention of being certain that the wheel centerline is parallel to the chain line.

[fixer]

The marks on the chain adjusters approximately match now, with the wheels offset by 15mm. This chain adjustment was done by the dealer at the bike's first service. And it is the dealer who is telling me that it's adjusted correctly as it is right now.

I have a small pointer that clips on the rear sprocket that I have used for checking the chain and sprocket alignment. From what I can see, the sprockets do not quite line up at the moment. However, when I set the chain adjusters so that the front and back wheel are rotating in the same plane (chain adjuster marks differ by about 3mm), the rear sprocket has turned too far the other way and the sprockets again do not appear to line up.

Tomorrow, if I have time, I'm going to try and get reasonably accurate measurements between the swingarm pivot and the rear axle on both sides. I've done this before but not since the dealer adjusted the chain. If the measurements on both sides are not equal, I will have something else to ask Triumph about.

[koba]

If Honda made a Scrambler, I probably would have bought one.

Make one!
I did.

[cotswold]

I had a 2007 and I would not worry too much as the pegs will be on the deck well before you lean it very far.
ps I liked mine too apart from ground clearance. ( if you pull out the baffle they sound nice too )

[fixer]

I'm actually quite impressed by the ground clearance on the 2014 Scrambler. It's substantially taller than both the Bonnie and the T100 that I've ridden recently and the suspension, both front and rear is decently firm. The Bonnie scraped the side stand on the ground if you even thought about turning left. On the Scrambler I haven't scraped anything, even in bumpy corners.

So I measured the distance between the swingarm pivot and the rear axle (quite tricky to do accurately) and came to the conclusion that the left hand end of the axle was about 2.5mm further away from the swingarm pivot than the right hand end of the axle. Armed with this info, I decided that the workshop at Holeshot had simply put blind faith in the chain adjustment marks when they adjusted the chain, which IMHO was completely unjustified. I.e. they messed up.

I moved the left hand end of the rear axle forward 2.5mm and carefully checked the wheel alignment (pretty good), the sprocket alignment (very good) and the vertical alignment of the wheels (not bad either). This time I also loosened the front axle and re-tightened it carefully.

So I'm largely back where I was before I took the bike in for its first service. At that time, everything looked largely okay, except for the chain adjustment marks being about 2 or 3mm out, and the bike pulling to the right when I took my hands off the bars. I haven't taken it for another test ride yet, but I suspect that it will still pull to the right. If it does, I think I might take it to Gill Tuffin, the frame certification guy in Hamilton, and get him to check it in his fancy laser machine.

Whilst I don't believe that any of this is causing a noticeable handling problem, I do think that I'm getting to the point where an expert opinion is justified. Partly because my opinion of correct wheel alignment and Holeshot's opinion seem to differ so substantially. And partly because the bike pulls to the right either way!

At some point I will give up and just enjoy my bike. I have not yet reached that point.

[fixer]

Make one!
I did.

Out of what?

[Ocean1]

So I measured the distance between the swingarm pivot and the rear axle (quite tricky to do accurately) and came to the conclusion that the left hand end of the axle was about 2.5mm further away from the swingarm pivot than the right hand end of the axle. Armed with this info, I decided that the workshop at Holeshot had simply put blind faith in the chain adjustment marks when they adjusted the chain, which IMHO was completely unjustified. I.e. they messed up.

I moved the left hand end of the rear axle forward 2.5mm and carefully checked the wheel alignment (pretty good), the sprocket alignment (very good) and the vertical alignment of the wheels (not bad either). This time I also loosened the front axle and re-tightened it carefully.

So I'm largely back where I was before I took the bike in for its first service. At that time, everything looked largely okay, except for the chain adjustment marks being about 2 or 3mm out, and the bike pulling to the right when I took my hands off the bars. I haven't taken it for another test ride yet, but I suspect that it will still pull to the right. If it does, I think I might take it to Gill Tuffin, the frame certification guy in Hamilton, and get him to check it in his fancy laser machine.

Whilst I don't believe that any of this is causing a noticeable handling problem, I do think that I'm getting to the point where an expert opinion is justified. Partly because my opinion of correct wheel alignment and Holeshot's opinion seem to differ so substantially. And partly because the bike pulls to the right either way!

At some point I will give up and just enjoy my bike. I have not yet reached that point.

I like your opinion. And I think you're already there.

Find a flat, non-cambered surface long enough for a decent play and then see if the bike still wants to pull right.

All of my bikes have tended to drift on a normally cambered road if you let the bars go, to the point of having to shift my weight sideways a couple of inches to keep it straight.

'Course, you could always see what happens if you ride on the right hand side...

[F5 Dave]

If rear isn't aligned you often notice it at very low town speeds it will wander and be a pain to keep in a straight line. Kobas Honda is a joy to behold. Surprising they didn't make a production version really.

[fixer]

If rear isn't aligned you often notice it at very low town speeds it will wander and be a pain to keep in a straight line. Kobas Honda is a joy to behold. Surprising they didn't make a production version really.

Are there any photos of the Honda floating around?

[F5 Dave]

Probably spy photos, I heard there were some Japanese gentlemen enquiring of its whereabouts at the local TSS bike shop, but they were vague on why they wanted to know. They tried to throw them off by saying it was in upper hutt, but they only had to look a few blocks away.

Maybe it will show up in production yet?

I'd buy one, except of course I hate Hondas.

[koba]

Out of what?

Are there any photos of the Honda floating around?

Probably spy photos, I heard there were some Japanese gentlemen enquiring of its whereabouts at the local TSS bike shop, but they were vague on why they wanted to know. They tried to throw them off by saying it was in upper hutt, but they only had to look a few blocks away.

Maybe it will show up in production yet?

I'd buy one, except of course I hate Hondas.

Yeah, only a grainy spy shot at this stage...
Info is thin, it's rumoured to be a high performance two stroke.

Upload to come.

[F5 Dave]

More real ability than those stylised R100GS thingys Ewan & Charlie movie star holidayed around on, and well capable of a quasi continental jaunt of say Thailand or Bali.

[fixer]

More real ability than those stylised R100GS thingys Ewan & Charlie movie star holidayed around on, and well capable of a quasi continental jaunt of say Thailand or Bali.

I've heard a rumour that a small group of Auckland riders are gallivanting about the gravel roads of our fair countryside on GN250s with road tyres! As far as I'm concerned, if it gets you out and about on a bike and you're not ashamed to be seen on it, excellent! Ewan and Charlie might have had satellite phones, free Beemers and an entourage the Sultan of Brunei would have been proud of but, of all the things they could have done with money and fame, they chose to ride motorbikes on grubby backroads. Good for them I say. :-)

[AllanB]

I ordered a bloody great big measuring caliper from the USA some years back. I use this for checking center points between the swingarm axle and rear wheel axle. Works a charm.

Here it is - big mother - given the freight cost I should have ordered a few, flicked them off and reduced each share.

You could make a suitable tool for this from a length of rod and a suitable sset of pointers each end (one needs to be adjustable of course).


http://www.harborfreight.com/24-inch...per-96509.html