Rear tire wobble...I think....

[Jax]

I adjusted my chain carefully but after I did it the rear end now wobbles...I tried to follow the directions I found here on the sight but I think I messed up.... How do I adjust for this or align the rear tire...what should I be looking at to align it correctly...

[Jax]

Ok I think I figured it out....corrected issue last night...for all the newbies...here is a lessoned learned ....when doing maintenance on your bike...unlike a car...you need to make sure you have a torque wrench ...and the torque specs for what ever bolt/nut you are tightening...My rear axle nut should have been torqed at anywhere between 61-83...I set my torque wrench to 72...right in the middle...once tightened the wobble stopped ...I knew that you needed to torque down engine parts because they have certain specs but unlike a car where we would just tighten down bolts and leave it these machines are much more sensative to the torque spec...like I said lesson learned....

[The CyberPoet]

Guess you got it clear.

There are only four major reasons for back-end wobbles:

1. Tire pressure too low (including during a puncture -- it's the first warning sign that you desperately need to stop). We worked on the GF's ninja the other day, and I asked her before I came out to pump up the tires to spec. When we were done with the carbs & got the tank back on, I fired it up and rode it around the parking lot -- and almost killed myself because the tire was too floppy (she had never pumped it up).

2. Rear wheel not aligned straight to the rest of the bike/direction of travel/front wheel/chain. This can be due to a misalignment in tightening down the rear axle, a bad rear axle, a bad swing arm bearing, or a bent swing arm... almost always it's just the rear wasn't aligned correctly last time the axle was tightened up.

3. Rear tire/wheel not true -- rear wheel warped/damaged, or over-sized tire coming loose at the mounting lip (slipped into a warped position; caution - may unseat totally).

4. Rear brake rubbing somewhere in the rotation (warped rotor, high-spot, etc).

PS - Never trust the floating swing arm alignment plates for the rear axle; always check the chain alignment after tightening instead to make sure it's right (chain alignment tool, string, or eyeball where the sprocket teeth mate to the chain all the way around the radius of the rear axle to verify -- they should mate in the same spot all the way around and not travel inside-outside-inside or outside-inside-outside on the rollers).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[Jax]

Thanks for the tips...I need to be more careful next time..