Topic: Which side does the crack go on?

[amattel]

I just remounted my front wheel after taking it off to get a new tire mounted on my 750k2.

After torqueing the axle bolt to 40lb and the axle retaiing bolts to 19lb I noticed that there is a slight space  to one side of the axle or the other.

This brought to mind something a guy who used to work at a dealership said about the space needing to be on one particualar side for safety reasons. 

Does anybody know about this?  is it an old wives tale or can you tell me whether the crack should be toward the front or the back?

THIS IS NOT A SEXUAL THREAD! 

thanks,

Adam

[Gordon]

I just went through this with my 550.  The retaining brackets should have either an "F" or an arrow stamped on one end of the bottom.  That end should go on the front and be tightened down first.  Using this method, the "crack" will be on the back side of the bracket.

[heffay]

gordy... i'll take your word on that one but was always trained that the nuts should be tightened as equally as possible.  although, i'm not looking at the manual for the cb which may say exactly what you said.

[Gordon]

I'm not saying the front nut should be tightened more than the rear one, just first.  This info was from bryanj in my "binding front wheel bearing" post that he got from a Honda service bulletin.  I would still torque them the same.

Quote from bryanj:
Just pulled out the service bulletin from 10/70 and it says that if you look closely at the clamp you will find  that one mating surface is markedly higher than the other and that face should be at the front and the front should be tightened up FIRST then the rear. This was reinforced later with the "F" mark and/or arrow.

[amattel]

I'm not saying the front nut should be tightened more than the rear one, just first. This info was from bryanj in my "binding front wheel bearing" post that he got from a Honda service bulletin. I would still torque them the same.

Quote from bryanj:
Just pulled out the service bulletin from 10/70 and it says that if you look closely at the clamp you will find that one mating surface is markedly higher than the other and that face should be at the front and the front should be tightened up FIRST then the rear. This was reinforced later with the "F" mark and/or arrow.

Thanks Gordon,

 Now that I look at the picture it is obvious that one side is longer since the side with the space is perfectly parallel.

Adam

[Gordon]

My pleasure!  I'm always happy to pass on information that somebody else went through the trouble of looking up.

[heffay]

yea... guess i should have worded my post better... i meant that i was under the impression the space should be equidistant or non-existant.

[TwoTired]

yea... guess i should have worded my post better... i meant that i was under the impression the space should be equidistant or non-existant.

Nope, not for the front fork caps.  The handle bar mounts are also this way on some bikes, and the bar control mountings employ the same technique.  Front side is tightened first and the open space goes toward the rear of the bike.
The master cylinder bar clamp is also the same scheme, except the top is tightened first and the bottom is open.

The teltale is to place the bridge cap on a flat surface and press down on it where the bolt holes are.  If pressing down at one end exposes a gap are the other end, the part is milled with an offset and designed to be open at that end after assembly.

Cheers,