Hitchcocks Forum

I was reading an earlier thread and saw the issue of alignment and the snail cams not necessarily being equally set. I went straight out to see and as far as I can tell on my B5 the alignment was out by about 5 notes on the left cam compared to the right. Assuming of course that the wheel should be equidistant between the swing arms - would this be correct? Is the string method, described in the service manual, suitable for alignment or do I need to get some 2 m straightedges or a laser? It seems 2 people are necessary for the procedure because the centre stand is right in the way. Is there a good method that I could be directed to?
Thanks for the help.

I doubt very much if the cams will be 5 notches out, but if they are then something is seriously bent...


An assistant is recommended to check the two wheels with a string-line and Eye-ometer.

Also check if the rear tyre is wider than the front and allow for that. Usually checking on both sides of the tyres should give you a fairly accurate idea of the alignment.

Just checked my Electra X(ish) both snail cams on the 7th notch. (Alignment set by me two years ago using a length of angle iron I happen to have in my garage, and verified at the MOT on the 11th of August.)

If you can get a second person to help, and you have a couple of car axle stands, raise the bike and put a stand under each rider footrest and retract the centre stand. Assuming you don't have folding footrests of course! A straight edge or string can then be used on each side of the wheels, allowing for narrower front tyre.

Just get someone to follow you on the road. It's obvious to them if the wheels are not in line and which way they're out.

I like the idea of using axle stands under the foot pegs. I'll try that tomorrow. The front tyre is only marginally narrower than the back (84mm vs 91mm). The bike is a 2015 model, which I purchased new and I haven't bent the frame so far. Prior to my fiddling both snail cams were on the 12th notch. What I set out to do was to adjust the chain because it was looser than specified. Now the RHS is set on notch 13 and the LHS is set on Notch 9 (difference of 4, not 5 as I said earlier).

Should the rear wheel be set equidistant in the swing arms (like would be the case with a bicycle)

There is a note in the service manual (p03-15 explaining chain adjustment) that says - NOTE : The above procedure is to be adopted to achieve correct wheel alignment and to compensate for pin dimension tolerance on the swing arm. The procedure referred to is the adjusting of the cams to align the wheels. Could the 'notch' difference be the result of pin dimension tolerance?

Thanks all for your help.

The main reason not to set central to swinging fork is that sometimes the leg on the drive side goes to the axle at a bigger angle to the other side. In other words it can be further from the bike centre line than the other side, to allow for the sprocket and chain, rspecially if the brake drum and sprocket are combined, like the Enfield and other brit bikes. I'm not saying the Enfield id like that, but bear it in mind, and set it properly to the front wheel.

Eggs, grannies etc, but reading your latest post it sounds as though you adjusted the LHS to take up the slack chain, but didn't also adjust the RHS to keep the spindle parallel, and therefore the wheel running true.

It was probably me who posted that the snail cams can be unequal. I noticed that riding no-hands swung the bike to one side. There are several methods of using a straight edge. I used a very long spirit level. I placed the bike on the centre stand and held the straight edge against the rear wheel, it should thread through the stand - the gap on left and right of the front wheel should be equal (the front is narrower than the rear).

You can use string or a fluorescent light tube, or anything else that is dead straight really, the big brickie's spirit level will stay where you put it (they're not cheap but you don't buy one for aligning a bike). With an assistant you can take the bike off the stand and have them straddle the bike balanced vertical so the suspension is under some load, which would be better. It is just about possible to do this no-stand yourself using a foot to push the spirit level against the rear. I've done this on dunno how many bikes and never the same way twice, there's not one right way to do it.

I currently have /one/ notch more on the left than the right. The bike rides no-hands dead upright with no preference for either side.



Whist doing it I noticed that there is a smidgen of vertical adjustment possible on the rear by pulling top and bottom whist doing brake plate and spindle up but the rear wheel must be set aligned with the frame tubes not tilted to compensate for a problem. If the wheel is offset too much you can get a problem with the chain run, excessive wear and vibration.



I have one notch difference. If you had nut-adjusters (pullers) you may not notice this difference. If you have a lot of difference, something is wrong - do it again and/or get the frame checked out. It is also possible to have the front forks twisted.