So I am at a track yesterday and have the bike on the stands and normally (like with the other 8000 bikes I've worked on), removing the front wheel to get a tire changed is entirely undramatic.
But not on this bike.
So it has 1500 miles or so on the ODO and most of that was done by previous riders (it was a demo bike). Serviced entirely by dealership staff.
It was INCREDIBLY difficult to get the front axle out. Yes of course I removed the pinch bolts.
It was also really difficult to unthread... I was afraid it had been cross-threaded by a hamfisted mechanic and his too strong impact gun... but that wasn't the problem.
It turns out the right side aluminum spacer had been galled- it was out of round and had basically seized onto the axle. We finally got it out by fashioning a punch out of a 1/4" drive extension and suitable diameter socket... and beat it out with a hammer.
The axle is perfectly straight.
The left side spacer slides on and off perfectly. The bearings and centering dowel between them are all good.
It's just the one spacer. My micrometer showed a difference of wall thickness of .4mm in various places, and the diameter varied up to .8mm. The part that was too narrow for the axle got marked, and I worked on it with a half round file, and then heavy scotchbrite and finally 0 then 000 steel wool. Re-Mic'd it and it was nice and round, and it slipped right over the axle like the other one.
I put the axle in without wheel or spacers just to test the threading -- and it screwed in without resistance as it is supposed to do.
I put it all back together and torqued it down to spec and it's perfect now.
But it really had me worried.
But not on this bike.
So it has 1500 miles or so on the ODO and most of that was done by previous riders (it was a demo bike). Serviced entirely by dealership staff.
It was INCREDIBLY difficult to get the front axle out. Yes of course I removed the pinch bolts.
It was also really difficult to unthread... I was afraid it had been cross-threaded by a hamfisted mechanic and his too strong impact gun... but that wasn't the problem.
It turns out the right side aluminum spacer had been galled- it was out of round and had basically seized onto the axle. We finally got it out by fashioning a punch out of a 1/4" drive extension and suitable diameter socket... and beat it out with a hammer.
The axle is perfectly straight.
The left side spacer slides on and off perfectly. The bearings and centering dowel between them are all good.
It's just the one spacer. My micrometer showed a difference of wall thickness of .4mm in various places, and the diameter varied up to .8mm. The part that was too narrow for the axle got marked, and I worked on it with a half round file, and then heavy scotchbrite and finally 0 then 000 steel wool. Re-Mic'd it and it was nice and round, and it slipped right over the axle like the other one.
I put the axle in without wheel or spacers just to test the threading -- and it screwed in without resistance as it is supposed to do.
I put it all back together and torqued it down to spec and it's perfect now.
But it really had me worried.
