Front Wheel Alignment????

[owenlo]

I am very curious, I have just laced up front and rear EXCEL's to my 2002 KDX200 and I have noticed that my front wheel is closer to the fork with the brakes on them (left side when sitting on bike) and further from the odometer side fork, Is this normal or did I goof? The wheel spins up true and I just can't remember if it is sopposed to be closer to one side or not. So if everyone can go out and look at their KDX's and check their frontend and see if it is in fact closer to one sode than the other I would be VERY appreciative. Thanks in advance!!!


Obie#8 ;)

 

[23jayhawk]

Calibrated eyeball & a 6" scale indicates about 1/8" to 3/16" closer to the rotor side on my '02. Front wheel has never been off.

Obie, your bike is getting entirely too cool. I'm jealous. :cool:

 

[David Trustrum]

Well if you goof’d it was by not measuring the offset before pulling the wheel down.

No problem really.

Stand the bike upright (but next to a wall so it can’t fall over) & line the wheels up & eyeball the front wheel from lying down in front of the bike. Looking along the edge of both sides you should see equal parts of the rear wheel. (is confusing with knobblies though).

If it does need a bit of realignment you loosen every second spoke 1 turn on one side & tighten every spoke 1 turn on the side you want the wheel to travel & this will evenly move the wheel over. Repeat. If you require a few turns I would check alignment again & possibly pull the tire off to check the spokes aren’t sticking out enough to puncture the tube.

 

[owenlo]

How about a helping hand here since I goofed. Could some of you put a straightedge on your brake disk and then measure from the straightedge to the rim edge and let me know the distancefrom the straightedge to the rim so I can get the correct offset. I need these measurements for front and rear rims. The straightedge should be long enough that when you lay it on the disk that it extends out a little past the rim edge then measure how far away it is from the rim. I REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYONES HELP!!!

Obie#8 ;)

 

[Lew]

owenlo
I measured both my kdx's. I placed the straight edge on the outside of the brake rotor and measured the distance at the top of the rim (where tire meets rim). They are as follows

KDX 200 - 1 1/8 inch front
1 7/16 inch rear

KDX 220 - 1 1/8 inch front
1 3/8 inch rear

Both are stock and true. Good luck
Lew

 

[David Trustrum]

I didn’t mean goofing, I meant learning, if you laced your wheels & trued them that is something to be proud of. PS my KDX is an older model so the measurements aren’t possibly the same but chap above seems to have come through.

 

[owenlo]

Thanks Lew, That is exactly what I needed. Now I can go do the job again, but correctly! And David, don't worry about saying I goofed, because I said I goofed before anyone else did. HAHA!!! REALLY, Thanks to y'all, you are life savers. I love this site, but it is the people I really like because you will all help someone you have never even met before. THANKS

Obie#8 ;)

 

[owenlo]

LEW,

If you look at your rear wheel from behind the bike, does it look a little bit off to the chain side? I measured my disk to wheel and it is 1"3/8"(1"6/16") !/16 further left than yours. Looking at mine it will still be over to the left even if I move it that 1/16". Let me know, Thanks.

Obie#8 ;)

P.S. I got the front wheel over in alignment and trued thanks to you. It took 4 hours but I got it dead on.

 

[Lew]

Obie - I sent pm with details
Lew

 

[owenlo]

Thanks All, I'll let you know how the rear wheel turns out tonight when i have a chance to work on it. Other than that the front wheel is GREAT. The black rims really look good too. :thumb:

Obie#8 ;)

 

[owenlo]

Both wheels finally in alignment and looking GREAT. Thanks EVERYONE for all your help.

Obie#8 ;)