Hi, Yesterday on my 4th Gen I removed my front wheel for a tire change and when done torqued the axle bolt to 43 lbs. Afterwards, I noticed that the manual had that as the correct spec for the 3rd Gen but for the 4th gen it had dropped to 29 lbs. More research inidcates the spec goes back up to the 43 lb. range for both the 5th and 6th Gens. Was there a major front end change on solely the 4th gen that justified dropping the spec so much? Or is it a typo in the manual? 29lbs. seems very low for the axle bolt; about the lowest I can find for any bike. It's a rather important bolt so I would like to make sure; too loose=possible disaster, too tight=twisted, bent tubes. Any one come across this before? No luck searching the threads. Thanks. Joe
I don't know the specifics of the bike, but generally the axle bolt/nut assembly has the job of preloading the hub bearings. I agree that 29 does seem low. Usually there is a pinch bolt, or a couple of pinch bolts, on one of the fork tubes that are intented to be left loose until after the axle bolt is torqued to spec. You then bounce the front end up and down a few time to allow the fork tubes to find their centers, and then tighten the pinch bolt(s). An under-torqued axle assembly could possibly allow the ball bearings to momentarily skid on their races, at which point they will begin to wear rapidly. If you were worried about the fork tubes being affected, they shouldn't be. Sorry I can't offer anything else.
Both my service and owner's manuals list the axle bolt at 43 and the pinch bolts at 16. The only diff between the 3rd and 4th were with the brake disc bolts, 31/14., Which manual are you using? :crazy:
I've got both the clymer and haynes manuals for 86-97. For the front axle bolt and pinch bolt neither one differentiates between the years. It's all the same. Clymer front axle bolt = 40-47 ft/lbs clymer pinch bolt = 13-18 ft/lbs Haynes front axle bolt = 43 ft/lbs haynes front axle clamp bolt = 16 ft/lbs Hope it helps.
