Wheel Allignment

I have a 72 750 Combat Commando that I am doing a restoration on.
I have rebuilt several Jap bikes but this my first Brit/Norton
I completely stripped it down and have rebuilt/refurb/powder coated/replaced bad parts
I am starting to put the Norton back together.
I have the motor/Geabox in, swing arm and forks on.
I put the wheels on without tires so I could check allignment
I run a string from the rear wheel forward and one from the front wheel back.
They both show that there is a ¾” offset for alignment.
Should the wheels be in line or is there a tolerance allowed for an offset?.

Everything appears to be straight,
I rebuilt the forks which included new slider tubes.
I have new bushings in the swingarm.
I have put adjustable ISOs on it.
The wheels do not wobble

I do have pictues of it if that helps.

Any input on this wouls be appreciated

michida said:

I do have pictues of it if that helps.

Click to expand...

You knew the answer before you wrote this. :mrgreen:

3/4" seems to be a bit much.

All the factory Commando's I've aligned tires on have rear rim center
offset to LH by 3/8".
Using a long straight edge - must compensate for tire width front/back
differences.

But only thing the matters to Commando rear alignment is the chain run,
not the road wheels in direct line, much as that's always sought.

One you get tired of the too crude laser dots and targets, long
sticks or string triangulation, or get caught out on the road
by flat and wheel removal,
Just stick ya fingers between front of tire and swing arm
tube and diddle till feels the same and ride off in full
functional alignment.

Its actually more stable to have tires slightly in separated
lines of ~parallel travel. Within the small amount of Commando
its undetectable not matter the conditions. I prefer the
slightly off set Commando tires to dish-dash-dice the
loose Gravel slopes and fast straights to my inline SV or scooter.
On steepest places actually helps traction and holding
straighter line by slightly crabbing upward accelerating.

All bike makes of all ages then to drift up the slight road
crowns bias ply tires more so than radial ply.

hobot












hobot

3/4" offset from what? What I would do, take the rear shocks off, push the rim up as far as it will go with the swingarm, take a long straight edge, piece of pipe or whatever is about 4' long and very straight and place it along the rear rim side. Measure the distance from the straight edge to the large center tube backbone of the bike and make sure it runs parallel with the backbone, adjust the rear wheel adjusters so the rim sides are exactly parallel with the backbone. Measure the other side of the rear rim and make those 2 measurements equal by adjusting the spokes. My rim is about 10mm larger than the tube, so 5mm on each side and running parallel will align the rear wheel and center it on the frame. The front is more problematical. I never did mine, some suggest running a pipe through the steering bearings, tracing a circle with that pipe and see if the center of that circle lines up with the center tube. I haven't figured out how to do that yet, but if you can, that will tell you if the front steering head is in alignment with the frame. The front wheel/rim should be centered to the sliders or stanchions and the stanchions should be parallel, ludwig suggests a piece of glass against both stanchions to see if they are straight and parallel.

Look up http://www.vintagenet.us/phantom/wsc.html if you want a project.

Your mileage may vary, and I may be corrected.

Dave
69S

The Worlds Straightest Commando by Ken Augustine, did not feel
or handle any better than any ordinary Commando that assembles
as expected w/o much fight or leverage and swearing.
Get as anal as ya like but takes major damage of modifications
to alter base line nice ride of regular ole Commandos.

Main issue in Cdo wheel alignment is chain run and tire
wear. I double dog dare ya to ride a skewed Cdo and
tell it from a perfectly aligned one. I'd tested this a number
to times and ways, so not speculating about it.

hobot

hobot said:

I double dog dare ya to ride a skewed Cdo and
tell it from a perfectly aligned one. I'd tested this a number
to times and ways, so not speculating about it.

hobot

Click to expand...

My 850 will lean to the left with hands off the bars unless I take extra care to align the rear wheel with the front. I do it by eyeball, sighting down the front tire toward the rear.. it's not fun but for me it does make a difference. My brother's '72 doesn't care a bit about alignment, so go figure. I guess it depends on the bike.

Any quantitative measurement scheme must also take into account that the disc brake front wheel may or may not be laced to be centered between the forks. I gave up trying to be scientific about wheel alignment long ago.

"I gave up trying to be scientific about wheel alignment long ago."

Yep, eye balling or using the swingarm to center the rear wheel as Hobot metioned is all I have done for many years. I had a 996 Ducati that I used to track regularly at Lime Rock until we moved to Mexico in 'late '06. I had that bike "precision aligned" once and there was no difference in the bike's handling at the track over using the eyeball method. Cornering/max speed was limited by my ability, never by the alignment method. Maybe Troy Bayliss could tell the difference but I can't.

ludwig said:

Some 10 years ago my son won a zukini race in Healdsburg Ca , against some major competition . Why did he win ? Not because his zukini had more hp than the others , but because daddy made shure the wheels tracked perfectly straight . ( plus a drop of olive oil on the axles ..)

Click to expand...

Why didn't I see this on the cover of Zukini Racer's Monthly?

hee hee

Properly aligned vegetables are the pinnacle of technology these days.

But current zucchini technology applies to 4 wheel vehicles, not bikes. Two wheelers cannot have the pair of front (or rear) wheels pushing against each other as zucchinis and other 4 wheeled vehicles can.

Yeah my dad helped me win Boy Scouts balsa wood car races,
care to smooth the axle nails and wheel bores and align w/o out wobble
and put most mass at back for a bit longer period of gravity acting.
Don't think we were allowed lubricants, so stayed legal.

I am confused on need to align one tire inline with each other
at this point on Commando's, but it still makes most sense to
me so have built rear wheel on Peel with rim and hub centered
to the frame spine.

hobot

Hi,
I may add a Zukini to my stable & join the Zukini owners club, if the are available in Asda supermarkets.
The front wheel rim is offset as the hub is not in the exact centre of the forks because of the disc on one side of the hub.
Its offset to make the rims line up front & rear.
I spent a while lining up my rims & its improved the handling a lot. Much better round left & right bends & really steady in a straight line. I was doning 90 on the motorway the other day & it was steady as a rock without drifting left or right.
Ive also got Vernier isolastic adjusters & a Dave Taylor head steady which have both improved easy maintenance & handling.
I also put Avon Road Rider Tyres on (100/90) front & rear instead of Dunlop TT100's & I dont get wobbles anymore going over white lines or ruts in the road.
My commando now handles the best it ever has since 1973 when I bought it new with 26 miles on the clock.
Carefull set with this matter will pay dividends when riding, belive me.
Also take my advice & get a bigger disc & racing caliper on the front for better stopping.
Best of luck,
Don

Don Tovey said:

I may add a Zukini to my stable & join the Zukini owners club, if the are available in Asda supermarkets.

Click to expand...

They should be, but you'd probably have to ask for a "courgette"
(Zucchini = Courgette, and NO, I ain't gonna add that one to the lingo list) :roll: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zucchini