I don't know about expert, I just look at the shop manual and then think out of the box from there. Book abstract is very short where I explain what the book does not:
Fork: If I look at the leg, it's machined to the size of the lower triple stem. If I look below the pinch point, they machined it down to lighten the part. So I can't move below that point or I pinch air basically. Therefore, I am stuck in that pinch range. The book says to move the leg up out of the top crown so many millimeters. If I look at the designed part I am handcuffed to the stem's pinch point, cough, a c-hair or two [up] before you go into the range of the air pinch.
In other words, I float the second leg to the static spin of the axle. I do not want friction dragging thru the floating fork's pinch hole. I find that sweet spot when all is buttoned down at the lower stem's pinch bolts. I then lower the top crown over the the two legs and threaded stem. This tells me the whole front end is bent-free when the top crown drops down at those 3 points.
Where are we at so far? The problem bike has yet to be disassembled, so I take a straw, cut it in half, then the slider is split down the middle some and trombone that puppy between the fork and disc. Tape it so it's set from moving. Go to the other side and see if it wants to collapse the straw or it matches the other side. Was the wheel flipped, or bike dropped/crashed, not OEM wheels/forks?
Now that the measurement was taken before removing the wheel, the axle float is obtained, we now remove the top crown and stem ring-nuts. The whole front end comes off with less parts removed. No muscle, then it's one part at a time lining up said axle to lower stem.
The inspection now is to inspect and service the front end steering bearings. We are looking for indented races, not shadow wear. Say the legs are out of the stem, and the top crown. With the locking ring off, hand tighten the loading ring-nut so the stem is sort of tight but can swing. An indented race is when you can move the lower crown and the stem locks to center and won't swing in one smooth lock to lock at the stoppers.
Top Crown:
The races pass inspection and lower forks have not been moved in the lower crown. You saved a step is all with lining up the axle. So by hand, you are going to load the first ring-nut down on the balls and races. There is no bind, nor can you feel it knock back and forth kind of tightened down. So as sloppy is the ring over those stem threads,the stem is pulled up, remember, so you may bind the balls and lose the smooth [effortless] swing. Remember to factor that in on nut torque.
The top crown nut is somewhere over 50ftlb. Once that is achieved, move the front end and test for that sweep. Now tighten the pinch bolts. When all is set and done, you still pick up the axle and check for float. Front axle torque is the same as the rear... like 92ftlb. I go by hand and let the axle pinch bolts do their thing. When the top crown stem nut needs tightening, I think 'for every action' I keep the top crown's pinch bolts loose. If I run a tight top crown pinch on one side, and low stem pinch on the other, I lose the float on the lock down. That's why I can remove the whole fork assembly w/lower stem.
This takes care of the front end being square to the neck. Now for the rear end. Figure the machining is as square as possible being a production unit, so you run the threads of the rear axle adjusters into the swingarm all the way. Just equally snug the the nut up the adjuster bolt and magic mark the bolt's flat that faces you square in the face. Equally count the flats so you are in the ballpark like the front end float.
Screw all the string shit, laser that, 2x4 this is jump on the bike and field test the static rebuild.
Tires:
Are we 42 psi front and rear? My tire profile is not a friction dragging U... or mixed pressures where I am half U and half V. I am full knife blade V fore and aft.
Next is the phantom front tire step. You can't see it on some front tire profiles, but it's there. Take a paper cup, magic mark one mark on the edge of the cup. Roll the cup's edge like a tire. See how it kind of humps but does not make a full circle, but more it moves like a lot of UUUUUUUUU's and you sort of see a uniform step.
Or move to the rear tire and look at how there is one side that is higher in profile than the other side of the rain groove. Step is at the front, step is at the rear. So what moves forward is:
Front End ~ Is square to the neck or frame.
Swingarm ~ Rear wheel is square to the swing... says the frame is not bent, nor front or rear end parts.
Tires ~ What touches the road is deteriorating at a fast rate and degrades the handling in so many ways.
Tormenting the motorcycling community one post at a time
