Page 1 of 1

Tilted front wheel question

PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 5:02 pm
by Modbadger
Recently got round to replacing the front disc pads in my SX200 lookalike (SX 175 with most of the bits)

When I'd got it all back together and on the road, I happened to notice that the front wheel, viewed from the the front, looked slightly tilted.

I measured the two distances from the nearest part of the tyre to the forks, and the result was that the distance was 20mm on the right hand and 27mm on the right. Went back and checked that I'd assembled the hub correctly, and it seems OK.

What would be the most likely cause of this? Bike's running fine and no handling problems, but it can't be right?

Re: Tilted front wheel question

PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 5:57 pm
by Storkfoot
Take wheel off again and then find some metal bar to roughly replicate the spindle. Put it in the fork links and try and identify whether they are the problem. They can warp or maybe the bushes need replacing. If they warp it could be that the links look straight but are in the wrong plane. This is hard to see until you have the links out of the forks.

However, before you strip the forks put the wheel back on and tighten up the nuts alternatively rather than just one side which can result in a skew if wheel as you say.

Re: Tilted front wheel question

PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 6:09 pm
by Wack
Also whilst a bar is in the links and one appears lower than the other it's worth checking the lower buffers as one maybe squashed more than the other.

Re: Tilted front wheel question

PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 6:32 pm
by drivera
Also take the bike off the stand and compress the front end by hitting the front brake , if the wheel is now central then its probably the bottom buffers

Re: Tilted front wheel question

PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 10:06 am
by Modbadger
Thanks guys - it's all good ideas, and I shall try all three in the shed tomorrow.