NC23 with an NC29 front wheel, please help if you can!

[Adrian89]

So sorry about the length of this, but I really really need help in a few areas!

Iv done a bit of a search through previous topics but haven't really found anything in the past threads that helps me.
Basically my first NC23 came with NC29 wheels. I assumed the modification had been done correctly, however, I just cant get the wheel alignment right!
The spindle has two spacers, as you look at the bike, the spacer on the left (so silencer side) is approximately 1.5 times the length of the one on the right. I have a set of NC23 wheels with spindles and spacers at my parents address which is miles away so I cant check whether the ones Im currently using are just nc23 spacers. So whoever originally fitted nc29 wheels has just used the original nc23 spindle and spacers perhaps?

My question is, is there actually a difference? Or is there a different spacer all together I need to machine to get the wheel to sit perfectly in the middle from 29 to 23? No matter how much I try, the wheel simply will not sit in the middle of the forks, and oddly enough, its the side with the longest spacer which the wheel is closest to the forks.
So basically do I need to machine an even longer spacer and make a slightly smaller one? thus changing the spacer ratio from 1.5:1 to something more like 2:1 (obviously without changing the total length of both combined). This seems really odd and I'm totally baffled, so please help!
Currently the wheel is about 2 mm offset, which can't be very good for handling.

The other question I have (which sounds very stupid and only came up whilst trying to get my head round the alignment problem) is which way should the wheel be on?? I know there is an arrow, and I think (am almost sure) this arrow should point in the direction of rotation.
However, the tyre which is on the wheel also has an arrow (which agrees with the wheel arrow) but the tread pattern to me seems wrong, the tyre is a BT090. The way the tread is cut to me seems like it would direct water into the centre of the contact patch which cant be right?! So is the arrow wrong or me?

sod the questions I have about brakes and 'accurate' fairing fitting they can wait for another day...

Heres a picture (the arrow on the tyre if it was drawn on the tyre as you look at it, would be pointing downwards in this picture):



Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!!

[lloydiecbr]

first of the front wheels are the same. and spacers are to / 1 longer than the other .
the spindle acts as a spacer . the small spacer fits on the left.and the big one on the right as your sitting on the bike. big on next to the nut . make sure you undo the 2 locking bolts on the bottom of the forks to make sure the spindle fits through then lock them of when it is ..
as for the tyre patten its how it should be .

[CMSMJ1]

that front tyre is not a BT090

I use NC23 front wheel on my NC30- all fits using the NC30 spacers and spindle.

Pretty sure the NC29 wheels are the same too.

[Adrian89]

I thought it was, its a bridgestone anyway (possibly quite an old one), I can confirm what tyre it is later, cheers lloydie for confirming it is in the right direction.

The wheel definitely wont sit in the middle so I'm not sure what the problem is, I can get my finger between the tyre and the fork on the left hand side, and cant on the right (now talking as if I'm sitting on the bike, so in reverse to my first post)

I'm not sure what they are called, (possibly the calliper sliders?) basically the runners the callipers slide in which are bolted directly to the forks, anyway, the disks almost touch them to the right of the bike (if you were sitting on it) so to counter this I'd have thought a slightly larger than the current spacer is needed on the right and thinner on the left.
The spacers do not fit through the bottom of the fork leg (which I'd expect not too) so I have the forks reasonably tight against the spacers so there is no lateral movement in them but not to much force as to damage the bearings, I'd assume that this would position the wheel dead in the middle if the spacers were right?
From your replies I'm thinking the spacers probably are right, but I have no idea then why it isn't sitting in the middle, the wheel doesn't look symmetrical so everything seems right with the current spacer set up, but the wheel isn't in the middle!

Shall I just machine some new spacers that will shift the wheel by 1mm to the left? It seems like the easiest solution. Do any of you that have this mod (29 front wheel on a 23) know the spacer length without taking the wheel off? (asking for someone to do that would be far to much I think!)

Cheers for your help so far guys! I know a few others on this forum are in Nottingham, would any of those local to me and do their own work on their bikes mind if I pop over some time for a second opinion? I'm very puzzled!

[tanuki]

some decent pics of the trouble you are having would help I think.

fit the wheel and take some good photos of both sides where the spacers are fitted and some front on pics.

Then we may be able to help a bit better.

edited to add I'm in Notts and you are welcome to look at mine but its not accesable at the minute due to me rebuliding the NSR...its well and truely stuffed in the corner of the shed.

However being the nice guy that I am I would be willing to dig it out for you...I could do with swapping over the front discs anyway.

PM me I'm in all day tomorrow and if you want to pop over with your wheel and discs thats fine.

[Adrian89]

Hi, thanks so much for the offer of tomorrow tanuki, unfortunately tomorrow isnt good as my girlfriends coming up from London and she would kill me if I suggested doing anything motorbike related while she is here!
I'm not really using the bike too much at the moment so it will be fine for now, however I would like to get to the bottome of this. I have just given the bike a bit of an early spring freshen up, I have cleaned the callipers thoroughly and sorted the chain, and replaced the forks amongt other things.
I will try and get some pictures and upload them later today.
Thanks
Adrian

[stimpy]

the only way i can see this being an issue with spacers is if they arnt factory.
factory spacers only fit 1 way...if you try to fit them the other way round,the disc and wheel fouls on the fork.
call graeme france and ask him to measue up some factory front wheel spacers then compare them with yours.
graeme is a member on here...under GF Racing,and his number is on his sig
stimpy

[GF Racing]

Seen this many times - few options

Cheap ebay discs with the wrong offsets - meens you will never get the discs to centre in the calliper brackets. Very very common this.

Bent / twisted front fork tubes / yokes - however this normally shows up as a big gap between the fork lowers and the spacers - or a difficult to fit front spindle.

Incorrect wheel spacers.

However switching betwwen NC29 and NC23 set ups - I have found factory build tolerances can account for this - in fact we keep in stock front wheel spacers in plus and minus 1 mm sizes to sort it all out.

Dont forget the front spindle on its LHS has a shoulder which should thrust onto the LHS spacer - and not the spacer thrusting onto the fork lower .. real tricky one to explain this.

Hope that helps.

[Adrian89]

Thanks Graeme, I am sure the discs aren't copies, the forks I have just replaced and I am pretty sure the yokes are fine. Regarding the left hand spacer/shoulder connection, if the shoulder pushed out of the fork leg to the wheel further in my case, this would offset the wheel even worse so I am pretty sure it has to be the spacers are 1mm out.
I will turn some which have the same combined length as the originals, but shift the wheel 1 mm to the left and see how that is.

Cheers for your replies

Adrian