‘75 wheel offset

willis

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The other night I was looking into replacing my front brake lines when I noticed my front wheel seems to be offset to the right fairly considerably. I’ve only ridden this bike short distances around my neighborhood but it rolls and stops as normal with no issues. I haven’t had time to dig in deeper yet but was wondering if anyone else has seen this issue before.

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Yes, that does look off. Besides the wheel being off center, you can see it in how far the axle is pulled through on the speedo drive side. That end of the axle is stepped and acts as the wheel spacer on that side. As you tighten the axle nut, it pulls the axle through just the right amount to eliminate any play. Usually, the head of the axle sticks outside the fork enough so that you can see the hole through it. The amount of axle step showing on the inside, between the fork and speedo drive, is very small, not even 1/4" .....

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Maybe the axle spacer on the disc side is too short? That would allow the stepped end of the axle to pull through the forks more like yours has. But, something else you're going to have to look at is the disc to caliper alignment. If you space the wheel back over to center, will the disc still line up?
 
I've never dealt with older forks like yours, just the later 35mm ones. Maybe the way your axle sits is normal? Maybe the issue is a tweaked fender, or one just not mounted perfectly centered over the wheel. Another thing might be that new rim. Maybe it wasn't centered over the hub when it was laced on.
 
Yes, could be that too. Gary, got your dimensioned front hub pic you could post up?
 
Thanks guys, I'm definitely going to have to get in there for a closer look. I never noticed any issues physically, it just caught my eye last night how the spacing on the fender was off. I thought it was maybe missing a wheel spacer but then as you 5t, thought there would be issues with the rotor not lining up and binding. I believe the PO did replace the wheels on this bike. Pretty sure he said he got them from Mike's. It will probably be another week before I can really get in there to investigate, but I will follow up with my findings.
 
Right, but if I loosen my fork caps to slide the wheel to the position it is supposed to be, then in theory I will have alignment issues with the rotor and caliper. So maybe I really need to look and be sure I have the correct rotor mounted up. I'll try and slide out tonight when I get home to take some measurements. This has me really intrigued since it currently rolls and stops pretty well.
 
Right, but if I loosen my fork caps to slide the wheel to the position it is supposed to be, then in theory I will have alignment issues with the rotor and caliper. So maybe I really need to look and be sure I have the correct rotor mounted up. I'll try and slide out tonight when I get home to take some measurements. This has me really intrigued since it currently rolls and stops pretty well.
My prediction is that it won't affect the rotor alignment.
But I could be wrong about that.
I'm wrong about a lot of things.

I'll be tuning in for the results.......
 
One more comment; if the tab on the inside of the fork is not properly engaged in the slot of the speedo drive it can force that fork out wide.
 
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My prediction is that it won't affect the rotor alignment.
But I could be wrong about that.
I'm wrong about a lot of things.

How could moving the wheel over a half inch not affect the caliper/rotor alignment? Not sure I grasp that concept?
 
How could moving the wheel over a half inch not affect the caliper/rotor alignment? Not sure I grasp that concept?
From the photo, it looks like your lower fork tube tab might be hanging up on the speedo drive tab, kinda like Gary is suggesting (altho we don't have a notch, just two tabs), so your lower fork tube would just be sliding on the axle a bit, and the right side would remain aligned.
 
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One more thing to mention. This doesn't have anything to do with your spacing issue but rather with the axle assembly and clamp. Notice how the "cap" on the bottom of the left fork leg in Yamadude's pic is tight to the fork lower and shows no gap. Now look at yours, which does show a gap. That's not correct. It should be clamped tight in the front like Yamadude's, with the gap only at the rear. The "cap" only goes on one way too. If you look on the bottom of it, you should find an arrow stamped into it. That should point forward .....

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If you look closely at the "cap", you'll notice one side is thicker than the other. That thicker side goes at the front and gets clamped tight.
 
But it would change if he slid the wheel over, which is what I mentioned and he was just saying. Let's just hope it is an improperly mounted speedo drive, that would be a simple fix.
 
Willis, Your trying to close the gap on the left hand side, (right in the pic), the rotor and caliper are aligned when the left fork is butted up against the hub.....This won't change
what he sez; the only thang that will change wheel alignment to the riders RH lower is the thickness of the RH spacer.
We'll be waiting to see what you find...
 
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