Wheel alignment?

[Brockett]

Given how critical wheel alignment is I wonder how others check it. Over the years I have never been entirely confident that the marks stamped on the swing arm are as accurate as we think thay are. My MOT tester gets me to hold the bike upright while he offers up a straight edge and he has a poor opinion of manufacturers marks. Back in the garage I find the centre stand gets in the way, the marks are hard to read and of course the front tyre is narrower then the rear.  When the bike is on it's side stand, the steering always, to some degree, flops over the to the left.
For the Enfield, I bought a gizmo that fixes to the rear sprocket. It has a pointer arm that should point along the length of the chain and would point left or right if the wheel alignment is out of whack. yes if only the rear shock wasn't in the way and of course the chainguard has to be removed.
I knew the wheel alignment was likely to be wrong when I installed a new gearbox sprocket and could see the shiny wear marks on one side of the teeth. The alignment marks on the swing arm were spot on.  So now I have to work out if it's the wheel out of alignment or if the gearbox and rear sporocket are not lining up for some other reason.

[Joe Rocket]

I use the marked plates either side of the swing arm and measure the distance from them to the end of the swing arm with Vernier calipers to a tenth of a millimetre. The markings on the plates and swing arm are vague.

[Brockett]

You are assuming the swing arms are exactly the same length.  How can this be checked?
Maybe if we could measure the distance between the centre of the axle and the centre of the swing arm pivot pin.

[Jim13_Wee_Strom]

I prefer to measure the distance from the front part of the wheel rim to the swingarm using a vernier...

[crump]

Interesting topic, not given much thought to it to be honest.
Spent most of my biking life on shaft drive bikes so only really a consideration early on in my motorcycling and of course the last couple of years with the Vstrom.
Personally I generally line it up with the marks on the chain adjusters, then check it by eye while spinning the back wheel. No issues so far although tbf I spent my early years in the wheel building industry and checking 'lift and wobble' by eye and a dial gauge.

[StromGeeza]

Looks like my method of deliberately trying to induce a low speed rear wheel skid by stomping on the back brake may not be a sufficiently good test...

[nigel s]

Wheel alignment and chain alignment are different things, while they should be right together , it is not a given.
I seem to remember the early 1000s having that problem?
For chain  the tool you have is good.
For the wheels I have a 8" wide length of  3/4 marine ply off the edge of the sheet ( so dead straight ) which has a cut out for the stand. I set this up touching both edges of the back tyre . Then measure  the gap to the edges of the front wheel , adjusting the bars till it is equal (  I use two tie downs to adjust the bars and keep them in place).
Flipping the ply to the other side "should " give the same measurements.
If the measurements are equal  front and back, but different  both sides it can point to a bent fork/ frame / swinging arm.
Or , as I did with my GPZ 900, take it to a motoliner to have it checked, but that is another whole story
My 650 was spot on from new, so now I can use the marks with confidence.

[kwackboy]

The swing arm markings for chain adjustment and wheel alignment are there as a guide and although not 100% accurate they're not that far out so, to the normal every day rider which accounts for well, nearly everyone, they'll do just fine.

Let's put it this way,  if I sneaked up to your bike without you knowing and adjusted the back wheel so it was ever so slightly off would you notice it ?

[UK_Vstrom650]

I tend to just use the swingarm markings and have used Joe's method too (more to check I'm reading the markings right). That's always been good enough. I'm on my third set of chain/sprockets in 65,000 miles and never had an issue so must be good enough.

[Megashorts]

I turned a set of brass plugs for the swinging arm pivot and axle ends. I put a steel rod through these and then measure the distance between them on both sides of the bike. If the distance is the same on both sides the swinging arm pivot and wheel axle are parallel.

[nigel s]

Whole other story,

I had done a happy 20,000 miles on my GPZ900 with no problems (it had 10,000 ish on when I got it), comfy, fast, handled just fine.
Then fitted an Ohlins rear shock, all good , but that sent me down a wheel alignment rabbit hole.
I also found my left arm was feeling off on long rides. So checked eveything I could. I even bought a second hand set of clip ons ( I was in the owners club so not pricey )
Every thing checked out , but the wheel alignment was  MAYBE a mm or 2 off. But I was/am  paranoid and checked and checked , tweaked and tweaked, fiddled with the forks, and every change SEEMED to make a difference to the handling, and how my shoulder felt .. But couldn't get it spot on...Had I bought a bent bike?

In the end I took the fairings off ( they need access to the frame mounts ) and booked it  into Seastar Motorcycles to be checked out on their motoliner.( GPZ900s wheelie like a B*stard without the fairings on by the way)
An hour and a halves  labour later (£50 ish , shows how long ago that was) ... perfect alignment , nothing bent.. WTF .
Got home and while refitting the fairings pondered on what was going on.

The answer came when I bumped into a mate I hadn,t seen for a couple of months and he asked "how's the neck? "
Neck?
 "You had hurt your neck and shoulder twisting at work ,you said "
F*ck Me....I had forgotten about that, not the first and not the last time that has happened.Both the neck and the forgetting.( the price you pay for being 6 foot 4 in a 5 foot 9 world )
The bike was fine ...I was the problem.
The mind is a funny thing.
I kept the GPZ for another 17,000 miles till I got bored with it, and no shoulder worries

SO........Be Aware the danger of rabbit holes

Ho Hum

[The Doctor 46]

Wow! Nigel, that made a good read.  . GPZ900, what a bike. When I rode one I kept stopping on "A" roads just so I could start off again, amazing acceleration in their day. I then bought a ZX10 that was faster and handled better too.   

[nigel s]

 It was a great bike for me at the time, and even now a looker (with the original twin cans).
Also screw and locknut valve adjustment.......worked OK back then on a 150 mph motorcycle ...so why not now

Ho Hum

[porter]

Screw and lock nut valve adjustment worked OK on my two GSXR 1100's and I rode them a lot harder than I do my vstrom. I was 24 on an 1100cc, I once made it from Skerries north of Dublin to Carrickfergus in 1hoir 45 mins and that was before the motorway  was built.
The manufacturers just don't want you working at your bike now. Some Honda's still have lock nut adjustments on the exhaust cam but shim on the inlet cam.

[nigel s]

I feel the need ...the need for speed........ Also a GPZ film quote from some shifty looking dwarf ( allegedly..or not?)
Gsxr 1100s, never rode one, but they were mega ,with the Old School shove that you don't get these days, I have heard
The humble NC750X is never far from my thoughts these days, due in no small part due to screw and lock nuts.
There is talk of moving them to unicam , or whatever, soon....

Ho Hum