For people asking about the front tire needing to be straight to get this alignment method to work; you're supposed to measure the front tire on both sides using two points of reference per side, so measure the distance where it touches the tire seam fore and aft. Block the handlebars from turning once the measurements match to ensure front tire is pointing straight.
..exactly! What everyone forgets is that the rear wheel needs to be aligned with the drive pulley or sprocket on the motor. you want the chain or belt to track dead center of the sprocket / pulley on the rear wheel. It is next to impossible to get the front wheel perfectly straight in relationship to the frame.
I'm wondering the same as many people here. How can you align the rear wheel with the front wheel as a reference if the front wheel can turn? How are you sure the front wheel is totally straight? Just moving your handlebar a milimeter to either side will make all of this useless.
There are others, and I thought this was going to be a dud at first lol, this is the best 'string' method for this stage of checking rear alignment that I've seen.
Well I must have been doing it all wrong for the last 40 year's. I've always aligned my rear sprocket with my front sprocket . Ok you align the rear wheel with the front, what happens then if the sprocket doesn't align. It's more important for the sprocket to be in alignment and then your wheels will be too.
Interesting but I have some reservations. Personally I use a metre long steel straight edge ruler placed flat on top of the chain, chain guard removed, and the right hand side of the straight edge firmly pressed against the front and back rims of the rear tyre. With the straight edge resting on the full length of the chain, front sprocket to back, sighting along the left hand side of the straight edge quickly shows whether the alignment is correct or not.
How do you know if your steering tire is perfectly straight? You can't just eyeball it and call that an alignment. Your forks could be out of whack as well, so putting the handlebars even won't mean a thing.
@DreamboyCAT propably i think that if rear wheel isnt aligned it would be impossible the distance (gap) between the string and the front wheel to be equal at both sides..Because the rotation center wouldnt be at center..
rode my trail bike for 2 years with rear wheel intentionally out of alignment as i can only fit one specific type of tyre to the rim but it touches the tyre in perfect alignment (odd dimensions) and never had a problem with uneven tyre wear, handling, sprockets, chain, nothing
that's a good question. I tried this method today and I made sure to measure the front and back of the front wheel to make sure it was aligned. But, to be honest, it was a PITA keeping the string close to the rear wheel edges without being slanted towards the front. There must be a better way!
since you cant adjust the front wheel you adjust the rear to suit the front. The problem would be if the rim is buckled so you would have to spin the wheel and check for that.
So my real wheels misalignment is the offset one. So right side gap is bigger than the left side. But i could not move the rear wheel towards the left side to equalize the gap. How do we solve the misalignment problems where it is an offset issue ? (both side of the rearwheel the locking nuts, and settting nuts and perfectly the same yet i still have this damn wobbling...!