SuzukiSavage.com - Rear wheel alignment

jonathans

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Rear wheel alignment
07/09/24 at 15:57:41

im looking for a better way to ensure my rear wheel and front pulley are aligned. I don’t trust the hash-marks hammered into the frame that we’re supposed to align with the spacing adjusters left and right.
I looked around these forums but haven’t found anything.
Can we determine from the belt riding the left or right side of the front pulley indicates an adjustment needed to the rear wheel alignment?

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Dave YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 18076 Camp Springs, Kentucky Gender:	Re: Rear wheel alignment Reply #1 - 07/09/24 at 16:18:15 The rear hub bearing does wear, and when that happens the rear pulley can get out of alignment and/or wobble.....the belt will move around. The easiest way to check alignment is to measure from the center of the chrome caps at the front of the swing arm to the center of the axle on both sides. They should measure the same.
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jonathans YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 21	Re: Rear wheel alignment Reply #2 - 07/09/24 at 18:15:49 Thanks Dave. I’m not so much concerned with bearing wear as I am with getting the two belt tensioning adjusters to match. I could measure from the front or back edge of those chrome caps, but rider pegs are in the way of measuring in a straight line.
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Dave

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Re: Rear wheel alignment
Reply #3 - 07/10/24 at 03:51:53

jonathans wrote on 07/09/24 at 18:15:49:

Thanks Dave. I’m not so much concerned with bearing wear as I am with getting the two belt tensioning adjusters to match. I could measure from the front or back edge of those chrome caps, but rider pegs are in the way of measuring in a straight line.

Then measure back to the pegs and confirm that they are accurately located, and then measure back from the pegs. (I removed my rear pegs so I forgot they are in the way normally).

Here is a discussion about the rear pulley hub bearing.
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1686184821

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ThumperPaul

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Re: Rear wheel alignment
Reply #4 - 07/10/24 at 06:22:18

I trust the hash marks. But if the belt is chewing up on the outside of the rear driven pulley, it would suggest the left side adjuster needs to be adjusted further out relative to the right side adjuster. And vise-versa, if the belt is chewing up on the inside of the driven pulley, it would suggest that the right side needs to be adjusted further out relative to the left side adjuster. (I think I got that right, or maybe it’s the other way around.)

The hash marks are pretty darn specific and tiny changes made on the adjusters/marks makes a pretty big difference in the belt alignment. I haven’t been able to outsmart the hash marks on a chain or belt driven bikes. If the belt is chewing up on both sides of the belt, I would suspect the bearing and/or rear driven pulley wobble or loose front drive pulley.

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« Last Edit: 07/10/24 at 18:04:40 by ThumperPaul »

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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28877 L.A. California Gender:	Re: Rear wheel alignment Reply #5 - 07/10/24 at 10:25:29 Have you verified the frame is straight? And even if the marks are accurate, is the swingarm straight? Knowing that mfg tolerances equates to ballpark accuracy so I adjust the belt based upon performance, ie, does it track in the middle? I make adjustment based upon tracking in both forward and rearward motion.
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JOG Senior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 460 Longview, Texas Gender:	Re: Rear wheel alignment Reply #6 - 07/10/24 at 10:53:47 A piece of string stuffed under the belt, rolled forward till it's at the front of the front pulley, pulled back to past the rear pulley will show you what you are looking for.
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jonathans

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Re: Rear wheel alignment
Reply #7 - 07/10/24 at 17:49:34

Thanks ThumperPaul, that's the kind of thinking I'm looking for. Yeah verslagen1, the way my footpegs are so curly I gotta think the previous rider bumped into the road a couple times. So has anyone laid a laser pointer against the rear pulley, or an arrow, like car wheel alignments to see how it reaches the front pulley?
Graybeard: I can't picture what youre doing, but it sounds like something worth knowing. Could you explain? Or snap a picture next time your eye level with your bike?

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JOG

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Re: Rear wheel alignment
Reply #8 - 07/11/24 at 15:44:31

I don't know how to do pics.

We used to have to line up pumps with the power output pulley on drilling rigs.
Output,twenty feet in the air,the rig floor, output drum,meh, two foot diameter, three feet long, 14?16? belt grooves. The pump, BIG MoFo, three,four tonsish..Big trucks set them down. We gotta put belts on .. Biggest V belts I ever saw,inch wide, thirtyish feet stretched out. Still one piece, ready to install. Gotta line up the drum axles. The input drum was about a five foot tall drum,three feet across, v belt grooves,

A piece of rope held tight across the end of the drums will Show you what you need to do.
It's a straight line. It needs to lay across the ends of the drums farthest points from each other, then it shows you the Sight Line.
If you could just See from rear pulley to front pulley you could see if they were in alignment.
The string is the Line of Sight.

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DragBikeMike

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Re: Rear wheel alignment
Reply #9 - 07/12/24 at 00:53:31

It is possible to have a condition where the driven pulley is not parallel to the rear wheel. Even though it appears as if the driven pulley is mounted to the wheel assembly, it can skew due to a worn hub bearing. This is a very common condition, and generally happens very quickly. Once the bearing gets loose, no amount of adjusting can correct the alignment, because the pulley is wobbling on the hub. You can get the wheel aligned, but the pulley will be skewed. If you adjust the axle so that the pulley is correctly aligned, then the wheel will be skewed.

This old post discusses the bearing issue and provides instructions for a simple cheap fix that lasts a very long time.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1561964431

Once the bearing is fixed, it's easy to correctly align the belt drive using a straight edge. I use a saw guide. This old post provides the details starting on page 4, reply 59, 60 & 61. It essentially does the same thing Greybeard is suggesting only there are pictures to aid your understanding of the process. But if you think you will resolve the alignment with the pulley wobbling around you are fooling yourself. BTW, the rest of the post is chock full of pertinent info.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1563129686

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Dave

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Re: Rear wheel alignment
Reply #10 - 07/12/24 at 04:20:31

DragBikeMike wrote on 07/12/24 at 00:53:31:

It is possible to have a condition where the driven pulley is not parallel to the rear wheel. Even though it appears as if the driven pulley is mounted to the wheel assembly, it can skew due to a worn hub bearing.

Yes - when the pulley hub bearing wears it allows the belt tension to move the belt pulley forward. This will result in the belt riding toward the outside edge of the pulley.

To check the wheel alignment - I use two straight 2x2 boards that are long enough to reach the back of the rear tire and the front of the front tire....and a couple of ratchet straps and clamps. You need to get the bike sitting vertical on a smooth floor. Put the ratchet straps on the handlebars so that the front wheel is a straight as possible. Then put the boards on both sides of the wheels. Clamp the boards to the outside edge of the rear tire as high as you can get them and still clear the bottom of the chassis. The boards will be running alongside the front tire - adjust the ratchet straps on the front to get the front/back of the front tire parallel with the boards. If the rear wheel is properly aligned there will be an equal distance of clearance on both sides of the front wheel. If the rear wheel is not aligned the boards will be closer on one side of the front wheel....adjust the rear wheel as necessary to get the clearance the same on both sides.

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Tocsik

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Re: Rear wheel alignment
Reply #11 - 07/12/24 at 15:47:58

verslagen1 wrote on 07/10/24 at 10:25:29:

...
Knowing that mfg tolerances equates to ballpark accuracy so I adjust the belt based upon performance, ie, does it track in the middle? I make adjustment based upon tracking in both forward and rearward motion.

This. Well put, versey.
Get the rear of your bike raised up and spin the wheel. Watch the belt and see if tracks in the middle of the rear pulley. Adjust adjusters accordingly. This is the only way I was able to get rid of the belt noise. And this was after the double bearing mod.

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jonathans

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Re: Rear wheel alignment
Reply #12 - 07/12/24 at 15:52:44

Once the bearing is fixed, it's easy to correctly align the belt drive using a straight edge. I use a saw guide. This old post provides the details starting on page 4, reply 59, 60 & 61. It essentially does the same thing Greybeard is suggesting only there are pictures to aid your understanding of the process. But if you think you will resolve the alignment with the pulley wobbling around you are fooling yourself. BTW, the rest of the post is chock full of pertinent info.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1563129686

Nice link, thanks. This method feels right.

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ohiomoto Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 2765	Re: Rear wheel alignment Reply #13 - 07/12/24 at 17:16:29 I use the factory alignment marks with the double-bearing mod. Every couple of years I wax the belt. It's worked well for me.
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JOG Senior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 460 Longview, Texas Gender:	Re: Rear wheel alignment Reply #14 - 07/16/24 at 22:11:16 WTF is JOG? You figger it out yet?
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