Motorcycle wheel alignment

[Blackbird]

Call me cynical, but whilst Triumph's statement about stability, or at least slightly slowing down the reaction of the bike to put it another way is probably correct; I still think assembly can easily account for your offset. From memory, I moved one fork stanchion through the clamp less than half a mm to bring mine as close as dammit. You could try that if it still bothers you.

Yes, you can still use the string line or laser. It's just that you'll have to factor in your offset when taking the measurement. Even if you don't try and alter the offset, it's worth checking periodically to make sure nothing's changed, particularly after you've had a tyre changed or chain adjusted.

[koba]

I checked the cain adjusters on a few bikes, on my bucket (NSR frame) they are perfect so I use them.
On most other bikes they have been out by quite a bit.

[TALLIS]

I checked the cain adjusters on a few bikes, on my bucket (NSR frame) they are perfect so I use them.
On most other bikes they have been out by quite a bit.

So what your really saying is, sell the triumph, get a Honda, problem solved!
And as always "you meet the nicest people on a Honda"

[Yow Ling]

The chain adjusters are not going to cause an offset, all they are going to do is point the wheel in a different direction.
Adjusting a fork stauntion 1/2mm isn't going to do fuck all either

[F5 Dave]

I was going to say Greg or Paul will be along in a while but they have both given input which I thought would be sager than mine on the matters of ye old bikes. Norton I believe built wheels offset probably due to a silly heavy cranked big twin doing its thing. I've read about it but promptly lost the whys & whereforalls due t lack of interest in the subject mater. I do recall that wheel builders that corrected the obvious mistake resulted in queer handling bikes.

Sheesh, who'd buy a British bike?

[Grumph]

I was going to say Greg or Paul will be along in a while but they have both given input which I thought would be sager than mine on the matters of ye old bikes. Norton I believe built wheels offset probably due to a silly heavy cranked big twin doing its thing. I've read about it but promptly lost the whys & whereforalls due t lack of interest in the subject mater. I do recall that wheel builders that corrected the obvious mistake resulted in queer handling bikes.

Sheesh, who'd buy a British bike?

British ? where ? thought they were built in Asia like nearly everything else...

It was Syd lawton who sorted out Nortons and Triumphs back in the day. from memory, the factory jig for Norton wheels was out...
And when in line, the handling was miles better.....The old test is try riding it hands off - if it goes straight, fine. If you've got to grab it to stop going in the gutter, fix the bloody thing.
Given the wheels are probably spoked by girls in Thailand, I'd still pick a spoking/jigging error. If it can be done by unskilled labour, it can and will be fucked up.

[F5 Dave]

Not sure where my Triumph was built as an 07, but the are pretty much all Thailand now.

Moving a spoked wheel at least a little sideways used to be easy. Take off tyre (so you can see if spokes protrude through nipple & risk puncture) then loosen every 2nd spoke/tighten alternate spoke which will move rim quite a bit. With more modern tubeless spoked rims I cannot comment, I've only seen my Trials bike one -which was just some mastic over the nipples.

[jellywrestler]

i suppose you could use red string for the laser beam look

I can send you some if you like, my girlfriend has a supply of it, every twenty eight days.

[AllanB]

I don’t agree with Triumph statement as a generalisation - bike specific probably. Your bike for example presumable is offset so the front and rear sprockets align - to correct the offset imagine cutting off the headset and rewelding it Xmm left or right (depending on the existing offset) so the wheels align perfectly. The engine and bulk weight will now be bias one side - If a pillion sits side saddle you can feel the bike naturally pulling to the side their legs hang off (don’t ask how I know this, miss spent youth). Take your hands off the bars while travelling straight and the bike will pull that way too.

But really they should have designed that bloody engine so it sat sweetly in the frame with wheels aligned!!!!!

[Blackbird]

But really they should have designed that bloody engine so it sat sweetly in the frame with wheels aligned!!!!!

Yep, but then you run into another problem in that the weight of the motor isn't evenly distributed about the centre of the bike. I suppose there comes a point when the designers say "fuck it, most people won't notice a bit of misalignment" or words to that effect

I experienced that problem in the early 70's shoehorning a Triumph twin into a Ducati 200 Elite chassis - bloody nightmare in aligning sprockets, making spacers and so on!

[fixer]

I've recently exchanged an email with Steve Bridge at F1E Motorcycle Works on this subject. I hope he doesn't mind me quoting him here: "The only bikes I have known to have offset wheel alignment from the factory are some harleys due that have the wide back rims and the clearance from the drive belt to the tyre becomes an issue, not saying there aren`t any others but I can certainly say it is not a good scenario and I can`t imagine why Triumph of all company would make a bike with such a poor design and compromise the handling. I have owned and repaired a few of the 865 hinkley twins of the same period as your scrambler and none of them have an offset wheel alignment certainly not when they leave here. Also they would not pass the 308 chassis certification if they did."

I think that if I knew for certain that the wheel offset was there for a good reason, then I would be able to relax. But I can't help being reluctant to push the bike in corners when there is even a suspicion that the bike is not assembled correctly.

If Honda made a Scrambler, I probably would have bought one. But I really like my Triumph and I will pursue this issue until I am satisfied or too tired to care any more.

[HenryDorsetCase]

mastic over the nipples.

wait, whut?

is that what we're calling it now?

[HenryDorsetCase]

I can send you some if you like, my girlfriend has a supply of it, every twenty eight days.

she might have some of that nipple-mastic as well.

I really have nothing to add to this thread.

[AllanB]

Have you checked the chain is fulling nice and parallel with the sprockets? Just in case some knob switched over axle spacers from left to right on the rear (presuming they'd fit if one did so.

[BASS-TREBLE]

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?