To Align now or later ?

[CloverHillCrawler]

OK , I have about 5-6 K on my Quatrac's and they are showing a lot of what I consider "abnormal" wear.

They are 165/60/ R15 and did have some scrub against the fender when doing "extreme" far left or far right input from the handlebars under load.

I made some adjustments to the fender to stop the scrub. But I did start to notice some unusual wear on the inside of my tires after my trip to the Cherohala, Dragon, and BRP when I got back.

Over the last couple of weeks the wear seems to be increasing some more and it is quite obvious that an alignment is needed.

I want to get it aligned but I also am planning to upgrade my shocks to a set of M2's before next spring.

My question would be align it now so the tires can hold up until the upgrade and replace the tires then and do another alignment.

Or not do the alignment and wait until after I do the upgrade and tire replacement. It doesn't feel like it needs an alignment while driving but I am worried about burning through these tires before I can do my shock upgrade.

Looking from the front.

"Passengers" sideIMG_20220830_160459053.jpg "Drivers Side" IMG_20220830_160529482.jpg

[Cobwebs]

What do you mean, that's close enough! Factory alignment I presume.
That would annoy the hell out of me, I'd do new tyres and alignment now but it's not my money.

[MrMagicFingers]

Looking from the front.

"Passengers" sideIMG_20220830_160459053.jpg "Drivers Side" IMG_20220830_160529482.jpg

That's exactly how my tires are wearing!

I know I need an alignment but I am having a hard time finding someone that knows what they're doing around here. I refuse to go to the dealer. I will probably end up doing it myself eventually. I wanted to wait until I installed my Bajaron swaybar before the alignment. Now that that's done I will do the alignment over the winter. I already have new tires for the bike.

Tim

[CloverHillCrawler]

What do you mean, that's close enough! Factory alignment I presume.
That would annoy the hell out of me, I'd do new tyres and alignment now but it's not my money.

Yea that is what I feel emotionally but the frugal side of me is saying cold weather and salt season will be upon us here in a couple of months so is it really worth it to do it before I winter it which is when I plan on buying and installing the M2 shocks myself?

I will have to do the alignment after I install the shocks and don't want to burn through a new set of front tires before then. I use this as a commuter vehicle back and forth to work daily as long as the weather cooperates, I only stop riding when there is salt on the road or severe storms are expected as my route to work takes me along a lot of roads with trees that like to fall down during storms and I would wear through them again pretty fast.

[CloverHillCrawler]

That's exactly how my tires are wearing!

I know I need an alignment but I am having a hard time finding someone that knows what they're doing around here. I refuse to go to the dealer. I will probably end up doing it myself eventually. I wanted to wait until I installed my Bajaron swaybar before the alignment. Now that that's done I will do the alignment over the winter. I already have new tires for the bike.

Tim

You will love it once you have the sway bar installed, makes it a totally different vehicle. But I am really looking forward to these shocks, as this will complete my build for now hopefully, and so does my wife so she can ride with me again on longer trips. She couldn't as we were bottoming out riding 2up on the rear quatrac. Luckily that didn't do any damage to it. But my rear wheel well has a skid mark in its drawers now.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

If you are already showing " tire wear " with only 5000 mi. .... this is a real problem, don't put an alignment ( ie. Lazer type ) off any longer than necessary ..... when you get the alignment swap the wheels/tires from left to right to counteract what has already occurred ..... good luck .... Mike

[RayBJ]

The wear appears to be on the inside of both tires. Wouldn't that suggest more than a toe-in alignment like camber?

[CloverHillCrawler]

The wear appears to be on the inside of both tires. Wouldn't that suggest more than a toe-in alignment like camber?

I think so but I haven't attempted any type of alignment yet, I had not planned on looking into it until after I completed the shock upgrade.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

The wear appears to be on the inside of both tires. Wouldn't that suggest more than a toe-in alignment like camber?

On a car / truck yes ..... But the Spyder suspension doesn't allow for Camber changes ..... or Caster either ....It's a very simple design ..... Mike

[UtahPete]

How lucky do you feel?

[Yabbadabbadoo]

Holy Cow I have the same tires with over 12,000 miles on them now and they show no uneven wear at all. They pretty much look like new...
Personally, I would get it aligned now.

[Mikey]

I think so but I haven't attempted any type of alignment yet, I had not planned on looking into it until after I completed the shock upgrade.

I really don't think shocks are going to change anything on the alignment, I would do it now and swap the tires from side to side and ride the rest of this season and put the shocks and new tires on in the spring and start the season fresh!!!

[Bartender]

I know that there are those on the forum that will disagree with me and that is certainly their privilege, but I would urge you to not attempt to align the bike by yourself. Find someone with a Rolo laser alignment system and get it done right. When I purchased my 2019 RTL the dealership I did business with did not have the laser system but said they could get it right the old fashioned way. Drove the bike about 1000 miles like that until I was by Nixa, Mo and had Lamonster shop do the laser alignment. Unbelievable difference. Worth the money.

[Mikey]

I know that there are those on the forum that will disagree with me and that is certainly their privilege, but I would urge you to not attempt to align the bike by yourself. Find someone with a Rolo laser alignment system and get it done right. When I purchased my 2019 RTL the dealership I did business with did not have the laser system but said they could get it right the old fashioned way. Drove the bike about 1000 miles like that until I was by Nixa, Mo and had Lamonster shop do the laser alignment. Unbelievable difference. Worth the money.

You can go on the Rolo web site and get a list of everyone that dose it as a business!

[PMK]

You can go on the Rolo web site and get a list of everyone that dose it as a business!

Actually, not everyone...