Topic: honda dealer screw up? or my mistake?

[c(b)hris]

N00b needs help.  I know this might sound like a strange question with an obvious answer, but should the front wheel be centered exactly between the forks?  I got my bike back from the dealer who installed new tires and inspected it, and the front wheel is 1/4" closer to the caliper side.  It was a couple hundered miles before i noticed, and now there is a groove made in the tire by the little piece of metal that holds the brake line on that side of the tire.  I think they might have reassembled it wrong, but i need to make sure im right before i go pointing fingers.  Also the 5mm screw that holds the speedo cable into the gearbox is missing too.
Further, the axle nut for the rear wheel wasn't tightened enough, and i had to fix the alignment not long after leaving the dealership.

Thanks in advance for any info.

[c(b)hris]

Forgot, it's a 75 CB550K.

[Deltarider]

What size is your new tyre?

[c(b)hris]

It's a Bridgestone Spitfire which I think is a 100/90/19? 

[bollingball]

Don't think what size it  is look and be sure maybe it's to BIG.

[c(b)hris]

Would the size of the tire make a difference whether the tire should be in the exact center of the forks?  I would think that no matter what there should be symmetry here.  Of course I don't really know, that's why I'm asking, but that seems logical to me.

I read in another thread that 100/90/19's are the biggest tire you can use on the front, even though they might wear weird, and when I was trying to decide what to use a lot of people were recommending these tires.

I thought he might have reassembled it with a spacer on the wrong side or something, but I haven't got to that part of the bike myself so I don't know if that's something that could happen.

I'm questioning their work because they didn't seem to be comfortable with an older bike.  They initially failed the inspection because there was no high or lo beam.  I had to point out the on/off switch for the headlight :-/ .

[c(b)hris]

Oh I think I see what you're saying.  More specifically...

There's .75" of space between the speedo gearbox side of the tire and the fork, and .50" of space between the caliper side of the tire and the fork.  The caliper side is the one with the new groove in it.  If I were able to move the tire half of the difference of the two spaces, .125", toward the speedo gearbox, and away from the piece of metal that made the new groove, I don't think there would have been a groove grinded into that side of the tire.

[754]

Do you know if the axle was removed? Tell us which side the nut portion is on.. as if you are sitting on the bike.

 Tires are not necessarily centered, fork leg material is not always consistent thickness where the rubber swings past it, so dont go by that.

 If tire is bigger/wider then mounted in same place, it could rub..

[kslrr]

Front wheel should be centered in respect to the frame.  Get yourself a manual and look at the axle spacers, and if they are of differing thicknesses, check for an exploded view of the front axle assembly.  I'd say that it was assembled wrong, especially hearing of other mistakes that were made.

[Stev-o]

A pic may help

[mcuozzo]

OK, I'm no expert, but I'm going to paraphrase one!!! 

In his 750 book, Hondaman aka Mark Paris, mentions this specific problem that the front wheel of 750's up until a certain point in prodcution (isn't the hub the same on 550's) is offset towards the disk side.  He mentions that this will adversely affect the handling.  The solution is to have the wheel relaced to correct this offset.

Now, I have a question for you - was the wheel centered before bringing it to the dealer?  If so than you wheel might have already been relaced and then is another problem going on.

I just re-read your post.  I'd avoid that dealership.  Missing screws?  Loose axle?  Surprised they didn't armorall the tires for you...

Matt

[c(b)hris]

Thanks for the responses.  Im having some troubles with my internet.  Trying to do this from my phone.

Here's a picture of the rider's left side of the wheel, it looks to me like this is the axle nut?



I looked up the exploded diagram on bikebandit and the nut looks like it's supposed to be on the right side instead.

Here's a picture of my nice new groove.

[69modelj]

the nut is on backwards i believe. the hex goes inward if i am correct. nut IS supposed to be located on disk side of wheel. yours is just turned around.
consult your manual as to how the lower axle caps are supposed to be installed as well. they may have installed them in the wrong orientation.

[c(b)hris]

Honda dealer is closed for the holiday weekend.  I'm going to replace the wheel bearings anyway, and I don't want to wait until then before I start tearing it apart, so Im just going to have pictures to show them and let them know what they did. Also that I'm going to tell everyone I know about the job they did.  Maybe they'll offer to try to make it right, but I don't really want them to touch my bike again.

For anyone in Pittsburgh, this is Honda House off of 51 on Ensign Road.  I guess in the future I'll go to West Hills Honda for stuff I can't do myself. 

West Hills built this bike but still tried to sell me an O-ring chain for mine.  Thank god for this forum.

Thanks again for the replies.

[azporkey]

 Hello to all in steel city. Used to live in little Washington. Dude you need to get a shop manual from Honda. I have a 71 750 k1 &would be lost without a manual. You can buy one on the forum. azporkey Mine is on oyher side.

[dave500]

theyve got the hide to tell you your bikes failed a saftey test because they dont know how to turn on a light switch,then hand back your bike in a dangerous sub standard condition,and now you have a damaged new tyre?that nut is backwards,heres a shot of how both sides should look.

[Retro Rocket]

Do you have any more information on this bike please, specifically that tank.......

Mick

[c(b)hris]

Hey, thanks very much for taking the time to post those pictures.  Clearly ill have to let them know what they did.  Everybody makes mistakes, i just expected them to be experts.

The cafe in that picture is from a project West Hills did for cafe racer magazine.  I think they mentioned benji's but that might be wrong. Having a tough time making this a link on my phone so you'll just have to copy it.
http://www.caferacermag.com/custombikeprojects.html

 

[Ricky_Racer]

Do you have any more information on this bike please, specifically that tank.......

Mick

This product hasn't been made public yet, but if you're interested in a top-quality tank like this one, made specifically for the CB750 chassis, guaranteed against delamination for five years, using a prized Eaton fuel cap and set up for a standard CB750 petcock, PM me. This mold was taken from a Bimota HB-1 tank I bought in Europe several years ago. I consider it the best made of its type in the world.

If you're interested, PM me and we'll build one for you. BTW, I also have a KILLER matching seat available.    RR

[754]

You dont have to be so rough on the tech, not saying you have to be happy about it..
But.. some shops wont even touch those bikes, and any/most 30 yr old techs, wont have experience on these bikes. So if they did not(work on it), you may have been bikeless for the long weekend.

 I could take one of your pages, and say you should have re & re'd the wheel yourself.. but I wont..

 Will pass on a tip learned over the years.. draw a diagram of  part orientation for the axle before disassembly..

[cameron]

Same thing happened to me when I got my new tires.

I noticed right away, though... since I only brought them the actual wheels. I noticed when I was putting them back on.

never trust anyone. ever.

PLus, I agree with 754. YOU should be the expert on your bike. It isn't like they took a class in 1975 motorcycles or anything Why would the know anything about our bikes?

[c(b)hris]

You dont have to be so rough on the tech, not saying you have to be happy about it..
But.. some shops wont even touch those bikes, and any/most 30 yr old techs, wont have experience on these bikes. So if they did not(work on it), you may have been bikeless for the long weekend.

 I could take one of your pages, and say you should have re & re'd the wheel yourself.. but I wont..

 Will pass on a tip learned over the years.. draw a diagram of  part orientation for the axle before disassembly..

If they're unsure they should have declined the work.  I took my bike to them because theyre the Honda dealer. 

I would have been bikeless for a long weekend, yes, but I would have done it myself sooner, since I'm taking it apart now anyway, and the amount of time that I rode the machine unsafely wouldn't have been there. 

It was together properly before he took it apart.  I'll be sure to pass on the tip about drawing a diagram before disassembly to their mechanic.

I don't really think I'm being too rough on the tech by going by and letting them know what they did wrong, do you?  I know a lot of other people with tempers would do unreasonable things and threaten litigation and all kinds of other crap, but letting someone know they made a mistake is being too rough on someone?.... come on...

[c(b)hris]

PLus, I agree with 754. YOU should be the expert on your bike. It isn't like they took a class in 1975 motorcycles or anything Why would the know anything about our bikes?

...because they're the dealer, and they accepted the work.  That's why.  And the mistake he made wasn't exclusive to obscure motorcycles from 1975 or anything... It looks like he didn't put it back together the same way he took it apart.

[Logan80]

I've got to agree with c(b)hris on this one. I'm a technician for a gas company, and there is NO WAY I'd work on a system I wasn't sure I was familiar with. The dealer shouldn't have taken the bike if they weren't trained on it, or at least smart enough to take pics/make drawings before taking it apart. I think stopping by and letting the service manager know would be a good idea. Not to get the mechanic in trouble, but to make sure mistakes like this don't happen in the future.

[754]

BTW, I agree with logan.

By being rough, I partly meant mentioning dealer by name, before giving them a chance to correct what happened.

 What you do next is your choice, but keep it in mind next time you need help from a dealer and they shun riders of older bikes..

 FWIW..I am trying to be kind here, and will point out that there has been dozens of similar stories on here, cept (a lot of) those posters are now happily doing a lot of their own work with a bit of help from the forum and its members..

 Stick around.. bumps in the road..have a way of ironing themselves out...