SuzukiSavage.com - rear axle alignment

RycaShawn Full Member Offline Ryca Fan Posts: 145 Los Angeles Gender:	rear axle alignment 01/19/12 at 22:38:59 what's the best way to align the rear axle?
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: rear axle alignment Reply #1 - 01/19/12 at 22:42:20 The "Best" way? Thats debatable, but when youve got the front of the tire centered in the swing arm, Id think that would be pretty close.
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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28790 L.A. California Gender:	Re: rear axle alignment Reply #2 - 01/19/12 at 23:00:25 Align the belt and you got it made. jack the rear up spin the wheel and watch the belt, tracking in the center? spin the wheel the other way, still in the center? then check the belt tension, 90° twist.
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RycaShawn

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Re: rear axle alignment
Reply #3 - 01/19/12 at 23:49:23

verslagen1 wrote on 01/19/12 at 23:00:25:

Align the belt and you got it made.

jack the rear up
spin the wheel and watch the belt, tracking in the center?
spin the wheel the other way, still in the center?

Awesome! Did that and made sure the belt made no rubbing noises.

verslagen1 wrote on 01/19/12 at 23:00:25:

then check the belt tension, 90° twist.

90° twist? Btw how do I check tension if I removed the point on the swing arm and don't have the tension inspection tool?

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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28790 L.A. California Gender:	Re: rear axle alignment Reply #4 - 01/19/12 at 23:54:15 Grab the belt about mid way at the bottom. twist it, if you can go 90° the tension is correct. This may need some alteration, you RYCA boys have a different swingarm angle, don't know how it affects belt tension. tool wasn't always reliable
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Wake51

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Re: rear axle alignment
Reply #5 - 01/20/12 at 01:08:06

A bit off topic, but does the belt on this bike require somewhat routine tensioning?

What I mean by this is my bike is about 10k and I've noticed it needs some tensioning. Is that normal stretching, or is it the belt only needs adjusting with new spec parts/when something is wrong?

*No intentions of hijacking this just seems an obvious place to get an answer while on the subject*

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Routy

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Re: rear axle alignment
Reply #6 - 01/20/12 at 04:57:54

In 10K miles I would expect the belt could need adjusting a time or 2.
Supposedly these belts do not stretch, but seems logical the belt and sheaves could see a very slight amount of wear in 10K miles.

But I have been so impressed w/ the belt drive never needing anything,.....in 3K miles anyway. Except for the nerve wracking experience of a rock going thru the belt/sheave a couple times, there just isn't any maintenence on the drive. Some are known for squeaking at low speed,....mostly only when cold, but doesn't hurt anything,......if alignment is correct.

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Rich
'07 S40 Blvd stocker, except drilled OEM exhaust and white spacer mod...1/2 (.055)

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MotoBuddha Serious Thumper Offline Let's roll! Posts: 1416 Charlotte, NC	Re: rear axle alignment Reply #7 - 01/20/12 at 06:23:12 You might refer to the tick marks on the swingarm and adjusters. Another way: take something very very straight, like a framing square or level, and lay it across the face of the rear pulley, horizontal to the ground. Is the belt parallel to the level/framing square? If not, adjust the axle.
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Digger

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Ya gotta be tough to
ride singles!

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Re: rear axle alignment
Reply #8 - 07/09/12 at 19:24:40

RycaShawn wrote on 01/19/12 at 22:38:59:

what's the best way to align the rear axle?

Another way to skin that cat:

I used this the compare the distance from the swingarm pivot to the middle of the rear axle on both sides of the wheel:

When I checked the accuracy of the wheel alignment marks on the swingarm, I found them to be off by a full turn of an adjusting screw! (It goes without saying that you can't trust the index marks on the swingarm.)

I got my beam compass for about five or six bucks at Sears:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Hand+Tools%2C+Carpentry&pid=009...

IHTH!

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Digger
2001, Metallic Glacial Blue, Raptor Petcock, Verslavy (first hole) (otherwise, mechanically, the bike is stock), 13,xxx miles
I don't own a cage.
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kuri77

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Re: rear axle alignment
Reply #9 - 07/09/12 at 20:16:55

Mine's similar to above but sturdier and easily adjustable for different bikes. I bought a length of allthread, 2 connectors, and a couple of nuts. Used a couple of short pieces of the allthread to make markers and drilled and tapped 2 large nuts. Red locktited 2 smaller nuts inside so the left pointer can spin around to adjust. Other one is permanent. Center punched the swing arm nut and the axle. Can use this on my Savage as well as my KLR. Breaks down so it fits in my toolbox when I'm on the road.

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Big Sur

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Re: rear axle alignment
Reply #10 - 07/11/12 at 12:09:52

There are 2 symptoms that may be noticeable if the rear wheel is not aligned properly...

1) If you notice that the bike can turn easier in one direction than the other, you may have an alignment problem. This is so because the rear wheel's turn radius is outside the front wheel radius when turning one direction, but inside when turning the other direction, and will present a turning "hump" that has to be overcome when leaning. It can be fairly noticeable, but depends on skill level and experience.

2) If you can have a friend follow directly behind you and he sees the bike crabbing to one side or the other when you ride in a straight line, then you probably have an alignment problem. You may have noticed this with cars or trucks that have been involved in accidents and the rear axle has been misaligned. They will appear to drive at an angle rather than straight, frame and body wise.

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Serowbot

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Re: rear axle alignment
Reply #11 - 07/11/12 at 12:15:55

kuri77 wrote on 07/09/12 at 20:16:55:

Mine's similar to above but sturdier and easily adjustable for different bikes. I bought a length of allthread, 2 connectors, and a couple of nuts. Used a couple of short pieces of the allthread to make markers and drilled and tapped 2 large nuts. Red locktited 2 smaller nuts inside so the left pointer can spin around to adjust. Other one is permanent. Center punched the swing arm nut and the axle. Can use this on my Savage as well as my KLR. Breaks down so it fits in my toolbox when I'm on the road.
http://i48.tinypic.com/21m88ew.jpg

I know I've got a big dope slap coming.... but,..
Nice tool,.. What do I do with it?... Huh

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EDIT... Shoot!... Never mind, I got it... (Dope slap!)... Grin

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Spamy Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 224	Re: rear axle alignment Reply #12 - 07/11/12 at 13:49:11 My marks on the swingarm and the brackets were not very accurate. I put a straight edge on the rear pulley and see how it lines up with the belt and front pully with the guards off. Then when its lined up I tighten the axle, give it some spins while off of the ground and see how it looks.
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: rear axle alignment Reply #13 - 07/11/12 at 21:46:05 You can take a string & run it under the belt, & roll the bike forward till its at the front of the pulley & run the string to the rear pulley.
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Routy Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 2280 Winston Oregon Gender:	Re: rear axle alignment Reply #14 - 07/12/12 at 07:55:17 Maybe heres another "slap me" question,......once I align the belt tracking, do I have a choice on the rear axle tracking ? I would even wonder why them marks are even on the adjusters,....I couldn't care less about them once I track the belt. Ok, slap me silly,......I have to be missing something.
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