4th gen front wheel probs

So a couple of weeks ago I had to pull the front wheel to put a new tire on (PR2) and have ran across a few problems.

1) The spacers/bushings on the front axle. One bushing is larger than the other 1.5inch v 1inch. The first time I pulled the wheel I made I didn't pay attention to which one went on which side. The past 5 times, they have gone from side to side without any bad effects (that I can tell) Do these things have a correct side?

2) I've somehow developed a front end shimmy under light deceleration. You can only tell if you let go of the handlebars under engine braking. I know this is common with certain tires towards the end of their life, but these are PR2s, and only have 700 miles on them.

3) May or may not be related to point 2. After every time I have mounted new tires (maybe 10-20 times) I've faithfully put the wheel on the balancer (static), and found that no new weights are needed to balance. The rims are balanced, and the tires need no balancing. This time, I am in a bit of a time crunch, and simply slap the tire on, and throw the whole thing back onto the bike. In my rush to put it all back together again, I overtighten the axle, and bind the front end, so that wheel won't spin :redface: Pull the axle back out, and redo the whole thing, wheel spins fine, BUT, after taking it out for a ride a few days later, I noticed a vibration/buzzing at 100mph (on a track...yeah, that's the ticket :wink: ) Being unwilling to pull the front tire to balance, I decided to see if Dyna Beads really do work. The consensus...maybe. The vibration/buzzing at 100 is gone, but now I've got the weave from point 2

BTW, mechanic by necessity, not inclination. I can't get over coughing up $400 for the mounting of 2 tires, when I can do it myself for $250.

 

if spacers are in the wrong side your rotors will not line up with the calipers.
would not use the beads - just have the tire balanced.
also there is a dot on the tire that is the lighest piont of tire and should align w/ the valve stem - out of my last four tires two did not need weights - but I would ck tire and balance it and vibration should go away.

 

Can you post a pic of this dot as an example 02 vfr rider? I have not ever heard of this but it makes perfect scence and would like to know what to look for. Last time on my gsxr the dealership added a number of weights to my front wheel and I wandered what was up with it, after reading this post I bet they had a noobie in the shop...

 

The heavy spot of the rim is not necessarily the stem. It rarely is in fact.

If you static balance your wheels already, take all the weights off, and put the rim (with stem assembly installed) but without the tire, on the balancer. Mark the heavy spot with a magic marker. on the inside - where the tire goes Line up the dot on the tire to this mark, it gets hidden when the tire is mounted. Rarely any weights are needed.

The bigger axle spacer goes to the right hand side. If you reversed them, and tightened down the big axle bolt, you may have distorted the rotor, causing the vibration you describe in your point #2 and #3.

 

when you say the right hand side for the larger spacer . do you mean the right hand side of the bike or your right hand while installing the wheel? sorry i know I sound dumb here, but there are no dumb questions right?

 

all good advise here, no need to throw out anything else, other than to clear it up a bit, it's on the right side of the bike as if you are sitting on it. your right there's no silly question, unless :wink:

 

A follow up. The spacers are on the correct side, and I think that if you put them on the wrong side, the brakes really will bind. No permanent damage. Also, the shimmy was simply the tire was 2 ozs out of balance I took it to the local shop to have them do a dynamic balance ($12 :thumb: ) just to start with the cheap fixes first. I did end up cupping the tire with the lack of balancing on my end, but I should be able to get at least 3k miles before I change the tire. Normally I get about 6k, but the light cupping just kinda bugs me. Also since the local shop is selling the PP for $125, I'm gonna hit that, and put some fresh rubber on the bike