Harley Rear Wheel Alignment
Bob LaRosaDescription
Bob walks us through Harley rear wheel alignment. He’ll just loosen the rear axle nut and with a homemade tool he’ll measure the proper distance and adjust accordingly.
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Rear Shock Adjustment and Drive Belt Service
Now we're gonna review rear wheel alignment. This'll not only keep the wheel true in the swing arm, but it'll also keep the belt running true in the pulley. I'm gonna start by removing the axle spring clip and I'm just gonna loosen the rear axle nut. There's no reason to remove it, just to loosen it a little bit. This allows the adjuster mechanism to let the axle slide forward and back during this adjustment procedure. We've made up a tool that we'll use to index from the center of the swing-arm pivot bolt directly to the center of the axle. We'll set our cap so it shows that way. Now we'll double-check on the other side that this measurement is the same. If not, we'll have to make adjustments in small increments with the rear axle adjusters. The thing is to remember, a half a turn moves the rear axle quite a bit. You wanna make sure alignment of not only the rim to the swing arm, but the belt to the pulley stays true. Another note; whenever you make rear axle adjustments, this will change belt tension, and it should be re-checked anytime this alignment tool or this alignment procedure is used. Now that we've verified wheel alignment on the caliper side, I'm gonna do the same procedure on the pulley side. You have to remember that wheel alignment not only affects the alignment of the wheel and rim in the motorcycle, but the belt, how it tracks on the pulley. Gonna make a fine adjustment here. We want our center cap just to the center of the axle. That looks good. At this point, I'm gonna go back to the other side and re-torque the axle. Now that we've checked rear wheel alignment on both sides of the motorcycle, we have the axle adjuster set at an even distance, and I've checked to make sure that belt tension remained correct during this procedure, I'm gonna re-torque the rear axle nut to no more than 78 foot-pounds. I'm gonna re-install the spring clip into the axle nut. At this point, the alignment procedure has been completed.
Hi Bob, great site & video's for top tops or if just interested! However do you have any advice for my little problem? I ride a 1998 FLSTS which I have recently fitted AVON 150/80BT16 white walls on, & naturally reaearched wheel change out & alignment tips using your vids. However, I have an issue with drive belt to tire wall clearance, in that the belt contacts the tire wall, leaving unsightly black marks on the white wall.....unless I have the wheel slightly out of align to make the belt drift towards the outer side of the pulley. If I align the wheel to be true using an alignment tool between rear axle & swing arm spindle centres, the belt tends to drift towards the inside flange of the rear pulley, which is just enough for the belt to rub against the white wall tyre. Therefore, I misalign the wheel by about 3mm, which is just enough to let the belt drift out. The bike rides fine with no noticible handling effects, so I gues I can live with it. i still end up with black rub marks, though this mainly happens when backing up the bike and the belt drifts inward due reverse wheel rotation. It's not a big problem as the marks clean off OK, but it is a pain in the a**. I have considered offsetting the pulley with a spacer, but this may cause belt alignment issues, so have not yet gone down this road. Maybe I've done something wrong, but I don't think so, however if your experience can offer a solution, I'd be glad to hear of it!