650GD Front wheel not centered...missing a spacer?

[BigD_83]

look at the pic, swap spacer around, axle fits flush, gap filled, wheel centralised.

I think the part you have labelled as "flange" might be part of the cast fork lower Here's a pic from the ghost in the machine of a 650G fork lower:



P.S. been running around all day moving furniture...not as much fun as riding

[BigD_83]

...and here is an EBay link showing the spacers as they appear on the bike. Other models show the flanged spacer, but none of the 650Gs I have found show a spacer like in the Alphasports diagram, nor do any of the other parts diagrams at which I have looked (Boulevard Suzuki, cmnsl, etc)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/suzuki-1981-GS650GX-front-axle-/310297033846?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item483f24fc76&vxp=mtr

Everything tracks well, so I'm just going to live with it the way it is at the moment. I just can't get over how much left-shifted the wheel looks when comparing the side-wall to fender bracket distance. I really should try to get a front-on shot for this thread.

[Agemax]

ok, try slacking off the two nuts on the bottom of the left hand fork clamp and hitting the axle with a hammer, see if it wont go in a few mm so the spacer hits hard up against the speedo drive

[bccap]

This may seem like a stupid question but if your wheel is off center, why does your brake caliper fit properly on the disk ? Or does it ? I had a space on mine too once. I it took me for ever to figure it out. Turned out by tightening the fender brace bolts first I was toeing in the forks slightly. Once I redid it tightening the lower bolts first and fender bolts last everything was fine.

[BigD_83]

That's not a stupid question at all.

One of the reasons I think it's "off-centre" (besides visually, it is) is the slight brake shudder I feel, so there could be some toeing in, but just slightly. I thought I had done the axle bolts first, but I could definitely slacken off the fender brace and axle again, give it the old mallet whack as Agemax has suggested, then retighten to see if things look better.

[BigD_83]

Well,

looking for things to do when I returned from the PNW rally, I found my way back to the front fender.

This time around, I was putting the freshly painted fender back on, and I started by keeping the mounting bolts slack, and doing the axle first. At one point it looked like I had an even space between the sidewall and the fender on both sides., but once I whacked the axle with a mallet (from the left) and re-tightened the axle nut, it appeared that the left edge of the tire was again closer to the fender.

Things didn't get any better when I tightened down the fender bolts.

I'm really at a loss here...

[Charlie G]

I ment to take a look at your front forks and compare them with my bike when we were at the rally. I totally fprgot.

cg

[BigD_83]

Funny thing. At the rally the plastic fender I had looked to be more or less centered over the wheel. At this point it doesn't seem to be affecting the handling of the motorcycle, so I'm willing to live with it as is, but it's just a wee bit disconcerting seeing the sidewall with so little (in comparison) clearance on the one side.

Just another note, before I tightened everything up, it did seem to be centered. I'm going to recheck the torque value on the axle nut, as I suppose too much torque might pull the fork lower too far to midline.

A further thought...would it make a difference in tightening the axle and fender brace with the wheel on the ground versus suspended? What I do is get the axle in and a little bit tight, then bounce the front end with the brakes applied, with the idea that the forks will find center.

[Charlie G]

I've always installed the axle, wheel and fender with the front off the ground. Have you checked to see that the plastic fender and metal brace aren't warped or bent somehow?

cg

[allojohn]

Have you tried loosening the entire front end including the triple trees and then tightening from the bottom up? Worked for me

[Agemax]

measure the distance between the rotor and caliper mount on both sides. if that is identical then you know the wheel is centered, and the fender is at fault.

if the distances between the rotors and caliper mounts is different then the wheel is out of centre

[BigD_83]

measure the distance between the rotor and caliper mount on both sides. if that is identical then you know the wheel is centered, and the fender is at fault.

if the distances between the rotors and caliper mounts is different then the wheel is out of centre

Why didn't I think to do that?

Love you guys for this sort of thing. The collective brain and all...

[BigD_83]

Have you tried loosening the entire front end including the triple trees and then tightening from the bottom up? Worked for me

John,

Maybe I am a bit slow today, but I don't follow why loosening the triple tree will help with the fender situation. Can you spell it out for me?

[allojohn]

John,

Maybe I am a bit slow today, but I don't follow why loosening the triple tree will help with the fender situation. Can you spell it out for me?

I should have read your thread further back, I thought the front wheel was off center, but thinking about it I think it may have an impact on the fender also.
After a rebuild I found the front wheel was slightly off center. The spacers were in the correct positions but I couldn't get the wheel centered. I believe it was Allie who suggested I loosen the entire front end and then tighten from the bottom up. If the forks are the slightest bit skew-whiff at the trees the misalignment will be exaggerated towards the axle. Like I said it was the fix for me.

[BigD_83]

Ok. I think I get your point now...

I have not yet had the forks out of the triple trees, but if one fork was sitting slightly higher than the other then I can see how that could skew the alignment of the wheel and fender. I would have thought that there would be some handling issues resulting from that sort of problem, but I'm still getting to know this particular machine, and perhaps it could be better than it is.

So, when loosening up the triple tree, I assume one must get the motorcycle supported under the front of the frame so it doesn't all come crashing down?

I think the next step will be for me to check the rotor to caliper mount spacing per Adrian's suggestion. If that comes out on the numbers then I'll have to look at other causes for the mid-point of the wheel to not be sitting directly under the mid-point of the fender.

I just had the fender reworked, but it has the same spacing as the day I brought it home. I cannot see anything obvious in the metalwork that would pull the fender out of alignment, but there may be other ways to pinpoint what's going on.