question about front wheel assembly .

[bokusouchi]

On front wheel assembly , is there a washer/spacer between the speedo drive and the fork leg (left side ) ?

( this is a standard RZV500R )

i have been refurbishing my fork and antidive units ,so the front wheel has been has been off for a long time ,
so , i cannot remember ..

and no pictures comes handy ......

there is a washer on the part list , put it is not clear , if it goes in between speedo drive and fork leg , or under the axle head ....


thanks !!

[tacky1]

Nope. Fork leg and speedo drive have no washer between them. The washer is on the axle and is on the outside of the fork.

[bokusouchi]

Thanks for the answer tacky1

there is something strange with my fork assembly :

with the wheel in , axle mounted but not tightened , there is definitely a 1,25 mm gap
between the speedo drive and the left fork leg ..
I checked the fork tubes by rolling them on the kitchen marble counter , they look straight as
far as i can tell .
I wonder if my speedo drive is the right one (wrong thickness ?)

I will try to get a second hand one to mesure ...

[phildu31]

Your fork tubes are bent.
Don't ask how I know ...

[tacky1]

Try this. Loosen the tubes in the triples and rotate them. See if the gap tightens. As Phil said, might be a bent tube.

[bokusouchi]

hum .. that is what i feared ... , i will try the rotation method ,to check .
I also ordered a 300 mm measuring caliper yesterday evening , to measure the distance between tubes , first under the triple tree , and then near the seals (should be the same if tubes are straight...

I wonder if Tarozzi sell tubes for the RZV500R ? (they are different from the RD500LC )

Aftermarket parts are a big mess (from my experience ) : i replaced the inner fork bushings , i first ordered a set (listed as "for RZV/RD") from Wemoto UK ----> too big :outside diameter = 38.5 ....
then wemoto .fr (listed as "for Rd500") ----> to small : outside diameter = 37.5 ....

then i got the proper ones : SKTE37S sold by Inteck USA　(it's manufactured by SKF in fact ) : 38 mm outside diameter , 36 mm inside diameter , 1mm thickness , 20 mm long ..
however they did not list RD/RZV500r in the applications (only Honda and Suzuki models ) (but they listed the dimensions )


If i have to replace the tubes , i hope it will be easier ....

[tacky1]

I replaced my RZV tubes with a set from an RZ/RD500 so I could run better springs and cartridge emulators. I lost the little dials on top, but it was worth it.

[bokusouchi]

well , stranger and stranger ...

i turned both tubes 180 degrees , so in case the tubes were bent , this would /should make the wheel a tight fit .

well.... not at all : the gap between left fork leg and speedo drive is still about 1.15 mm instead of 1.25 mm .

I will wait till i receive the second hand speedo drive that i ordered , an the 300 mm measuring caliper .

now i remember that the previous owner had fitted a small device between the speedo drive and the cable (a kind of reducer)
to convert the km speedo into miles ... (i removed that thing )
I wonder if this has to do with it . (should not affect the width of the speedo drive though ...)

We will see , and i will keep you posted .

[ixe13]

I don't think that your speedo drive is the problem , RZ 350 / 500 and FZ , they all look the same save for the ratio .

[bokusouchi]

you are right . i received an fz750 speedo drive , this evening , thickness is the same as mine (rzv500r) :31.6 mm

so , it is not the speedo drive ...

[silverstrom]

Originally the problem was a gap when the assembly was hand tight. Have you torqued the front axle bolt and nut and then checked your mystery gap?

There is supposed to be a small gap. The fork leg does not actually rest solid against the speedometer drive.

Torque it up and post a photo. I suspect you may be chasing a problem that doesn't exist.

[bokusouchi]

if i torque the front axle bolt , the gap will disapear (as this puts stress on the fork leg/front tubes assembly ) .
I think that this stress on the fork legs/ forktubes assembly might lead to quick wearing of fork bushes .
and a fork that does not slide well .

When i refurbished the fork , the bushes were well worn , and i never saw such a dark fork oil (full of metal particles )
(the bike is suposed to be 20000 km )

I am not sure , you might be right however may be i am chasing a non existent problem ....

I am also thinking of using a calibrated washer , to fill the gap before torquing the front axle bolt ..

[steveho]

If nothing is bent, then I would go with a shim to fill the gap. Production tolerances mean there will alway be a gap to enable easy assembly, but to ensure optimum alignment of the fork bushes etc, then adding a shim is just blue-printing. You could just tighten the spindle and it will probably be fine, but why not optimise and reduce stiction/wear etc?

[bokusouchi]

I went with a 1.2 mm shim , it looks ok so far .
I will see , when the bike is ready to be ridden .