Topic: CB650 Squeaking after new tires

[ballinchestr]

Replaced the tires on my '81 CB650. It went well, though I noticed that after I torqued the front axle, with the front wheel raised, the wheel barely spins 3/4 of a rotation, even if I put a lot of force into the spin. This is with the brakes off, so that's not the issue. loosening the axle made it better, but i torqued it back to spec before riding it again. With everything back on, the bike rides normally (except for different handling from new tires).

However, there's a repeated squeaking noise, occurring once per rotation of the front wheel. It's very noticeable, especially under 35MPH. I don't think it's a brake noise because it doesn't change when braking, and there's a different squeaking noise when I apply the front brake, which was already happening before I changed the tires. I could be wrong though. I also noticed a small gap (<1mm) between the right fork and the axle spacer, where the axle is visible. Shouldn't the spacer be butting up against the fork?

Does anyone have any pointers?

[Kevnz]

Try removing the wheel and spinning it on the axle out of the bike. If it spins freely, it suggests something is being distorted when installed in the forks. Otherwise the bearing(s) may have been damaged during the tyre fitting.

[scottly]

The speedometer drive may not be installed properly: there are lugs on the gear drive that need to be aligned with notches in the drive plate on the wheel. If the lugs don't go down into the notches, the wheel drags when the axle is tightened. 

[ballinchestr]

Thanks for the tips. I noticed the speedo lugs, and thought I aligned them, but with my (questionable) setup for jacking up the bike, putting everything back on was kind of awkward, and its very possible that it went on wrong. I'll take a look tonight.