wheel alignment

[limeex2]

Has anyone ever used a proaligner wheel alignment tool? Proaligner.com

[Steve]

Nope. Have never needed it with any of my bikes.

If one of my wheels is out of alignment, either my forks or my swingarm is bent.

.

[sharpy]

i use string, available from anywhereyoucaretolook.com.au

[sharpy]

Nope. Have never needed it with any of my bikes.

If one of my wheels is out of alignment, either my forks or my swingarm is bent.

.

Mm must have been a good day at the factory if its perfect aligment.

[Ton1959]

No alignmenttool required. Or do you have reasons to worry about your bike? Looking at the wear on the sprocket will give some info. I do wish though that all sprockets had the same thickness.

[posplayr]

Nope. Have never needed it with any of my bikes.

If one of my wheels is out of alignment, either my forks or my swingarm is bent.

.

I have to ask , how big are the chicken strips?

[simon kuether]

I use a length of 12mm aluminium angle for initial alignment (new tyres etc) then use the marks on my swingarm .

Cheers , Simon .

[Steve]

I have to ask , how big are the chicken strips?

Reasonably small.

The Beauty of The Shaft.

Thank you for noticing.

One of the advantages (or curses) of a GS shafty is that there is no adjustment possible on the rear axle.

.

[tkent02]

Eyeball works for me, stick my eye in line with the tire and use my line of sight like a string. Once I have checked it, I look at the marks on the swingarm, if they are perfect then using them is good enough. If they are off a little I put a spot of paint there to use, or make a little nick with a file… Finally look at how the chain is riding and wearing.

Alignment being off is often the fault of worn swingarm bearings.

[limeex2]

Can almost guarantee that the marks are off. If your chain and sprockets are wearing abnormally, how would one know how much it is out of alignment? I would pay more for a chunk of aluminum or something made of metal and long enough to work than I would for the tool which is $30

[posplayr]

Properly executed it is hard to beat the string method.

[posplayr]

Reasonably small.







Thank you for noticing.

One of the advantages (or curses) of a GS shafty is that there is no adjustment possible on the rear axle.

.

Good one. .......

[eil]

Maybe I just need more practice (or more likely, more patience and a warmer garage), but I didn't have an easy time with the string method on my 750E. The strings kept hitting either the exhaust or sidestand... when I brought them out far enough to avoid either of those, it seemed like they were too far away from the front wheel to measure/eyeball with significant accuracy. (And I was having a tough time making sure the forks were pointing perfectly straight ahead.)

For now it's aligned via the hash marks, but I'll probably revisit the string method in the spring when it's warmer out.

[posplayr]

Maybe I just need more practice (or more likely, more patience and a warmer garage), but I didn't have an easy time with the string method on my 750E. The strings kept hitting either the exhaust or sidestand... when I brought them out far enough to avoid either of those, it seemed like they were too far away from the front wheel to measure/eyeball with significant accuracy. (And I was having a tough time making sure the forks were pointing perfectly straight ahead.)

For now it's aligned via the hash marks, but I'll probably revisit the string method in the spring when it's warmer out.

Some older discussion

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showpost.php?p=1102275&postcount=4

I used a strong kite line although some other thin line would substitute. Wrap the line around the bottom of the tire. I am running a radial so the tire edge very closely tracks the rim. If you tire is much more run out than your rim, clamping a couple of pieces of wood to the wheel rim, will space out beyond the tire width.



Here I am keeping the lines taught by tipping a heavy (back) metal box on edge (it is partially sitting on top of a block of wood) so that it pulls against the lines. This keeps them taught and makes everything much more stable. The red weight is keeping the block of wood from slipping on the carpet. You should be able to figure out something that accomplishes the same.



I used a caliper to measure the distance between the string and two points on each side of the wheel (Front and Back). By doing this you should be able to get both strings parallel as well as equidistant from each rotor.

When doing this adjust your chain first, and then only make rear wheel adjustments on the brake side to get the front wheel to split the two springs. After done clamp everything down. If in the future you need to do a chain adjust , just count the number of flats (1/6th of a turn on the adjustment nuts) you have to turn the adjuster by on the chain side. Match that on the other and you will be close enough that you don't have to redo the string just for a chain adjust.

[GSXR7ED]

The hash marks work for me eil. I used a scratch awl to make sure I counted the correct number of hashes and it's worked fine for me.

Once I do the rear drum brake job, I can correct the bracket to the inside since it was installed incorrectly.


Ed