Front wheel spindle not lining up ?

[MrShifta]

Good morning all,  I have just assembled my forks into the yokes of my 1954 bike, they have new bushes/seals/holders etc. both top yoke tapers are spotless as are the tapers on the legs. I pulled them up into the yokes with a puller and clamped the lower yokes.

When I tried to put the wheel spindle through, the left leg is about 1/16" lower than the right.  The screwed end will not slide in or start to screw in ( LH/Thread) the spindle is straight and the stauntions are striaght so what have I got wrong ?

I have checked the distance from the top of the leg to the top of the yoke on both sides with the top nuts removed and they are within a few thou the same.

Thanks for any help.

[berger]

slacken the bottom yoke tighten the top nuts or just push the longer leg up against the spring, are the springs and the rest of the parts the same lengths

[Greybeard]

My stanchtion's are also uneven. To get the axle in I have to use a tie-down ratchet strap on the handlebar to pull one side down.

[JulianS]

Sometimes the seatings for the top bush within the fork lower are at slightly different depths.

[MrShifta]

It came as a surprise to me as in all the bikes I have restored I have never come across it before.  I must have been lucky.

I will strip the forks again and check all the measurements. If I pull the fork tapers up into the yoke the measurement from the top of the leg to the top of the yoke is the same. ?  the difference at the bottom is about 0.070".  I will let you know what I find.

Perhaps Utopia doesn't exist.

Thanks for your input guys.

[berger]

mine is about the same I just put my hand under it and feed the spindle in

[RDfella]

No longer possible at my age I'm afraid, Keith.

[edboy]

having read thunderbolts and lightning it seems bsa manufactured the a65 forks one leg longer than the other for straight line stability. you may have a65 lowers.

[Greybeard]

 

mine is about the same I just put my hand under it and feed the spindle in

No longer possible at my age I'm afraid, Keith.

What exactly are we talking about here! 

[berger]

talking about a fork leg ending up a tad longer than the other, mine is a bit longer when all in situ so to get the wheel and spindle in I just push up a little bit on the bottom of the leg against the spring , it isn't as if you have to be a body builder because it is only a cats knacker. mind you I did fit my forks without any pull up tools I just rammed them up while tightening a pinch bolt then put the top nuts in loosened the clamp bolt and tightened the nuts and yoke bolts up.

[Swarfcut]

    Don't overlook that mudguard support bridge. It has an important function as a brace to keep the sliders aligned. Often a tweak here will solve the problem. Off the stand and under normal use the sliders move within an unrestricted parameter, bounded of course by the built in bump stop at full deflection.  I doubt 1/16" in the grand scheme of things is of any consequence.  Perfection assumes all paired components are identical in form and function, and that is a tall order.  Reasonable will be fine.

 Swarfy.

[MrShifta]

Thanks for all your advice guys.  I spend the morning checking and double checking measurments and it seemed to be an accumaltive error.  I yanked both lowers down sharply and the " shorter " one sounded less of a  solid bang. I did this without the springs and after a few yanks it sounded solid. and it was almost aligned.  I then found a smear of powder coating in the top yoke taper, not the full thickness but enough to colour a spot. With that polished out which gave me a slight raise on the left leg.

 I can now slide the spindle in and with a bit of a nudge it will start screwing in.  As Swarfy said it doesn't need to be perfect. The rolling chassis didn't come with mudguards so no bridge ? 

I don't think the flimsy  mudguard stays supplied from India ( wash my mouth out etc ) will act as a proper strong bridge, we will see.

Thanks again.