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Mounting front wheel

elektradw

elektradw

Moped
Had new Pilot Road 3s mounted on my 2011 C14 by the local dealer. After 6000 miles the OEM tires were scalloped in front and flat on rear and was handling a bit scary. Got it up to 100 and knew the tires had not been balanced to perfection. I bought a static balancer from Mark Parnes products (great product) dismounted the wheels and rebalanced. Perfect. 

 http://www.marcparnes.com/Kawasaki_Motorcycle_Wheel_Balancer.htm

ONE QUESTION:
On remounting the front wheel, I pretty much reversed the order of removal. I did not loosen the LEFT pinch bolts or axle nut. I torqued the axle bolt to 94'lbs and all is well. Then I read in the shop manuel to loosen the LEFT  pinch bolts and axle nut, replace the axle and torque the axle nut on to the axle bolt. Is there any conceivable problem with the way I did it by torquing the axle bolt?

After 600 miles I am very pleased with the dry pavement performance of the PR3s. However, living in Las Vegas it may be a while before I can test them on wet pavement. Thanks in advance for your reply.

Oh, and thanks to Capt Bob, as I stumbled on your specs for the suspension set up. I'm 250lbs, and very pleased with the result. 

One more thing out of context. I was displeased with the auto return to btm feature on the electric windshield. This didn't seem right, because when I return to base the first thing I want to do is clean the windshield of bugs. This means either leaving the bike running or in the on position (motor off) which is discouraged. Somewhere in these forums I stumbled on the secret that's not published in the owners manual. Hold the windshield button in the up position when turning off the engine. It stays up! Easier to clean.
 
by not releasing the pinch bolts on the "nut side" of the axle, there is little chance of the axle and tire assembly with brake rotors attached of "centralizing itself" during the re-install, and it is likely it could be forced to one side slightly. This may surface a problem downstream with increased chances of rotor warping, and accelerated pad wear. During the tire install, it is recommended to spin the wheel with the axle nut torqued to the axle at that point, and clamp the brakes a couple times during a repetitive spin/ brake excercise. this insures that the wheel assembly seeks it's "happy spot" between the forks. There is some slop there, and the wheel CAN be forced to one side or the other by a substantial ammount. I suggest simply centralizing the axle again, not difficult. With the bike on the centerstand, and the front end blocked up, loosen the pinch bolts, tap a screwdriver blade into each "pinch slot" to slightly spring them open and hold them open so the axle is "loose", spin the tire, and clamp the brakes, repeat this a couple times, and then re-torque the pinch bolts. Also note that when you try to tighten or loosen the axle with the "nut" clamped up tight by the pinch bolts, you are asking the axle and threads to overcome the addition contraction/clamping that is the result of it being "pinched". It may not seem it would matter, but it does make a big difference, and it takes a great amount (greater amount) of torque to overcome that effect the pinch provides, rendering actual torque incorrect.

also, as with any torqued fastener/nut combination, it is always recommended to tighten the NUT, not the bolt, so if the bolt head end was clamped up by the pinch bolts, this would be a better manner to achieve a "one wrench" scenario, allowing you to easily/correctly tighten the nut while the bolt was held in the pinch.
 
Thanks for the detailed reply.
Although that slight of a misalignment might be negligible
I can see that it could have an effect on the rotors, which are suspect anyway to warpage.
Just returned from Lake Tahoe 1200 mile trip and noticed no ill effects. Although I had been
thinking about this the entire trip and how the physics would dictate procedure. I never would
have taken into consideration the added stress the pinch has on the bolt and how that would effect torque values.
Well I now have a project for tomorrow. Thanks again for the great input.
 
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