Wheel Alignment

Just checked my wheel alignment and it seems to be 7-8mm out of alignment.

Reason for checking is after riding to the Moto Expo yesterday, I decided to clean my bike and discovered that the rear tyre is rubbing on the CARC housing.

Checking method was a 50mm x 25mm aluminium straight edge across the rear tyre to front wheel, then measured distance to edge of front tyre and front disc with a 6"/150mm steel ruler

Rh side: 42mm to tyre, 33mm to disc

LH side: 28mm to tyre, 19mm to disc

Is this normal or is there a spacer missing on the rear wheel.

Thanks in advance.

Regards

Stephen

 

The only reasons I can think of for a tire to rub on the CARC unit would either be an oversized tire, or a lacing error as there are no spacers.  There is a spacer on the front wheel, but it is unlikely to be the cause of your misalignment.

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If your rear tire is not out of spec (180/55 ZR17) then it may be a lacing issue.  Assuming that you have the standard issue Alpina laced wheels on your 1200SE, a rear wheel laced with a right-left bias may be the cause of the mis-alignment and lack of clearance for the CARC swingarm.

Weird? I've never seen such a thing. Unlike earlier bikes there is no way to misalign the rear wheel as the swingarm bearings are fixed in the frame. As Steve says unless the rear wheel is laced wrong or its got a stupidly fat tyre on it I can't think of any way it could be so out of whack???

Pete

Thanks, tyre is a Dunlop Qualifier 180/55

Now where can I take it to get wheel checked

Can you post a picture of this please....all the issues I have seen with the alpina / behr wheels have been related to the short spokes on the rear wheels usually loose but I assume the tire is actually hitting the swing arm? I suppose the shield could be left out on a wheel change but the seal shield is only about 1mm thick, Dunlop tires have a lot of whiskers from molding can you post a pic of the rubbing?

Go and see Sean at Brisbane Moto Guzzi or whatever they call themselves nowadays.

Pete

Another quick way to check if your rear wheel is laced out of spec would be to measure the position of the brake disc relative to outside rim of the wheel and we could compare that to one that has proper clearance.  I could measure mine as a comparison.

As soon as I get some charge into my camera battery I'll go up and take a photo of where a straight edge meets the rim when laid across the brake disc.  If yours meets at the same position, then we'd rule out a lacing problem.

Here you go, where the outside of the brake disc lines up with the rim:

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Lines up about 1-2mm outside of where the rim shoulder begins.  If yours lines up inside of the shoulder, that would certainly account for the rubbing on your CARC swingarm.

I suppose rubbing could also be caused by a grossly underinflated tire or a shot sidewall in a hard right hand turn.

Wheel rubbing on swingarm
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Approximately 6mm to inside rim hump to outside of disc
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Approximately 14mm from outside of disc to outer rim edge (straight edge 2mm)
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Tyre pressures are as per manual, Checked before each ride.

I will take it to Sean, will just need to see what weekend he is working.

Probably not relevant, but I know somebody in UK who had a 180 tyre that rubbed, can't remember the make though.

The Avon storm has been reported to rub, the 180 is actually 188. I have one, but mine doesn't rub.

  

Well it doesn't seem to be a lacing issue as the relative position of your brake disc (and hub by extension) to the wheel rim is virtually identical to mine. I'm pretty sure I'm running the same Dunlop Sportmax Qualifiers as you also.

I've got no rubbing issues and I'm even running a Skidmarx hugger that sits just inboard of the CARC. Curious to find out just what is going on there...

Stupid suggestion maybe.
But since it's a spoke wheel... is everything tight? No wobbling at all that you can feel?
Have you rolled the bike and checked if it touches during a full rev of the wheel?

Just measured tyre with 2 straight edges (180/55) measuring 190mm, that would explain the rubbing.

Still doesn't explains why the back wheel is approximately 7-8mm out of alignment to the front wheel. mmmm

Fitted a new set of Michelin Pilot Power 3's today and now have approximately 10mm clearance on the swing arm.

Never used Michelins before, I'll let you know what I think of them after a decent ride.