Axle Bolt

O.K. now I am stuck. I changed the front tire. I put the front back together according to the Honda Manuel. But I must have done something wrong. When I tighten the axle the wheel also tightens down. Even when I took the right front caliper off it was tight. I don't know what can be wrong if it is free spinning when the nut is not tight. Any ideas on what to check, for a tight wheel.

It sounds like you may have either a spacer missing or have them on the wrong sides. Or even the wheel on backwards.

Thanks. I can check those things.

The spacers are 2 different sizes .. More'n likely your problem

The rotation of the tire arrow matches the arrow on the rims. And they are pointing from the top front forward and down. That's correct right?

Spacers...!

O.K. I will check it tomorrow. Thanks.

STmark1300 said:

The rotation of the tire arrow matches the arrow on the rims. And they are pointing from the top front forward and down. That's correct right?

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That's correct. The spacer collars are as follows: Left side 16.5mm wide (Or deep) and the right side is 27.5mm wide. Per the service manual.

ToddC said:

Spacers...!

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Read these PDFs.

Also...if you tighten the left side axle pinch bolts before placing the bike on it's wheels and bouncing the forks several times the wheel can bind when the axle nut is tightened. The end of the axle should be flush with the outside of the fork slider when ready to tighten the left side pinch bolts.

If the spacers are wrong you wouldn't have been able to get the calipers over the disks and bolted down.

If you don't have a manual the procedure is:

Get wheel in place and insert axle from right to left.
Tighten axle nut to 58 ft lbs. (if you can't hold the axle from turning while reaching this torque value TEMPORARILY tighten the left side axle pinch bolts to keep the axle from turning. After tightening the axle nut LOOSEN the left side pinch bolts.)
Tighten right side pinch bolts to 16 ft lbs.
Pump forks up and down a few times with front brake applied.
Tighten left side pinch bolts to 16 ft lbs.

Done

I have re-installed the axle bolt according to your specs. and pictures about 4-5 times. I have that down now and I did have the spacers wrong. Following your tightening procedures, however when I get to the axle bolt [after left pinch bolts], just tightening it about 12lbs/ still stops the wheel from spinning. The axle bolt itself goes in freely without the wheel and brakes. I have the axle in all the way in/flush. I checked the direction of the wheel and tire. Any other ideas what is tightening the wheel?

pull both calipers and check it again to see if you have some binding in the bearings, or if the brakes are the culprit. If brakes, then retract the pads and try again, maybe something got a little tweaked when you had the spacers reversed.

The breaks calipers are already off. It's definitely the thrush pressure of the bolt. But why?

Sometime a good smack on the tire sideways in a few locations around the edge with a rubber mallet will remove any light preload caused by tightening the axel nut. I always give the tire a few light hits each way to set the wheel center, and allow the forks to spread back to neutral before snugging the pinch bolts..... Just my 2 cents.

ToddC

I can't tell you the "why", but here's what worked for me. See my Addendum.

Like it says in the installation instruction pdf, the tension on the axle bolt is all that is applying any pressure across the bearings. If you have the wheel spacers in correctly these should transfer the bolt tension to the inner bearing collars and from there to the bearing spacer inside the wheel. Have you had new wheel bearings fitted, and did they fit the spacer inside the wheel? You'll be able to see it, just a metal tube that sits between the bearings. If that is not there...well, it has to be. Also check that the bearings are properly seated in the wheel, if they are proud then axle tension will cause the bearings to bind.

I always tighten the axle bolt first, then the right leg clamp, bounce the forks a bit, then tighten the left clamp.

Try removing the wheel from the fork, assemble the axle & spacers into the wheel and tighten the bolt. If the wheel spins free on the axle assembly when removed from the fork, it has to be a fork mounting issue. If the wheel/axle assembly does not spin OK when removed from the fork, look closely at the bearing seating and/ or internal spacer between the bearings, like TerryS suggests above.

Good Ridin'
slmjim

If you are positive the spacers are on the correct side there is a possibility one of the wheel bearings is not pressed into the hub completely. If one of the bearings is not seated the distance between the two bearings would not be correct relative to the shoulder on the axle. Tightening the axle bolt would put excessive pre-load on the bearing causing it to bind. This would be unlikely unless the bearings have been changed at some point.

Well I have a resolution. I had the spacers on the correct sides, but one was inside out. I thought I had tried it that way. I sent Richard (Soontobeone in Vancover) some pictures of both sides and he saw it. It torqued down to 58 lbs and still spun freely. A big thank you to all of you and especially Richard. I could then see it better in a picture he sent.