Rear wheel alignment

[Peterp]

Morning all,
I’m getting towards the end of the build on my TV175, thank god I hear you all shout.
New engine moutings etc etc but, the rear wheel looks slightly out of line when looking from the rear.
Only a quarter of an inch but… I’ve checked, measured and looked for anything that looks as though it might have had damage, nothing at all.
I owned the same model in my teens and I remember the same problem then, I even fitted LI mounts in the hope of trueing it up but all I gained was more vibrations and the same rear wheel position.
I feel I want to bolt something onto the rear of the frame loop and twist it so it lines up.
Is this normal, is it 60’s Lambretta engineering and should I just not worry.

[hullygully]

ride it pete, if it wobbles @ 70mph then you might have a problem

[Peterp]

Hully, if I can get it 70mph I won’t care if it wobbles

[Warkton Tornado No.1]

Probably the only way to really prove your concern is to perform an initial, easy check.

With two pieces long enough to suit the wheel base, preferably something known to be straight (long spirit levels are a good example) the alignment of the rear to front hubs can be checked. Normally - if you are anything like most of us - a set of spare, naked rims are fitted to each hub with the two long pieces clamped to, or bolted through the rear rim set. TBH it is quite possible to affix a ‘straight edge’ to the rear hub with a matched pair of M8 pillars to create an offset to which the front hub should be parallel but probably such a test is more suitable for those with a bench on which to raise the scooter. With laser levels being more widely available these days, I guess even that process could be incorporated…..

If there is misalignment front to back, the test will prove it. In my experience, the Lambretta SII/SIII’s are very good as far as wheel alignment, though wheel rims should match for that to be maintained. Some tubeless rims are manufactured with an offset so are best used in pairs.

[Peterp]

Morning, carried out check as WT suggested, all good. Front to back, back to front inline, I think it’s the number plate area of loop which is out. I’ve seen somewhere an article where a piece of bar about 4ft long is bolted to the lower part (bottom holes for number plate) and is used to twist the tail end back.
But, I have looked and looked but cannot find it. Any suggestions please.

[Storkfoot]

Several of my scooters have looked offset from the back but are fine really. If your panels fit well, you may be making yourself more issues by trying to bend the rear end.

[Warkton Tornado No.1]

Morning, carried out check as WT suggested, all good. Front to back, back to front inline, I think it’s the number plate area of loop which is out. I’ve seen somewhere an article where a piece of bar about 4ft long is bolted to the lower part (bottom holes for number plate) and is used to twist the tail end back.
But, I have looked and looked but cannot find it. Any suggestions please.

If you do find any information, then what? Presumably such a procedure would be best to have happened at dry build stage (hindsight & all that….) but it may be that a small tweak may not affect the finished paintwork. There are a number of dealers that offer frame re-jigging but that option is surely not viable.

Mind you, I would imagine that any of us in similar circumstances might find such an actual misalignment niggling. Rather than it remain just an opinion you have, perhaps you can figure a way of measuring it so that you might correct it in the manner you suggest. If it were me, I’d consider fabricating a substantial plate to bolt in place of the number plate to enable some tweaking without too much risk of the frame loop moving where you don’t want it to. I’ve seen it done - when paint was hardly an issue - with bike on it’s side & various packing between floor & rear tyre & judicious jumping on to the rear frame loop edge, a frame being ‘re-aligned’ so I know it doesn’t take too much energy to achieve it