Rear wheel alignment.

[PWABO]

Rear wheel alignment, BIG problem (I think).

Hi everyone,

I apologise if this is covered elsewhere on here, I must admit to not really knowing what to search for, so here goes.

Whilst lubing my chain today, I noticed that one of the caps on the end of my swingarm is loose. It's on the RHS of the arm.

I'm not too sure what's going on with it if I'm honest. I have adjusted & set my chain slack & wheel alignment to within the recommendations, but as soon as I had torqued up the axle nut, I noticed the cap had come loose again. I'll grab & post a photo soon, but I was just wondering if anyone else has ever had similar issues, or is it normal & if so why is it like that & am I able to repair it if it is bust?


Any help or advice anyone can offer me will be VERY gratefully received & appreciated.

 

[FinalImpact]

Hi and Welcome to Forum! I'm guessing your bike is an 06 or earlier?

Regardless, either adjuster type requires you to push forward on the rear tire during axle bolt tightening to take the slack out of the adjusters.

I'm a little unclear if your issue is the adjusters having bad threads (stripped) or not taking the slack out by pushing or its simply needing the nuts jambed together so they are not loose? Basically hold the nut that does the adjusting and tighten the other "outer one" against it firmly. This locks them in place.

FWIW: the hash marks on the adjusters are not perfect and may require some minor adjustments.

Zoom in here... the 07 and up are very different....

 

[PWABO]

HI Final Impact, thank you so much for your warm welcome & comprehensive reply, I really am very grateful.

Hmm, oddly enough, my bike is an 07, but it has the 'other' swingarm to what is in your photo.

The threads on mine aren't stripped & I'd tightened up the lock nut good & done, but the cap just kinda came loose.

Here's a sort of play by play of what I did. I loosened my axle & swingarm adjuster nuts & pushed my wheel as far forward as it will go. Making even adjustments of the nut on each side, I took the slack out of the chain to get it within the tolerances noted in the manual. Then I made sure my wheel was aligned by measuring with a rule, from the end cap to the end of the swingarm adjustment thread. I then locked off my swingarm nuts & then torqued up my axle nut, but I didn't push forwards on my tyre as I tightened the axle nut.

Have I made a serious schoolboy error in my maintenance work here? I'll be completely honest & tell you that a lot of this is totally unprecedented to me, but I'm keen to learn. Thank you so much for you help again mate.:thumbup:

 

[Carlos840]

The sequence you are using is the correct one! Although it is a good idea to push the tire forward before tightening the axle.
You can also wedge a rag or a wooden dowel between the chain and the sprocket to make sure everything is tight before you tighten everything.

I have an 09 so am not familiar with your swing arm, but i doubt the cap should be able to come loose like that, seems weird...

 

[PWABO]

Thank you Carlos, back to the man cave I go!

 

[Carlos840]

Thank you Carlos, back to the man cave I go!

No worries,

Here is a video showing the trick i mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7f9y0MFIPY

3:20


Also, the bike is happier with a chain on the loose side, 2" is better than 1.5".

 

[PWABO]

AWESOME! Cheers bud.

 

[FinalImpact]

AWESOME! Cheers bud.

All things considered, I think I'd pull the axle, wheel and remove the adjusters for inspection. I mean, the axle is doing 97% of the work, but the fact that it came loose like that seems a little odd. Did you lock the adjuster nuts together?

Is there any chance your adjusters have come apart??

Here is a picture of your setup (attached)
2005 FZ6 - FZ6STC Yamaha Motorcycle REAR WHEEL Diagram and Parts

 

[PWABO]

Yeah it was a bit of weird one really, as the two nuts were locked tight. Doing your trick of applying pressure to the tyre right before I tighten the axle nut seems to have helped a fair bit, though the cap is still loose but nowhere near as bad as is in my photo. It seats properly at the end of the swingarm now, but I'm able to move it a couple of degrees left & right, but not back & forth like it was doing. Do you think the chain puller could be goosed/corroded to buggery? Giving the thread of the puller a 'wiggle' makes the entire puller assembly 'wiggle' as a unit. But then I suppose it could just be cracked somewhere, maybe?

Thank you again for your help & advice F.I.

 

[FinalImpact]

Yeah it was a bit of weird one really, as the two nuts were locked tight. Doing your trick of applying pressure to the tyre right before I tighten the axle nut seems to have helped a fair bit, though the cap is still loose but nowhere near as bad as is in my photo. It seats properly at the end of the swingarm now, but I'm able to move it a couple of degrees left & right, but not back & forth like it was doing. Do you think the chain puller could be goosed/corroded to buggery? Giving the thread of the puller a 'wiggle' makes the entire puller assembly 'wiggle' as a unit. But then I suppose it could just be cracked somewhere, maybe?

Thank you again for your help & advice F.I.

No Problem...

It seem strange yours has an early swinger on it... I think once the caps are allowed to rattle in the opening it bit, they will forever move a small amount. That said, you see how the adjusters only help control the depth by being stoppers once you push the rear wheel forward. If you're not pushing on the wheel, rear wheel alignment and changes to the adjusters are pretty much a wild guess as to where the axle lands w/out tension applied...

Take a look at this; it will help you sleep! How to string align your rear wheel!! http://www.600riders.com/forum/how-to-s-/40463-how-string-align-your-rear-wheel.html

 

[Nelly]

Re: Rear wheel alignment, BIG problem (I think).

Hi everyone,

I apologise if this is covered elsewhere on here, I must admit to not really knowing what to search for, so here goes.

Whilst lubing my chain today, I noticed that one of the caps on the end of my swingarm is loose. It's on the RHS of the arm.

I'm not too sure what's going on with it if I'm honest. I have adjusted & set my chain slack & wheel alignment to within the recommendations, but as soon as I had torqued up the axle nut, I noticed the cap had come loose again. I'll grab & post a photo soon, but I was just wondering if anyone else has ever had similar issues, or is it normal & if so why is it like that & am I able to repair it if it is bust?


Any help or advice anyone can offer me will be VERY gratefully received & appreciated.

Hi and welcome to the site,
What speedo do you have? is it the round one (all digital) or the Digital speedo with analog tach? Also what colour is your bike.
The reason I ask is with this info its very easy to establish the correct year of the bike.
Sometimes in the UK the year of registration gets mixed up with year of manufacture.
My bike is listed as a 2006 model when infact its a 2005 model.

Nelly

 

[PWABO]

Hi Nelly,

It's got the full digital clock mate, tacho & speedo & it's the "bluish silver" colour

Cheers buddy! ;0)

 

[Nelly]

Re: Rear wheel alignment, BIG problem (I think).

Your bike like mine is the S1 model (the best one) which explains the swingarm. It's not an issue really. I have the same problem as you describe, which as already stated is fixed by pushing the wheel in whilst tightening the adjusting bolts. I stick my knee into the tyre to achieve this.
Thanks for posting,
Nelly

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