Rotor Rivets Rubbing On Fork Slider

[Crossrodes]

I'm putting my bike back together after performing numerous maintenance procedures on the front end.  

Now I find the rotor rivets rubbing on the fork slider (right side).  The normal procedure to set up the forks after having the wheels off on my Wing is to tighten the left fork pinch bolts and bounce the front end with the front brakes applied.  Is is the same procedure with the R65?  There's nothing mentioned in my manual.  I can pull the fork away from the rotor and tighten the pinch bolt but I don't want to create stiction in the forks.

[nhmaf]

Do you have the proper spacers in the right places ?  It sounds as if you're assembling the fork without one, or in the wrong places, if you can crank the sliders in that far.

[montmil]

I'm putting my bike back together after performing numerous maintenance procedures on the front end. Now I find the rotor rivets rubbing on the fork slider (right side).  The normal procedure to set up the forks after having the wheels off on my Wing is to tighten the left fork pinch bolts and bounce the front end with the front brakes applied.  Is is the same procedure with the R65?  There's nothing mentioned in my manual.  I can pull the fork away from the rotor and tighten the pinch bolt but I don't want to create stiction in the forks.

The front wheel utilizes tapered roller bearings just as the rear wheel. As such, bearing preload is critical to the life of the bearings. The spacers determine preload. The front axle is torqued to spec, then the pinch bolts are tightened. You've got it bass-akwards.

"There's this whole bearing pre-load angst"...  Someone here on the R65 said that. I love it!

Read your BMW manual for proper BMW sequences of reinstallation. Both the Haynes and Clymer manuals have instructions on proper axle installation. The Honda way is going to hurt you and/or the bike. Improper bearing set -either front or rear-will make for some interesting and unsafe steering issues, not to mention destroying bearings.

[Crossrodes]

Sorry if I didn't make it clear.  

I don't have it bass ackwards if I can believe the manual (Clymer - for R65) which I followed.  The spacer is in (left side of axle).  The bolt is torqued to spec.  The rivets rub on the right slider.  There are no spacers for the right side of this wheel/axle just the axle.  I didn't remove any spacers from the right side when I took the wheel off and the manual doesn't show any.  The pinch bolts are not installed yet.  I can move the right fork to the right (away from the rotor) but that may create stiction.  So what am I doing wrong?

[montmil]

Go here, then scroll to Diagram 36_0144 Front Rim. Check parts and install sequence.

http://www.ascycles.com/Illustrated_catalog/R65(78-85)/catalog_frameset.html

Also, is the axle dragging as it passes through the pinch bolt clamp; possibly pulling the fork leg out of alignment?  "...after performing numerous maintenance procedures on the front end" is everything back where it's supposed to be? With all the spacer, pipe, bearings, compression ring, etc correctly installed, you really should not be having this issue.

Very odd.  

[nhmaf]

What might also help us is if you can possibly take a photo of it  - or, let us know the model year of your bike,
whether it has the optional dual disk brake setup, or is an LS model, or has a transplanted front fork, etc ?

[Bob_Roller]

You mentioned you performed numerous maintenance tasks to the front end of the bike.

Could you elaborate on this, it may be nothing, but you didn't have the problem before maintenance was performed.

[Crossrodes]

The bike is a '79 R65 with dual front disks.  It originally came from Germany.  

I checked and triple checked my installation and I see nothing wrong.  So I retraced my steps and bounced the front end with the brakes applied again.  This time it seems to have worked.  I have clearance from the rivets.  So I'll know if I really solved the problem with no stiction when I take the bike for a  test ride later in the week.

Montmil FYI I reviewed the BMW procedure of setting the forks against the Honda procedure and it is almost identical.  The only difference (which IMO is no difference at all) is that the Honda procedure calls for you to tighten the left fork pinch bolts before bouncing the front end.  When you think about it why would they be different?  You basically have the same functional parts and the same objective.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.