Rear Wheel Alignment........Part ? ( I lost count )

[Brent Herridge]

Y'all likely remember the problems I've had with my rear wheel alignment. The problem is that the belt rubs the tire when its straight, so I had to mis-align the front of the tire towards the left (kickstand) side of the bike to clear the belt.

I called Curtis about pulley spacers, and not only did he have 2 on hand, he GAVE them to me and even shipped it !!! Curtis is truly a great guy......so hopefully he doesn't get hit up for free parts after this.

I got my $259 Avon from American Moto Tire w/ free shipping last week, so when the spacers arrived in today's mail, I took things apart. First thing I noticed as soon as I got the axle out, the wheel snapped back to straight. Belt rubbed, but it was pretty well aligned front-to-back with the fender, and had plenty of clearance on the right side. I think the left side still had a little more, but it was pretty darn close. This makes me think the spacers should work.

I then took the pulley off, and here's what I found:



After being under so much tension, not surprising the bearings are a mess. Before I even removed the pulley I could see it wasn't straight. You can see the missing ball bearings and debris from the rest of the assembly that has shattered.

Probably explains some weird handling recently ?

I'll find the new bearings, but they have to be pressed old/out and new/in with a press don't they ?

One more thing I noticed last time - the adjusters move when the lock bolt is tightened against it. How do you prevent/minimize this ?

 

[pauldeepsea]

run a tap to clean up the threads

Y'all likely remember the problems I've had with my rear wheel alignment. The problem is that the belt rubs the tire when its straight, so I had to mis-align the front of the tire towards the left (kickstand) side of the bike to clear the belt.

I called Curtis about pulley spacers, and not only did he have 2 on hand, he GAVE them to me and even shipped it !!! Curtis is truly a great guy......so hopefully he doesn't get hit up for free parts after this.

I got my $259 Avon from American Moto Tire w/ free shipping last week, so when the spacers arrived in today's mail, I took things apart. First thing I noticed as soon as I got the axle out, the wheel snapped back to straight. Belt rubbed, but it was pretty well aligned front-to-back with the fender, and had plenty of clearance on the right side. I think the left side still had a little more, but it was pretty darn close. This makes me think the spacers should work.

I then took the pulley off, and here's what I found:

View attachment 74450

After being under so much tension, not surprising the bearings are a mess. Before I even removed the pulley I could see it wasn't straight. You can see the missing ball bearings and debris from the rest of the assembly that has shattered.

Probably explains some weird handling recently ?

I'll find the new bearings, but they have to be pressed old/out and new/in with a press don't they ?

One more thing I noticed last time - the adjusters move when the lock bolt is tightened against it. How do you prevent/minimize this ?
[/QUOTE


run a tap through the treads ,recommend new wheel adjusters , if they are stripped. Use blue loctite .

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

Makes me wonder if the rear wheel mis alignment on my Mastiff is because of these problems also.

 

[knothead]

Y'all likely remember the problems I've had with my rear wheel alignment. The problem is that the belt rubs the tire when its straight, so I had to mis-align the front of the tire towards the left (kickstand) side of the bike to clear the belt.

I called Curtis about pulley spacers, and not only did he have 2 on hand, he GAVE them to me and even shipped it !!! Curtis is truly a great guy......so hopefully he doesn't get hit up for free parts after this.

I got my $259 Avon from American Moto Tire w/ free shipping last week, so when the spacers arrived in today's mail, I took things apart. First thing I noticed as soon as I got the axle out, the wheel snapped back to straight. Belt rubbed, but it was pretty well aligned front-to-back with the fender, and had plenty of clearance on the right side. I think the left side still had a little more, but it was pretty darn close. This makes me think the spacers should work.

I then took the pulley off, and here's what I found:

View attachment 74450

After being under so much tension, not surprising the bearings are a mess. Before I even removed the pulley I could see it wasn't straight. You can see the missing ball bearings and debris from the rest of the assembly that has shattered.

Probably explains some weird handling recently ?

I'll find the new bearings, but they have to be pressed old/out and new/in with a press don't they ?

One more thing I noticed last time - the adjusters move when the lock bolt is tightened against it. How do you prevent/minimize this ?

This is all all you need for removing and installing....pit posse wheel bearing kit....like 85.00 on ebay

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

This is all all you need for removing and installing....pit posse wheel bearing kit....like 85.00 on ebayView attachment 74455

Ok, so for us electricians and not mechanics, how does this thing work? Just looked it up and it says it doesn't come with instructions. I most likely need this if I'm going to start working on my own bike. Plus with my rear wheel mis-alignment and seeing this guy's bearings I'm thinking I could have the same problem. My right rear side of my tire (pulley side) is rubbing the rear turn signal bolt inside my fender, yet my belt tracks straight. My brake pad is creating so much dust that I can clean my wheel and go for 5 miles come back and it look like I've not cleaned it in 300 miles. Not to mention my brake pads are not wearing even either. I can get a single finger between the tire and fender up to the first knuck (bend) in my finger but that i it, yet same side toward the front of tire I can fit the whole finger. Left side (Brake side) I can fit my whole hand between fender and tire front and rear of the fender.

 

[knothead]

Ok, so for us electricians and not mechanics, how does this thing work? Just looked it up and it says it doesn't come with instructions. I most likely need this if I'm going to start working on my own bike. Plus with my rear wheel mis-alignment and seeing this guy's bearings I'm thinking I could have the same problem. My right rear side of my tire (pulley side) is rubbing the rear turn signal bolt inside my fender, yet my belt tracks straight. My brake pad is creating so much dust that I can clean my wheel and go for 5 miles come back and it look like I've not cleaned it in 300 miles. Not to mention my brake pads are not wearing even either. I can get a single finger between the tire and fender up to the first knuck (bend) in my finger but that i it, yet same side toward the front of tire I can fit the whole finger. Left side (Brake side) I can fit my whole hand between fender and tire front and rear of the fender.

Yeah by what you are saying your wheel bearings are shot....some guys change them everytime they change back tires which there is nothing wrong with that and thats good insurance...i dont do that myself but i do change them depending on mileage and how they feel to me....belt tension (to tight)and proper alignment plays a big part on these bearing or any bearing in any application...

There is several videos on youtube for pit posse removal installation tool...pretty simple honestly once you have done it and see how it works...one thing i will say i had to machine down the thick pulling washer so it would fit inside the i.d of the hub an thats not a big deal at all...takes less than 15 mins to take care of that....other than that its a descent kit....i have used it time and time again

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

Yeah by what you are saying your wheel bearings are shot....some guys change them everytime they change back tires which there is nothing wrong with that and thats good insurance...i dont do that myself but i do change them depending on mileage and how they feel to me....belt tension (to tight)and proper alignment plays a big part on these bearing or any bearing in any application...

There is several videos on youtube for pit posse removal installation tool...pretty simple honestly once you have done it and see how it works...one thing i will say i had to machine down the thick pulling washer so it would fit inside the i.d of the hub an thats not a big deal at all...takes less than 15 mins to take care of that....other than that its a descent kit....i have used it time and time again

The wheel bearings were supposedly changed last year when I took both bikes to that shop in St. Charles, I have how much they charged my insurance company and for what and rear tire is on that list, not to mention they had my rear wheel chromed also. Seems they would have at least put new wheel bearings in as much as they charged. In all they charged my insurance company $18, 000 to repair my Mastiff from when it was stolen and then recovered but missing pieces. Funny thing is they charged for Primary parts and I have run a open belt drive since 2016, I even have the receipt from Curtis, and you can ask Donna about me buying a sissy bar, backrest pad and rear passenger seat the Monday after I got it home because they didn't replace them and we were leaving for bike week at MB in like 2 weeks. Not to mention the $16,000 they charged me personally to do work to my bagger, and didn't do half of what they said they were going to. And told me that all the work was only $10,000 until the day before i get there the price jumped to $16,000.

 

[Sven]

 

[knothead]

The wheel bearings were supposedly changed last year when I took both bikes to that shop in St. Charles, I have what they charged my insurance company and for what and rear wheel bearings is on that list. For all the work done they charged my insurance company $18, 000 to repair my Mastiff from when it was stolen and then recovered but missing pieces. Not to mention the $16,000 they charged me personally to do work to my bagger, and didn't do half of what they said they were going to. And told me that all the work was only $10,000 until the day before i get there the price jumped to $16,000.

Hmmmmmm i already dont like the sound of this bike shop....people say they do alot but dont do shit and rip people and insurance companies off....now with that being said i have seen wheel bearing installed an not using the right tools or having the knowledge screw them up installing them...but by what your are saying i believe you bearing are bad and seems to me the spacers are not in the right location either....spacers maybe right tho... but something is bad wrong cause all the things you are saying....i wouldnt ride it till i got it checked out and fixed....

 

[Sven]

1. Rawhide mallet: To walk the new race as far as you can go. By banging horizontally, you can watch the cocking of the race and straighten out the other side so it squares into place and down it goes. The hide tends to break off so you didn't see how clean the was before I homed it to where it stops.
2. Aluminum race installer: Comes in a kit with handle. Maybe 3 or 4 sizes I forget, but it has a taper that matches the race and the trick is to listen to the tone of the bangs. When it hits home the tone changes, stop beating it is the trick.
3. The steering race tool: I think I mailed away for it, unless NAPA carries it, I don't know? It kept on walking out of the race, so I had to take a grinder to it and make it so the lips moved out farther around the race, and that stopped it from imploding. No wait, I think I had a perfect size thickness of a small aluminum sheet stock, used it as a shim to go in between the tool, and that's how I stopped it from imploding times these two mods.
4. Dust-off or the freezer: It takes overnight to prepare for this one or pass on it. But since the dust can is around, I shrink it the minute I hold it in hand.
5. Sandwich bag: Plastic spoon full of bearing grease in the corner of the baggy. Drop the bearing in the same corner, spin the baggy so the air is out of it and as you spin, pack the bearing with lots of squeezes on the bag.
6. Remember to replace the center collar before you install the second race. I've had my share looking at the center collar on the bench... and have to start all over again.
7. Grease the axle and do not remove the grease from the packed bearing. Use the axle and push that thru the center collar if say you forgot to grease up the inner side of the collar so it won't rust [on each other] by condensation caused by the hot wheel cooling off.
8. What I miss?

 

[Sven]

I looked a little closer at the bearing. Knothead has the other type tool needed. This is a sealed bearing more or less, not a tapered bearing like the vid.

However, you could take a tapered drift and hammer, heat up the bearing area and pound it out at the bearing collar. Sometimes you can push the center collar over some and the tapered drift can catch just enough to move the whole bearing out some. Then with the collar moving more out of the way, you end with the larger drift and hammer the bearing out. If it blows out, then pound out the other center collar and see of that bearing walks out as a complete bearing. Then all you need is a rawhide mallet to pound them back in and still follow 6 and 7.

This way, you may see a sort of C cutout around the machined race housing. At those C cuts, you can pound the back of the bearing race on those two cutouts... IF... they have that design cast in or ground out to bang the race out. Then back to that steering tool, because knot's center collar tool is useless if you just pound out the one center bearing collar the extractor tool uses.

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

Hmmmmmm i already dont like the sound of this bike shop....people say they do alot but dont do shit and rip people and insurance companies off....now with that being said i have seen wheel bearing installed an not using the right tools or having the knowledge screw them up installing them...but by what your are saying i believe you bearing are bad and seems to me the spacers are not in the right location either....spacers maybe right tho... but something is bad wrong cause all the things you are saying....i wouldnt ride it till i got it checked out and fixed....

Well I have it tore down as of now. I've been cleaning it and adding some new goodies to it. But i do have to remove the rear wheel so i can clean the rear brake caliper, caliper mount and inside the fender to remove all the little pieces of rubber all over the inside of fender, while it is off I wanted to check the spacers with calipers to see if they are the correct ones, not to mention the bearings now. Which does anyone know the sizes of the 3 spacers on an 06 Mastiff?

 

[mjsk9]

The wheel bearings were supposedly changed last year when I took both bikes to that shop in St. Charles, I have how much they charged my insurance company and for what and rear tire is on that list, not to mention they had my rear wheel chromed also. Seems they would have at least put new wheel bearings in as much as they charged. In all they charged my insurance company $18, 000 to repair my Mastiff from when it was stolen and then recovered but missing pieces. Funny thing is they charged for Primary parts and I have run a open belt drive since 2016, I even have the receipt from Curtis, and you can ask Donna about me buying a sissy bar, backrest pad and rear passenger seat the Monday after I got it home because they didn't replace them and we were leaving for bike week at MB in like 2 weeks. Not to mention the $16,000 they charged me personally to do work to my bagger, and didn't do half of what they said they were going to. And told me that all the work was only $10,000 until the day before i get there the price jumped to $16,000.

View attachment 74458
View attachment 74459View attachment 74460View attachment 74461

Damn Terry..... Don't know where to start on this but you must have had one hell of an emotional tie to this bike! $18K to repair a 2006 model? I am surprised the insurance company would pay that and not total it? On my 2006 K9, they totaled it and as far as I could tell my damage was cosmetic and they paid me I believe $13K and some change. That amount included $3K worth of accessories. They were going to reduce the amount by $5,400 if I kept the bike. I had to make the difficult decision because I too loved the K9 but could not justify the amount, even if they brought it back to what appeared to be pristine, didn't know if there was other damage that was mechanical and not apparent, and also I would know it had been wrecked so I took the cash and walked.

The shop is another story.... Did you take any legal action and / or notify the insurance company of the blatant fraud they committed based on your comment "Funny thing is they charged for Primary parts and I have run a open belt drive since 2016, I even have the receipt from Curtis".... clearly this is fraud!

P.S. Hope you are enjoying and getting use out of the BDM T-Bag you bought from me!

 

[knothead]

Well I have it tore down as of now. I've been cleaning it and adding some new goodies to it. But i do have to remove the rear wheel so i can clean the rear brake caliper, caliper mount and inside the fender to remove all the little pieces of rubber all over the inside of fender, while it is off I wanted to check the spacers with calipers to see if they are the correct ones, not to mention the bearings now. Which does anyone know the sizes of the 3 spacers on an 06 Mastiff?

Got feeling 2 of the spacers got swapped around from one side to the other and this is why the wheel is running one sided

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

The bikes were suppose to be ready April 5th, i was told Wednesday before April 5th that they wouldnt be ready. My work schedule at the time gave me 5 days off every 3 weeks. And between April 5th and MB bike week there was only 1 other time I would have the 5 days off to go get the bikes, that was the weekend of April 25th. I drove 12 hrs friday afternoon after working 3rd shift the night before, got to St. Louis at 1 am on April 26th, got up at 8 am, ate and drove to the shop and got there at 10 am. On my way to the shop i got a text asking me if i could be there later that afternoon.

This is what i walked in on. Now keep in mind this shop had my bikes from Nov 2018 til April 26th 2019...



The shop asked me to stay another night so they could finish the bikes. And thats also when i was told that the bagger cost went from $10,000 to $16,000. So when we left we went to a police station filed a report, then went to a lawyers office, called the insurance company, and they said since i authorized them to pay the shop directly any fraud would be between the shop and me. So i went back to police and told them what insurance company said, they told me to pay them get both bikes in my possession and then call them and they would come out. So, sunday when we got there the bikes still werent ready, we didnt get bikes loaded til 7 pm. Now keep in mind my gf has to be at work Monday morning at 8am. So we call the cops after getting bikes loaded went down the street and parked and waited 2 hours and the cops never showed up. And once i got to SC i found out that since the fraud happened in St. Louis or st charles i would have to be there to file charges. And i never did hear back from the St Charles PD.

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

The bikes were suppose to be ready April 5th, i was told Wednesday before April 5th that they wouldnt be ready. My work schedule at the time gave me 5 days off every 3 weeks. And between April 5th and MB bike week there was only 1 other time I would have the 5 days off to go get the bikes, that was the weekend of April 25th. I drove 12 hrs friday afternoon after working 3rd shift the night before, got to St. Louis at 1 am on April 26th, got up at 8 am, ate and drove to the shop and got there at 10 am. On my way to the shop i got a text asking me if i could be there later that afternoon.

This is what i walked in on. Now keep in mind this shop had my bikes from Nov 2018 til April 26th 2019...
The shop asked me to stay another night so they could finish the bikes. And thats also when i was told that the bagger cost went from $10,000 to $16,000. So when we left we went to a police station filed a report, then went to a lawyers office, called the insurance company, and they said since i authorized them to pay the shop directly any fraud would be between the shop and me. So i went back to police and told them what insurance company said, they told me to pay them get both bikes in my possession and then call them and they would come out. So, sunday when we got there the bikes still werent ready, we didnt get bikes loaded til 7 pm. Now keep in mind my gf has to be at work Monday morning at 8am. So we call the cops after getting bikes loaded went down the street and parked and waited 2 hours and the cops never showed up. And once i got to SC i found out that since the fraud happened in St. Louis or st charles i would have to be there to file charges. And i never did hear back from the St Charles PD.

Wow -- at one time Gateway Big Dog had a good reputation, pre becoming Ross Cycles.
I know when I bought my current K-9 from Gateway in 2013, I could not find any complaints about them on here. And my purchase went off without a hitch. Hate it when I see dealers pull this kind of crap.
Laws regarding fraud and suing need to change to reflect todays reality -- when you didn't travel more then 20 miles from where you lived this made sense, today given in 5hrs I can be across the country it seems silly.
What insurance company let them get away with a 60% increase to what would have been a "total loss" most likely for that bike. Or did you have to pony up more money because of this?

Personally, while sueing might not be an option at this point, I'd write up everything, with as much documentation as possible (and as calmly as possilbe) and send it to the BBB in their area, any local bike rags in the area, newspapers and TV stations that have consumer advocates in the area.

Maybe you can save another soul from getting bent over like this.

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

Damn Terry..... Don't know where to start on this but you must have had one hell of an emotional tie to this bike! $18K to repair a 2006 model? I am surprised the insurance company would pay that and not total it? On my 2006 K9, they totaled it and as far as I could tell my damage was cosmetic and they paid me I believe $13K and some change. That amount included $3K worth of accessories. They were going to reduce the amount by $5,400 if I kept the bike. I had to make the difficult decision because I too loved the K9 but could not justify the amount, even if they brought it back to what appeared to be pristine, didn't know if there was other damage that was mechanical and not apparent, and also I would know it had been wrecked so I took the cash and walked.

The shop is another story.... Did you take any legal action and / or notify the insurance company of the blatant fraud they committed based on your comment "Funny thing is they charged for Primary parts and I have run a open belt drive since 2016, I even have the receipt from Curtis".... clearly this is fraud!

P.S. Hope you are enjoying and getting use out of the BDM T-Bag you bought from me!

Ok the reason the insurance paid so much out is tricky. In SC if you have a recreational vechile, such as a custom bike, car or whatever you can have it appraised, and when you get insurance coverage you can go by appraisal value rather than NADA. In Greenville SC there is a motorcycle law firm that also does appraisals. When i had my 124 ci motor and a lot of work done to the bike and a friend of mine that works for Custom Chrome magazine had my bike in the magazine for a photo shoot with a model, i took it and gad it appraised. Come to find out since 2006 was the only year that the mastiffs were made with a 1 piece gas tank and 250 back tire, it made it a rare bike. So the appraiser said to completely rebuild my bike from ground up, now keep in mind the company that made the 2006 frames is now out of business and that the frame would have to be hand made and now that big dog at the time was out of business and all custom parts would have to be hand made they appraised my Mastiff at $75,000. So my insured amount on the bike is for 80,000.
I did the same thing with the bagger but this was before i took it to ST charles and had everything rechromed and there were only 15 anniversary models made. They valued it at 63,000. Since taking it to St charles i had them redone. The Mastiff with everything that was charged for the repairs it increased the value to 93,000. And the Bagger to 78,000. Now would i ever sell the bikes for that, not unless i found someone who was a collector and willing to pay that for them. But unlike your case where you have a 30,000 dollar bike with a whole bunch of custom parts and it gets totalled, the insurance company cant rip me off and only give me NADA or less. Weither my insurance company or the other persons.

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

Wow -- at one time Gateway Big Dog had a good reputation, pre becoming Ross Cycles.
I know when I bought my current K-9 from Gateway in 2013, I could not find any complaints about them on here. And my purchase went off without a hitch. Hate it when I see dealers pull this kind of crap.
Laws regarding fraud and suing need to change to reflect todays reality -- when you didn't travel more then 20 miles from where you lived this made sense, today given in 5hrs I can be across the country it seems silly.
What insurance company let them get away with a 60% increase to what would have been a "total loss" most likely for that bike. Or did you have to pony up more money because of this?

Personally, while sueing might not be an option at this point, I'd write up everything, with as much documentation as possible (and as calmly as possilbe) and send it to the BBB in their area, any local bike rags in the area, newspapers and TV stations that have consumer advocates in the area.

Maybe you can save another soul from getting bent over like this.

Ross cycles or the owner Lenard Ross Jennings has not had a business license registored with the state of MO since 2012. It is a sole proprietorship with an llc. Now they do have a federal ID number so they can sell stuff and charge sales tax. So if you sue them like they were when it was Gateway Bigdog the owner can file bankruptcy close shop and reopen in a new name. Which is why it became Ross Cycles. I did find that out from the lawyer i hired in St Louis.

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

Wow -- at one time Gateway Big Dog had a good reputation, pre becoming Ross Cycles.
I know when I bought my current K-9 from Gateway in 2013, I could not find any complaints about them on here. And my purchase went off without a hitch. Hate it when I see dealers pull this kind of crap.
Laws regarding fraud and suing need to change to reflect todays reality -- when you didn't travel more then 20 miles from where you lived this made sense, today given in 5hrs I can be across the country it seems silly.
What insurance company let them get away with a 60% increase to what would have been a "total loss" most likely for that bike. Or did you have to pony up more money because of this?

Personally, while sueing might not be an option at this point, I'd write up everything, with as much documentation as possible (and as calmly as possilbe) and send it to the BBB in their area, any local bike rags in the area, newspapers and TV stations that have consumer advocates in the area.

Maybe you can save another soul from getting bent over like this.

Thats my bike the day i brought it home from police impound after they recovered it. See the belt drive. Lol.

If you look at the attached file for this picture you see 2019 04 28 thats because that is the date this picture was taken, the morning we got home from Ross, notice anything missing that was charged to my insurance, like a sissy bar and passenger seat?

Again notice the date this was taken while I yes I was installing my LEDs back on the bike which again was charged to my insurance company yet i had to pay out of pocket for and if i can find the receipt ill post it later with the date and the express shipping i paid to get them here.
And the date on this one, notice the bike has a sissy bar (thank you donna) and if you look in front of bike youll see the USPS boxes sissy bar, pad and passenger seat came in. And one other thing how do you like that 4,333 dollar paint job?
The only money i ponied up was 16,000 for the work done to the bagger, which i was told was 10,000 on Wednesday before heading up when i got there on Saturday and the bikes werent done thats when i was told that the actual cost on the bagger was 16,000 not 10,00 he forgot to add some labor and cost of touching paint up.

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

An

Damn Terry..... Don't know where to start on this but you must have had one hell of an emotional tie to this bike! $18K to repair a 2006 model? I am surprised the insurance company would pay that and not total it? On my 2006 K9, they totaled it and as far as I could tell my damage was cosmetic and they paid me I believe $13K and some change. That amount included $3K worth of accessories. They were going to reduce the amount by $5,400 if I kept the bike. I had to make the difficult decision because I too loved the K9 but could not justify the amount, even if they brought it back to what appeared to be pristine, didn't know if there was other damage that was mechanical and not apparent, and also I would know it had been wrecked so I took the cash and walked.

The shop is another story.... Did you take any legal action and / or notify the insurance company of the blatant fraud they committed based on your comment "Funny thing is they charged for Primary parts and I have run a open belt drive since 2016, I even have the receipt from Curtis".... clearly this is fraud!

P.S. Hope you are enjoying and getting use out of the BDM T-Bag you bought from me!

And i love the bag its been great and got great use out of it.