The spacers should be just spacers. They don't align anything really, so as long as they aren't binding and are still the same thickness, I wouldn't worry about them. Good job getting the spacer cleaned up.

 

Yes.
"just spacers..." Made from a too-soft material that galls/warps and binds on the axle. I get they wanted to keep the unsprung weight as low as possible, but there are more resilient lightweight metals/alloys that will hold their shape under the loads this front end is capable of generating.

 

I don't think you can blame the material, its the hamfisted previous owner or mechanics fault.
If you're changing wheels regularly maybe replace them with a new set of captive spacers.

 

Hm... Well if there is nothing wrong with the material (meaning, you think it isn't too soft), why spend the money on billet pieces made of better material (captive or otherwise)?
See?

 

The captive part is the relative bit, same material, some find them easier for frequent wheel changes especially the rear.
Still maintain there's nothing wrong with the OEM parts, just clumsy owners, or previous owners in your case.

 

The same exact thing happened to me last month - 2020 RS. Tried removing the front wheel and it was extremely difficult ultimately requiring a hammer. The one spacer was too narrow on the one side. I suspect the axle was over torqued by the shop that did the tires previous when I brought the bike in. I had to sand down the inside corner of the spacer to get it back on. PITA

 

Yep. Exactly the same thing. Of all the things that COULD have been wrong (bent axle, fuckedup bearing, crossed threads at axle end, etc), this is the easiest problem.

 

There was another thread where some one had this problem recently. Front Axle Bushing Seized-
Maybe the material used for these spacers is poor quality or they are simply too thin and getting squished. Haven't heard of this happening to previous year bikes. I changed the front tire once on my 2020 so far and don't remember having an issue.

 

Have had multiple track bikes, all with aluminum wheel spaces and never encountered this problem before. If it heated to the point that it galled to the axle, it is more than likely compromised. I would get a new one just for piece of mind, particularly if you track the bike frequently.

 

This is precisely what happened to me per link to my post above. It is possible someone overtorqued the axel and deformed the bushing. We'll see what happens on next removal. If it happens again I'm getting steel bushings made and be done with this nonsense.

 

Why, so someone can overtorque the spindle and not damage the spacer, but damage the spindle or forks instead, just do the job properly and there is NO issue.

 

Steel spacers will jack up your unsprung weight and destroy your bike’s handling. I know it’s true, I read it on the Interweb. That’s why I put titanium lug nuts on my 12 year old Hyundai Accent, nothing but the best for my baby.

 

LOL

 

It's POSSIBLE the aluminum used by the Thai factory for these spacers is of a softer/cheaper/crappier alloy. It's POSSIBLE also that the wall thickness of these spacers is too thin for the type of alloy and when the specified torque is applied, these engineering-fail factors are "squishing" them, and it is all exacerbated when things get hot down there. We are seeing some issues from the "let's make all these bikes in Thailand and use a lot of asian sourced products and services to do it..." Teething issues on the 2019/2020 bikes? Will they sort this stuff out? TBD. LOTS of other bikes have aluminum spacers with zero issues. So instead of steel, I might look to get thicker wall spacers made from an alloy like 7068 instead of 6061 or whatever they used...

 

Or see if you can source properly spec'd titanium spacers... problem solved without the added weight of steel (yes, I'm aware that titanium is expensive).

 

Who knew there would be this much discussion on this thread...... I understand the premise to minimize unsprung weight but did anyone do the math on what the increment would be using a SS alloy? Probably less than 5% so much ado about nothing for us mere street mortals. Wait until I throw out the oil type thread.....

 

@Scooterdude

OH HELL NO!
😱

 

Glad I found this thread. I just had the exact same issue. Does anyone know what the proper torque setting is for the front axle on a 2020 RS?