Wheel alignment

[fizz]

I had my wheels respoked last winter and noticed I had to push out slightly on the right handlebar when riding straight after it was put back together. Yesterday I put the bike on the lift(1945 chief) and established the centerline of the frame on the lift table. With the rear wheel parrelell to the centerline it is 3/4" to the left side of the bike. The front wheel is 1/4" to the left. Both wheels were done identically( I helped with measuring). We were careful taking measurements when before we removed the spokes, but maybe we screwed up. Also removed the fork and found I was missing 4 of the ball bearings on the top. Bearing and race for fork are ordered and will be replaced. Is the rear wheel offset amount excessive and could it be because of movement in the rear springs. Does anybody have the correct dimension from a straightedge over the rim measured back to the hub? It rode fine before we respoked the wheels. Thanks for any advise.

[fillibuster]

Your answers will vary.
I straightened my frame on the shop table, secured at motor mounts and trans, and plumbed the neck on the center line on the table. The slippers were aligned symmetrical to each other, centered on the center line. The neck was tweaked until it's alignment shaft was also centered on the line. .....

then, I centered the rear wheel on the center line (adjusted spokes) with stock axle assembly. Worked out great, 80 mph/no hands.

[T. Cotten]

Fizz!

For a simple diagnostic of the wheels' alignment to each other,
roll your machine forward on a flat floor, and set it upon its sidestand without moving the front wheel.

Then take a simple trammel, such as a long piece of conduit with adjustable pointers clamped upon it (attached), to then measure from the centers of the front axle to the rear, and compare to the other side.

This will quickly display any skew.
Then other concerns can be addressed.

Let us know how it goes.

...Cotten

[fizz]

Cotton I have one of those for adjusting toe on a 41 ford pick up. I did that last summer and adjusted the wheels accordingly. It still pulled right. I really believe the bearings in the fork are the culprit. When I got the bike it was adjusted very loose. Last winter when I was adjusting things I tightened it up and along with relacing the wheels and reinstalling them, the problem came up. However, the rear wheel is 3/4" left of center when I checked it. It didn't occur to me to check plumb of the rear wheel so I need to do that, and if not figure out how to adjust the slippers. It was an uncomfortable pull to the right, that it didn't have before. It made me want to lean slightly left. My buddy who laced the wheels is an old bike mechanic, and is accordingly fussy, so I tend to take his word for it when he says they are the way they were before we took them apart. I like they idea of what filibuster did, for perfections sake, but a lot of work, and is 3/4" a little or a lot.

[T. Cotten]

It's never easy, Fizz!

And I have no suggestions for the vertical plane (short of a lazer-transit), but for side-to-side alignment, involving off-set, it can go to extremes.

Washington Ziggy showed up to help me with this solo-ized DT frame (attached).

It always comes down to carefull observation, and a lot of patience.
Infinite patience.

....Cotten

[fizz]

Update: established centerline of the frame after plumbing the bike vertically, then using a lazer and a square trued the rear wheel to the frame. Also found the neck or front fork are slightly tweaked to the left ( front wheel is about 3/8 out of plumb). Anyway, put her on the ground and rides good, almost hands free. Would have to pull her down to straighten the neck to get better.

[fillibuster]

Update: established centerline of the frame after plumbing the bike vertically, then using a lazer and a square trued the rear wheel to the frame. Also found the neck or front fork are slightly tweaked to the left ( front wheel is about 3/8 out of plumb). Anyway, put her on the ground and rides good, almost hands free. Would have to pull her down to straighten the neck to get better.

Good for you!
We get by with a little help.... and often with just dumb luck! I'm probably lucky my Chief didn't throw me down in my first year on it, but it also ran fairly true at top speed. Good thing it had a "governor" (?!). After some time with a sidecar and a replace rear wheel it ran to that scary feeling at 65 mph. I never tested it past that speed; it just felt the rear tire was running on a greasy road. I hoisted it up on my 4'x12' shop table and removed both wheels (supports below engine and at slippers), and confirmed off-centers of 1/8" on front axle and a strong 5/16" on rear wheel (without the tire). I corrected the off-set in the rear wheel then, by adjusting the spokes. It rode pretty straight after that. ... I might have been a little more thorough by removing the front tire also, but didn't feel that suspicious of it.

My shop table is of 5/16" plate, on 4" channel framing, and is flat and level enough to trust a framing square to find "plumb" on the neck's damper stud. I've also straightened and aligned a handful of Chief frames this way. If I hadn't had the table I'd have laid a sheet of 3/4" plywood on several leveled sticks of channel, drawn a center line, parked the bike on it, .... and then dreamt about the geometry teacher from high school. Sometimes you just gotta scratch your head a little.