HI,

Just got new front and rear tires after picking up a nail in the rear. I removed the wheels and took them in to the dealer to get the new tires on. I didn't notice when I took the front wheel off but when I was putting it back on I saw that the spacers that went between the forks and the wheel hub were different sizes. I discovered this when I had them on reversed and the disc was hitting the fork.

Why are they different sizes? I would have expected everything on the front wheel to be left-right symmetric. The tire does seem to be centered but why different sized spacers? Are the actual mounts at the bottom of the forks different? why would that be desirable?

Andrew

 

For spacing duh.


Have the front wheel off and can measure the spacer for you. I have no clue on the hawk but if you look at the axle bolt(I'm referencing my gsxr) one side should be shouldered so what ever side that is on when mounting the wheel the spacer goes on the other.


I haven't taken the rear wheel off the hawk but 2 spacers go on each side(obvious I know) and you just need to figure out which.

 

I think you didn't understand my question. Clearly spacers are for aligning the wheel, the question is for the front fork why would there be a different distance from the wheel to the fork on the left vs the right side?

I would assume the fork is centered around the centerline of the bike. And since there is a brake disc on each side of the front wheel, there isn't anything differentiating the right from the left side. So one would expect that the wheel would be naturally centered between the fork legs and thus would require the same spacer on each side.

Another way to ask the question is what is different between the left and right side of the front wheel such that it would require different size spacers in order to be centered between the fork legs?

 

I wonder if back in the day this fork was designed to run a front wheel driven driven speedo cable or sensor in other apps?

 

Most bikes I have wrenched on have asymetrical spacers.

You really got a new set of tires based on one nail? Wow. That sounds pricey since you could easily pick up another nail on the way home. They can be safely plugged.

I have ridden thousands of miles on plugged tires.

 

I some what answered referring to my gsxr. I forgot to look at the Hawk axle when I left to give you a better answer. To add on though to my reference, that shouldered portion sticks out past the fork mount and acts as a spacer as well.


I will be looking at the wheel later and post when ever I get back on.

 

The rim portion of the wheel is centered in the forks best I can tell with some quick measurements.
The fork width at the bottom where the axle is at 1.5mm difference in thickness on the OD of the fork tube.. , but that may just be casting tolerances and I did not measure the clamping portion width.
The disks have a different dish far as i can tell left to right.
And from what i can see... the hub portion of the wheel is offset, requiring the different width spacers.

Why was the wheel design with an offset hub and a centered rim? No idea.. I see no obvious reason for it.

May have something to do with needed clearance of the OEM brake calipers which I no longer have to make an observation from.