I may have a slight problem with the front wheel of my new (to me) '05 S40 and was wondering if some of experiences wrenches might be able to shed some light?
Been Riding her pretty much every day since I got her a week and a half ago ... and this evening moving her in the shed I heard a "noise" coming from the front end when I turned the bars over ... snooped around until I found the problem ... can actually move the front wheel side-to-side while grasping fender with one hand and tugging on wheel/tire with the other ... spacers on each side of the axle can actually slide side to side about 1/8th inch or so with an audible "tink" when they touch the fork or the wheel hub ... am afraid to Ride her anymore until I get get a good idea of what the problem might be and get it fixed.
Are the front axle spacers supposed to be able to move back and forth like that? Never noticed that with my former '03 LS and just had a look at my friends old '86 and there doesn't seem to be any movement there??
Any input appreciated!

Torque Settings  Ft/Lb
Front axle nut      26.5      38.3
Front axle pinch bolt and nut      11.1      18.4

I doubt it.I didn't realize that's all that was on it.Duh,I read the posts when you got it. Probably just needs tightened.Probably need to go over the whole bike.Basically that's what the 600 mile service is for.

When I went to pull the front wheel off of mine, the pinch bolt was simply not there.  My axle had not loosened any, but I would check that first.

PerrydaSavage wrote on 07/09/08 at 15:45:40:


Perry, glad you got it fixed..Pretty scary stuff though, wondering who overlooked this. I wouldn't be surprised if it was like that from the dealer.

I took my Savage in for a new front tire....I was in the office paying when I heard a horrible BANG BANG BANG.......I looked out through the glass and this dumb a$$ had a wrench on my front axle banging it with a hammer........I quickly went out and screamed for him to stop....He replies " Well that axle bolt is seized and I can't get it off......The idiot didn't even know enough to remove  the pinch bolt.
When I showed him he says " Oh well that's different, I ain't never seen one like that before"...Like where  do they hire these people? Turned out he was a  work prep guy that wasn't even a mechanic!

I raised a real fuss and told them if my forks were bent or the seals gone I was coming back after them.

Just goes to show, it isn't safe to let anyone work on your machine unless you know them and their credentials.

Glad you didn't have a mishap on your long road trip back

If I were you I would be taking a couple of hours on the weekend and going over that puppy in detail...

savage2k wrote:
Quote:


Neither would I ... and an independent m/c mechanic friend of mine agrees as well.

The Bike was bought by the original owner at a 'Zuki dealership in Grand Falls, Nfld ... she rode the Bike for 981km (608mi), put it in storage over a year ago and I've since put an additional 950km (590mi) on her ... 560km (347mi) of which were on the highway at speeds up to 60mph ... and I'd say the darn axle was not properly torqued from day one ... just sh!t luck I didn't end up in a ditch or as a grill ornament on an oncoming semi ...
Reminder to folks buying used ... don't do as I did and assume that just because it's a low-milage Bike that looks brand new, that it is completely road-worthy from the get-go ...

steely wrote on 07/08/08 at 17:41:09:



remember  these things come over in a crate. generally the shop has to install the front wheel and other parts, that's done by the low guy on the totem pole.  usually a young kid thinking about his next piece o tail, or motocross event.  

the first thing i did when i bought thumper new was go through it with the ole tourqe wrentch.  the were a few loose nuts.  
don't know why but my upper left shock mount comes loose. locktite?

   I agreed 100%