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LAser Alignmet
- Thread starter Bogie
- Start date
PW2013STL
Active member
None listed for Michigan. How about checking this and see if anyone is close.
http://www.spydercomfort.com/dealers.htm
vondalyn
New member
Don't flame me
If you don't have a place that does laser alignments nearby, you may want to consider this before you pull the trigger on it.
I had it done earlier this year by someone who was willing to come to Colorado and do it for a group of people who needed it done. The alignment was great and I was really happy with it.
Then I needed a new back tire, so I got the new tire at the dealership (who doesn't do laser alignments). All of a sudden I had vibration show up when I was going about 45 mph. Sometimes it was mild and I could speed up or slow down to get through it. Sometimes it got bad enough that the tires bounced and the whole spyder shimmied. It was very disconcerting and I nearly pulled over when this happened. I mentioned it to the dealership when I went in for regular service (had to get the new back tire before my regular service interval) so they did their "regular" alignment and said that the front tires were worn differently and there was still a little vibration in that same mph range and would likely continue until the tire wear changed enough. Since they did their alignment I haven't ever experienced the tire bounce again, but there is still a bit of vibration around 45 just like they said there would be. Nothing major or scary.
My lesson learned from this is that I probably want to stick with my dealership's alignment unless I have regular access to the laser alignment. Your mileage/experience may vary.
If I had new tires all the way around or at least a new back tire, I'd probably do the laser alignment, but I will definitely be keeping this in mind going forward.
If you don't have a place that does laser alignments nearby, you may want to consider this before you pull the trigger on it.
I had it done earlier this year by someone who was willing to come to Colorado and do it for a group of people who needed it done. The alignment was great and I was really happy with it.
Then I needed a new back tire, so I got the new tire at the dealership (who doesn't do laser alignments). All of a sudden I had vibration show up when I was going about 45 mph. Sometimes it was mild and I could speed up or slow down to get through it. Sometimes it got bad enough that the tires bounced and the whole spyder shimmied. It was very disconcerting and I nearly pulled over when this happened. I mentioned it to the dealership when I went in for regular service (had to get the new back tire before my regular service interval) so they did their "regular" alignment and said that the front tires were worn differently and there was still a little vibration in that same mph range and would likely continue until the tire wear changed enough. Since they did their alignment I haven't ever experienced the tire bounce again, but there is still a bit of vibration around 45 just like they said there would be. Nothing major or scary.
My lesson learned from this is that I probably want to stick with my dealership's alignment unless I have regular access to the laser alignment. Your mileage/experience may vary.
If I had new tires all the way around or at least a new back tire, I'd probably do the laser alignment, but I will definitely be keeping this in mind going forward.
Cruzr Joe
New member
This sounds strange to me because i had a rear tire changed long after my Laser Alignment and never had any of the problems that you mentioned. Not doubting your experience just stating mine.
Cruzr Joe
pitzerwm
New member
Just a thought, the uneven wear on the front tires should cause some issue by themselves wouldn't they? I don't see what a new back tire would play into it, but maybe the new back tire wasn't quite aligned right and after the dealer "adjusted" it, you were back to near normal.
vondalyn
New member
I have no ideas on why the new back tire would change things, I'm just saying what happened. I also know that the "normal" alignment that the dealership does have a different toe-in/toe-out measurement (which you'd expect). This would cause the front tires to wear differently than they had previously.
I just know that it has caused me to re-evaluate whether I'll get a laser alignment on tires that are part/most of the way through their life cycle since I don't have easy access to a laser alignment whenever I want one.
I just know that it has caused me to re-evaluate whether I'll get a laser alignment on tires that are part/most of the way through their life cycle since I don't have easy access to a laser alignment whenever I want one.
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Gray Ghost
New member
Laser alignment is done off the back wheel, not the frame. If the back wheel was not back in the same alignment as when you had the alignment done, it would change your alignment.
robmorg
New member
Well....
That doesn't make sense, so what am I missing here?
When they do a laser alignment, don't they make sure the rear wheel is properly aligned first? If not, and a laser alignment simply aligns the front wheels to the back, then does that mean that if your back wheel is not aligned properly when they do the procedure, then all three wheels end up out of alignment? :shocked:
That doesn't make sense, so what am I missing here?
Orange Spyder Man
New member
because they can get away without aligning spyders... (in other words they save money)
osm
SpyderAnn01
Active member
What year is your Spyder? Also, how many miles did you have on the front tires when you had the alignment done or how many miles between it and when you had the rear tire changed? I ask because it sounds to me like your front tires were probably cupping and may have been when you had the alignment done. I had cupping tires on my first Spyder and it was like one day they were fine and the next I had a horrible vibration at 45. Just like you said it was scary.
And if the front tires were already worn unevenly when the alignment was done that could be very true.
I can't speak for the other people who do alignments but when Squared Away does them we jack up each Spyder and spin the rear wheel to make sure that it is aligned. If not we adjust the belt.
I'll ask Joe to chime in on this thread, he is in continuing education for Motorcycle Safety Instructor this weekend so it may me Sunday evening before he does.
GloryRyders
MOgang Member
My suggestion would be if you are not ryding your Spyder very much this winter, make plans to come to Spyderfest and there will be several vendors in house that can do it for you!:yes::2thumbs:
cptjam
Registered User
Alignment
The folks who installed the rear tire might have installed it a bit off, or, the tire wear in the front got to a point where it impacted on handling. The laser alignment was fine until someone else did something afterward. Not sure how the timeline crunches out, but the culprit here seems to be the folks who did the rear tire. If the dealership did a 4 hour outdated frame referenced alignment, and charged you for it, I can see the problem. If they claim they aligned it for free, then they simply aligned the rear wheel in the swing arm. Which is part of that process.
The folks who installed the rear tire might have installed it a bit off, or, the tire wear in the front got to a point where it impacted on handling. The laser alignment was fine until someone else did something afterward. Not sure how the timeline crunches out, but the culprit here seems to be the folks who did the rear tire. If the dealership did a 4 hour outdated frame referenced alignment, and charged you for it, I can see the problem. If they claim they aligned it for free, then they simply aligned the rear wheel in the swing arm. Which is part of that process.
Gray Ghost
New member
Originally BRP aligned the fronts to the frame using a cumbersome procedure. That would be great if the rear wheel was in a fixed position, but it isn't. You have adjusters on each side to allow for tensioning the belt and getting it to sit properly on the sprockets. There is also a tolerance to the specifications. So in almost every case the rear wheel is not going to be perfectly aligned with the frame. To help visualizing this put three pencils or something similar in a Y configuration, parallel to each other. Then slightly cock the rear one to either side. If that was your Spyder, you can see how one front is toe-in and the other is toe-out referenced to the rear wheel.
So, let's say that the centers of your front hubs are 66" apart (just for illustration). I am going to set up targets 75" forward and 75" aft of the center of the hubs. By measuring over from the sides of the rear wheel, I can set the zero point on the targets 66" apart to that I now know where to set the angle of the front wheels so the vehicle is properly aligned. For most people this is done when the tie-rods are adjusted so that the laser hits the rear target 1/4" outboard of the zero point in respect to the rear wheel. This also puts the laser 1/4" inboard in respect to the front wheels, giving an overall toe-in of 1".
So, now that your Spyder is in alignment and tracking well, you need to remove your rear wheel for whatever reason. If you don't get it put back on exactly as it was set up before you have now changed the angle of the rear wheel to the fronts. I have realigned mine after dealers have had the rear off, and also when I have had the rear off. In all cases the difference was small, in the one case where I couldn't do the check for a couple of days, I didn't notice a difference in handling.
Added note: And I notice now that SpyderAnne and Joe type faster than I do.
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spyderbirds
New member
The same folks that supply the laser setup can assist you getting a seat of BUDS.
STELLING MAN
Member
I called my dealer last week to see about getting a laser alignment done, he quoted me $125.00 to do mine. I want to get It done before Spyder Fest, hopefully within the next month or so..
spyderbirds
New member
Have heard of them priced from $75 to $150. Depends on by whom and where you get one.
