Hitchcocks Forum

Hi all, following on from my post a few weeks ago about the rear wheel rubbing on the chain guard i decided to investigate further.
The wheel is correctly aligned but appears to be 5-10mm too far to the right in its entirety. It is far closer to the RHS swinging arm than the left (i know they are never exact) and on looking at the wheel from the back it is on the RHS of the mudguard by the same amount. So much so that on full travel the RHS of the tyre is rubbing on the fixing nuts on the inside of the mudguard. I have had the wheel off again and checked the spacers. Here is what i have ... from the LHS,the spindle goes through the adjuster then large spacer, the spacer butts up against a smaller top hat spacer that sits inside the grease cover on the bearing and butts up against the bearing. Spindle goes through the hub, no other spacer inside between the wheel and the cush drive mechanism. There is then a washer between the hub cover and the swinging arm then the big 30 mm nut, then the castellated nut to tighten the spindle. So in short only 2 loose spacers on the whole spindle. Our hosts parts diagram does not seem to show the top hat spacer, but if it wasn't there the big spacer would crush the grease seal i assume. Any guidance from the great sages would be appreciated.

Sorry its a c5 Classic (direct import) 2010

Yes, the top hat spacer should be there, but is not shown in the parts diagram, no idea why. It all sounds correct to me, so I guess the rim is off set relative to the hub.

Just had a look at my C5. Hard to see how it could be assembled incorrectly. With the original Avon Roadriders fitted there is maybe 1/4 inch clearance between the tyre and the s/à on the right and about twice that on the left. Maybe the tyre on yours is a little too wide? Could it be that the offset of the rim is a bit out?

I'm thinking it is the offset also. All the rest seems OK. Next question... Anyone know what the offset should be. Might just take it into my local bike shop which has vast experience if classic bikes and get them to adjust it a bit. Don't want to b***er about with it myself. Hopefully there will be enough thread on the spokes to take it up.

My son bought a pair of wheels from india same problem way to much r/h off set was cheaper to buy a set of alloy wheels than get them fixed, cost of getting wheels respoked in aust is in axcess of $400.we think the wheels are for the uce models, live and learn.

It's easy enough to correct, I altered the off set on a Harley front wheel, (I was fitting a wheel from a different model and the off set was different). I'd never trued up a wheel before but there's lots of videos on youtube. I'd suggest taking the tyre off, because you want to be sure the re-adjusted spokes don't reach the tube. Put the wheel back in the bike and rig up a pointer on the swing arm as a guide to where you want the rim to be. You'll need to slacken the spokes on the side where the rim is too close and tighten the opposite side. Do it slowly, a little at a time, adjust all the spokes evenly, and you should be able to move the rim over without getting the wheel out of round. You could take the wheel to a wheel builder to correct of course, I guess you'd still need to take the tyre off and establish how far over the rim needs to move. But the above method worked fine for me, good luck.

Hi Andy, just had a thought. If, as you say, the wheel is correctly aligned, then changing the rim off set, whilst solving the clearance problem, would surely mean that it was no longer correctly aligned? On second thoughts, I'd be inclined to take it to a decent engineer for "a good dose of looking at".

Are the chain sprockets lined up?

Hi, the chain and sprocket are in line as they remain attached to the S/A.
Re alignment and offset, yes i have thought about this but using the string method of alignment just ensures that the rear wheel is parallel with the front therefore any change in offset would not affect my ability to re align.
It is only apparent when loaded up and the suspension is nearly on full travel but given my impending trip which will have full luggage, ineed to get it sorted. Our hosts have used wheels for £70 but unless i know the ofset i could just be getting another one the same.
Thanks
Andy