Topic: 1979 CB650 front wheel hitting caliper?

[Yonash]

this is my first post on here, just joined, but i've been tinkering on my CB for several months now (1979 CB650). long story short, got it for cost of 6 years back registration, after it sat growing into a bush for most of those years. tore it down, putting it back together. i mounted the front wheel, no issues, except the gap between the tire and the fender is really wide on the brake side, and incredibly tight on the other side. also, the tip of only one spoke (reverse comstar wheels) contacts the brake caliper, just sort of glancing across it. any ideas what could cause this, or how to fix it? it was not this way when i got the bike.

[Alan F.]

Welcome, what area are you in? 

Not to seem indifferent, but since it wasn't like that before....and you took it apart and put it ack together....
It sounds to me like an erron in reassembly.

Did you remove the axle from the front wheel?
Did you remove the brake rotor from the front wheel?

Something is simply in the wrong orientation, it happens and you noticed it before you were 20 miles from home wondering what that sound was....

Check out the parts fische at www.bikebandit.com or a few others for a look at how things go together.

And download a manual, even if you already have a printed manual, it'll help to have a second one to check when something isn't clear.
Look for a manual here: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?board=11.0

Good luck and ride safely.
-Alan

[Yonash]

thanks for the reply. i sort of figured i probably put something back wrong, but we didn't pull much apart in the first place. i will look into it today as i plan to get some work done on it anyway.

also, i am in the coastal central California area, about 3 hours north of Los Angeles

[Yonash]

well, spent all day on wiring, but i'll surely check into this tomorrow. thought i'd provide a little bump to see if anyone else has any ideas i should look into while i am at it.

[Hush]

Welcome Yonash, pictures always help us to understand your problem.
Sounds like you may have replaced the axle and tightened it before aligning the wheel.
Loosen the "pinch" bolts that secure the axle and move the wheel about until it is middle of forks, you may have to jack up the front of the engine to raise the front high enough to do this.
Once you are happy with the clearance either side of the wheel and the discs run freely through the pads you can tighten the pinch bolts to secure the axle.
Hope that helps, I can't see where you could have missed anything out or added a spacer so I'm guessing axle/wheel alignment........Hush.

P.S. Add yourself to the 650 list on the forum.

[Yonash]

thanks for the reply Hush. after fiddling with it, i am almost 100% certain nothing was put together wrong, as the only time anything concerning the front axle was disassembled was at a bike shop my buddy works at, and he is quite meticulous when it comes to disassembly and reassembly. now, from what i understand the caliper is a floating caliper, and i opened it all the way up with a c-clamp on the piston when fitting it back on the bike to have ample room to get it on with pads installed. there is absolutely no fluid in the system, as we had some work to do with the master cylinder and caliper, mostly cleaning, but the old fluid wasn't pretty anyway. we haven't had a chance to fill it yet, but if i'm correct in that it's a floating caliper, would the fact it's completely opened and has no fluid in it have any effect, and possibly make the caliper poke out closer to the wheel than it normally would, when at a filled and actuated resting position?

as for the clearance issue between the tire and fender, i've concluded that my fender got tweaked somewhere along the lines of things getting shifted around a couple dozen times in the garage. the gaps are perfect in front of the mounting brackets, they're only a bit off behind them.

[Hush]

OK sounds like you are all good then, yes a floating caliper will only align once it has been activated.

[Yonash]

okay, thanks for confirming my thoughts on that. now, as far as only one spoke, and even more so only one edge of the spoke, hitting the caliper, is this slight variance of protrusion from the wheels centerline between spokes normal? or should i be concerned about it being tweaked or bent? the rest of the spokes weren't far from the caliper (didn't measure exactly) but most of them looked like they were dang close to touching as well, so if it is bent, it can't be much at all.

[Hush]

Your bike is a 79 so it should have Comstar wheels, bad news is that if they are out of whack they can't be fixed.

[Yonash]

they are indeed the Comstar wheels, but what i was wondering is if a slight variance is normal. i'm not talking about like 1/4" variance or anything, but each spoke is just barely different from the one next to it, in regards to how far the edge of it is from the centerline, but if anything we are talking MAYBE 0.1-0.2mm difference. for instance the one spoke that was hitting the caliper ever so slightly (doesn't touch anymore, i grabbed onto the caliper and tried to compress it by hand, thus my whole theory you guys confirmed as far as the floating caliper thing goes), and as the next spoke came around it missed hitting the caliper by the tiniest amount. is that slight variation between spokes normal? or should i be concerned?