Pete in PA Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Well after copying every wheel alignment procedure I have (all Motorcyclist mag.) And finding discrepancies between them I checked my XX again and this time found the swingarm marks off by about 1.5 turns of the adjuster bolts. Now my question, besides handling, what effect will this have on tire wear? What I mean is will the front fork geometry keep trying to keep the front wheel straight or will it allow it to align to the crooked rear wheel? Will the rear tire in affect be trying to slide slightly instead of roll or still roll, just crooked compared to the frame? Of course I'm still trying to get more tire mileage after reading about Flitemdic getting 11k miles out of his Stradas. I'll be happy to get 5k miles till cord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykotek-xx Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Well after copying every wheel alignment procedure I have (all Motorcyclist mag.) And finding discrepancies between them I checked my XX again and this time found the swingarm marks off by about 1.5 turns of the adjuster bolts. Now my question, besides handling, what effect will this have on tire wear? What I mean is will the front fork geometry keep trying to keep the front wheel straight or will it allow it to align to the crooked rear wheel? Will the rear tire in affect be trying to slide slightly instead of roll or still roll, just crooked compared to the frame? Of course I'm still trying to get more tire mileage after reading about Flitemdic getting 11k miles out of his Stradas. I'll be happy to get 5k miles till cord. Depending on how crooked it is.... If the wheel is off center, it will cause the bike to turn. To maintain a straight line, you will have to constantly fight that turn with opposite lean. Might be too little to notice. My last tire's wear band was a little shifted to the left. Never thought anytihng of it until it started to bald like this at 8500 miles: New continental started doing the same thing (highway wear band shifted about 3/8" to the left.) I also noticed, that more often that not I found that I felt the bike had the slightest left lean in the straights. I checked alignment by using an accurate ruler to measure the distance from the end of the swingarm to the end of the adjuster, they were off by about 1/8". I lined them up and the wear bar is now perfectly on center and the bike feels like it's finally standing straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in PA Posted August 29, 2006 Author Share Posted August 29, 2006 That's pretty drastic with that pic. You still got 8500 miles out of it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rockmeupto125 Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Each wheel wants to align itself independently. Turning the wheel in relationship to the direction of motion causes friction, pushing the wheel back to the easiest movement. Because of the hinge in the motorcycle (steering head), the wheels can indeed both run absolutely straight down the road. If the chassis that's supported on the axle is not in alignment, the front and rear wheels will not track in exactly the same line as they attempt to run freely down the road. This can manifest in many ways....the steering head looking slighty "off" from the twisted rear portion of the motorcycle on which you are sitting, or perhaps the feeling of a change in "position sense" as you hold one side of the handlebar closer or farther from the usual point. Of course, the motorcycle will exhibit faster turn-in to one side, and a tendency to run the rear tire wide in that same direction, along with more difficult turning in the opposite direction. Remember that seldom is the weight perfectly centered on the motorcycle, including the rider/passenger, which causes some lean as well. Syko....it would be interesting to find out if you noted any off-center front tire wear with that, as you stated there was a constant lean. And also, which side of the axle to swingarm measurement was shorter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Para045 Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Well after copying every wheel alignment procedure I have (all Motorcyclist mag.) And finding discrepancies between them I checked my XX again and this time found the swingarm marks off by about 1.5 turns of the adjuster bolts. Now my question, besides handling, what effect will this have on tire wear? What I mean is will the front fork geometry keep trying to keep the front wheel straight or will it allow it to align to the crooked rear wheel? Will the rear tire in affect be trying to slide slightly instead of roll or still roll, just crooked compared to the frame? Of course I'm still trying to get more tire mileage after reading about Flitemdic getting 11k miles out of his Stradas. I'll be happy to get 5k miles till cord. Depending on how crooked it is.... If the wheel is off center, it will cause the bike to turn. To maintain a straight line, you will have to constantly fight that turn with opposite lean. Might be too little to notice. My last tire's wear band was a little shifted to the left. Never thought anytihng of it until it started to bald like this at 8500 miles: New continental started doing the same thing (highway wear band shifted about 3/8" to the left.) I also noticed, that more often that not I found that I felt the bike had the slightest left lean in the straights. I checked alignment by using an accurate ruler to measure the distance from the end of the swingarm to the end of the adjuster, they were off by about 1/8". I lined them up and the wear bar is now perfectly on center and the bike feels like it's finally standing straight. Do you think that the camber of the road could have anything to do with the wear being of to the left, because as you guys ride on the right hand side of the road and the kerbside lane in particular usually slopes to the kerb would that not mean in an exaggerated sense there would be more tyre contact on the left of centre :icon_think: The reason I mention this is that over the years with a 78 and 79 F100 I have always found that they track very slightly to the left - only really noticable with no hands on the wheel :icon_nono: ( As we drive on the LHS of the road in AUS ) . After going to numerous wheel alignment places most said the same thing that as they were designed to drive on the RHS and roads cambered down to the right and track straight ahead, and there being no king pin or camber adjustment on them that it was something I just had to live with ( or do as I do and drive in the RH lane on multi lane roads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rockmeupto125 Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 "Do you think that the camber of the road could have anything to do with the wear being of to the left," Absolutely possible. There are so many variables that its so hard to track this down, particularly on a street bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykotek-xx Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Para45, Yes, I think the road camber had something to do with it, but I also think the axle misalignment compounded the problem. I have owned six bikes over the last 10 years and I've never had a tire do that before. Joe, that tire in the pic was the one that went 8500 with the misaligned axle. The new conti is now wearing dead center. (edit - just noticed you said front tire, I still have it, I will check it when I get outside later.) The right side adjuster was 1/8" (actually closer to 3/16") ahead of the left side adjuster if I remember right (think I do). Made sense to me, that this would cause the bike to naturally pull right, causing me to constantly and subconciously correct to the left. Don't get me wrong, I was happy with 8640 miles out of the stock tire, but I wasn not expecting that lopsided wear pattern, which was not evident to the eye until the tire started to lose it's grooves. Well after copying every wheel alignment procedure I have (all Motorcyclist mag.) And finding discrepancies between them I checked my XX again and this time found the swingarm marks off by about 1.5 turns of the adjuster bolts. Now my question, besides handling, what effect will this have on tire wear? What I mean is will the front fork geometry keep trying to keep the front wheel straight or will it allow it to align to the crooked rear wheel? Will the rear tire in affect be trying to slide slightly instead of roll or still roll, just crooked compared to the frame? Of course I'm still trying to get more tire mileage after reading about Flitemdic getting 11k miles out of his Stradas. I'll be happy to get 5k miles till cord. Depending on how crooked it is.... If the wheel is off center, it will cause the bike to turn. To maintain a straight line, you will have to constantly fight that turn with opposite lean. Might be too little to notice. My last tire's wear band was a little shifted to the left. Never thought anytihng of it until it started to bald like this at 8500 miles: New continental started doing the same thing (highway wear band shifted about 3/8" to the left.) I also noticed, that more often that not I found that I felt the bike had the slightest left lean in the straights. I checked alignment by using an accurate ruler to measure the distance from the end of the swingarm to the end of the adjuster, they were off by about 1/8". I lined them up and the wear bar is now perfectly on center and the bike feels like it's finally standing straight. Do you think that the camber of the road could have anything to do with the wear being of to the left, because as you guys ride on the right hand side of the road and the kerbside lane in particular usually slopes to the kerb would that not mean in an exaggerated sense there would be more tyre contact on the left of centre :icon_think: The reason I mention this is that over the years with a 78 and 79 F100 I have always found that they track very slightly to the left - only really noticable with no hands on the wheel :icon_nono: ( As we drive on the LHS of the road in AUS ) . After going to numerous wheel alignment places most said the same thing that as they were designed to drive on the RHS and roads cambered down to the right and track straight ahead, and there being no king pin or camber adjustment on them that it was something I just had to live with ( or do as I do and drive in the RH lane on multi lane roads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willxx23 Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 That tire is still good I don't see cord yet...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shovelstrokeed Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Why bother to use the marks on the swingarm at all? You can slide a tape measure between the muffler and the swingarm and get a straight shot between the swingarm pivot and the rear axle. Just make the c-c dimensiion the same on both sides. From there, you can just tighten your adjusters the same amount each time. I do tend to recheck after about 4 adjustments or so as a little error can creep in. I just carry a little pocket tape measure in with the rest of my day to day maintenance tools. Takes only a little more time when using the tape to get it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HamrTym Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Just make the c-c dimensiion the same on both sides. I take it that c-c means center to center? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVLXX Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Just make the c-c dimensiion the same on both sides. I take it that c-c means center to center? I hope so.. Because each side of the swingarm pivot bolt has a different center hole diameter, so measuring to the edge of the hole would cause one to still be a little off. Plus I had the same side shifted wear on my last Dunlop 220..... I called Dunlop.... some guy there told me that it was OK and not to worry..." that the tire Cassing sometimes is alittle off compared to the tread," I Have Pilot Roads on Now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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