[bajafrenzy]

I need a fresh outlook on my issue here, hope you guys can steer me in the right direction.

I have a 2008 Shadow Aero VT750C. It has a Dunlop K555 170/80-15 on the rear that wasn't rubbing when I put it on, appx. 5500 miles ago. I let a friend borrow the bike and I got it back with the warning phrase of "it needs a new rear tire." I rode the bike home and felt a weird vibration coming from the rear on the left side of the bike and when I got home, on further inspection, I realized it was the rear tire rubbing the inner fender frame. It gouged the shoulder of the tread pretty good and it definitely needs a new tire now. The person claims nothing happened to the bike. And I can't find any sign of a drop or a bump anywhere. I haven't had to work on driveshaft bikes yet, so I'm not sure where to start to look/adjust/measure.

I took the rear fender off and the space from the shoulder of the tire to the edge of the subframe, is a little over a quarter of an inch shorter on the left side of the bike then the right side. Is this normal? If not, how do I adjust the position of the rear wheel? If so, is it common for the wheel to come off center that badly? I get zero wobble, the bike rides normal still. Thank you all for any help!

 

[jtascone]

May not have dropped the bike or did anything to it, but could have very well hit an extremely large pot hole or bridge junction that cause damage to the rear axle. That would be my first guess. I would ask him if that indeed happened, and hopefully you will get a truthful answer. If you are lucky, it will just be a bent axle, and not the frame. Pretty hard to bend a frame, but obviously not impossible.

 

[Harryc]

Have you checked the axle for tightness? Make sure the pinch bolt is doing it's job too. Sounds like you have to take the axle out anyway. It's not a hard job. Do a google search and that will give you a start. Basically you'll be jacking the rear wheel up, removing the brake caliper, loostening the pinch bolt and the main nut on the axle, removing the axle, and then the wheel.

 

[bajafrenzy]

Alright, thanks for that guys! In my frustration I didn't think of checking the axle for trueness. I pulled it out, and checked it, it's true. I ran it in a V-block I cut real quick out of wood with a dial gauge and it's within roughly 0.006", with the limit being 0.008" per the manual I downloaded from this website. So I think I'm good there. The pinch bolt felt snug, but I'll see if I can't cheat over a bit on the axle and torque it down good. Of course, all of this right now is waiting for a new tire so I can change it over. Man those K555's are spendy, wish I wasn't so vain! I'll come back with an update after I get it mounted back up to let you guys know if repositioning the axle did the trick! Thanks again! You guys helped me pull off my "frustration blinders!"

 

[TenDollarBill]

If you rode the bike 5,000+ miles with no problem, then your "friend" did something to it. Might have a complete accident, but it didn't happen spontaneously. Anyway, that's water under the bridge and it sounds like you're doing the right things to fix it.
Keep us posted and good luck.

 

[Old Dad]

For just that same reason (un explainable damage) is why I don't loan my bike out.

 

[bajafrenzy]

Definitely a lesson learned. I moved from Alaska to California, and had to get miles up on it so I could get it registered down here. So they were doing me a "favor." I was riding my BMW (I hope that's not too bad of a word around here :neutral, which gave me a more comfortable commute. But yes, water under the bridge now. Time to get her fixed up so I have something to ride (sold the beemer).

 

[jpr1968]

Did you check the air pressure?

 

[big poppa pump]

Check your rear shocks.

 

[2500hdon37s]

I could easily see if the bike got dropped (like in a garage) that it could have fell on something and pushed/ bent the fender frame over enough to hit the tire. OR if him and his lady are bigger people and ran the shock on the #1 pre-load setting I could see the tire stuffing up in the fender far enough to rub on bumps or the whole ride.

I've ran two different 170 wide tires on the aero and while neither of them rubbed its fairly tight on the right side of the fender with the metal rod frame inside. I can recall seeing the "whiskers" of one tire barely made contact with the rubber isolater/ fender spacer thingy to keep the plastic off the metal rod internal frame. Slid it up and never had a problem.

 

[bajafrenzy]

So....embarrassing discovery. I put the old tire back on (waiting for the new one, none in stock) to see if it still rubbed after reinstalling it and trying to cheat the axle over, and I noticed my shocks were set to 1. Dialed it back up to 5 and I think I'm good now. That should have been the first thing I checked. Anyone out there running a 170 rear? What do you keep you shock at? The person who borrowed it probably weighed 150lbs soaking wet. I weigh 170lbs. Not sure how well it will still work riding, but I'm thinking it'll keep me from rubbing. I'm tempted to take it for a test ride now to see how it does, but you can see belt on a few sections of the old tire, so I'm out of luck there. I'm not too keen on test riding with a new tire just to have the same thing happen again, so any info on what shock setting any 170 rear guys are running would be awesome. Boy, that's an embarrassing discovery (and a great catch 2500hdon). I appreciate everyone's help. Good to know there's competent help to be had around here. You guys are great! Now it's time to hang my head in shame...

 

[2500hdon37s]

I run a 170 rear on the aero, I've got a Michelin commander II 170/80-15 on the rear now. I've always ran the shocks on setting 2, I'm about 140lbs always ride solo and rode to work with my lunch box, 1/2 gallon of water, and a few various items in my back pack. so maybe 160-170lb load at times with all my gear on. Stiffer than 3 would be a pretty unnecessarily harsh ride IMO.

If I were you I would try to pull the frame in there open some for clearance, maybe even using a bottle jack to spread it open for the proper clearance. I think your "buddy" did something to the bike and isnt telling the whole story. But I do know the right side on my aero is a little bit closer to the tire than the left.

 

[TenDollarBill]

The shock setting should have no bearing on the tire rubbing. There is something else going on. The difference between a 150 and 170 pound rider isn't enough to make any difference in this case regardless of the shock setting.
Where is the tire hitting? Can you post pictures? Is it rubbing continuously through a revolution or does it rub then stop then rub then stop? Can you post pictures of the tire so we can see how it's damaged?
I agree with 2500hdon. You're buddy isn't telling you everything.
I re read your original post. Because the clearance is different on each side I think your axel is either bent, or more likely mis aligned in the frame.
I also agree with Old Dad. I don't lend my bike to anyone and I don't ride anyone else's bike.

 

[jpr1968]

I run a 170 rear on the aero, I've got a Michelin commander II 170/80-15 on the rear now. I've always ran the shocks on setting 2, I'm about 140lbs always ride solo and rode to work with my lunch box, 1/2 gallon of water, and a few various items in my back pack. so maybe 160-170lb load at times with all my gear on. Stiffer than 3 would be a pretty unnecessarily harsh ride IMO.

If I were you I would try to pull the frame in there open some for clearance, maybe even using a bottle jack to spread it open for the proper clearance. I think your "buddy" did something to the bike and isnt telling the whole story. But I do know the right side on my aero is a little bit closer to the tire than the left.

I wouldn't be doing any prying, bending or bottle jacking until you know if that really is the problem. I would think if the "friened" damaged the bike that bad, there would be some obvious visible damage. As stated, even with the shocks set on 1 the bike shouldn't be bottoming out without a lot of weight be applied to the rear.

 

[Bobolto]

I need a fresh outlook on my issue here, hope you guys can steer me in the right direction.

I have a 2008 Shadow Aero VT750C. It has a Dunlop K555 170/80-15 on the rear that wasn't rubbing when I put it on, appx. 5500 miles ago. I let a friend borrow the bike and I got it back with the warning phrase of "it needs a new rear tire." I rode the bike home and felt a weird vibration coming from the rear on the left side of the bike and when I got home, on further inspection, I realized it was the rear tire rubbing the inner fender frame. It gouged the shoulder of the tread pretty good and it definitely needs a new tire now. The person claims nothing happened to the bike. And I can't find any sign of a drop or a bump anywhere. I haven't had to work on driveshaft bikes yet, so I'm not sure where to start to look/adjust/measure.

I took the rear fender off and the space from the shoulder of the tire to the edge of the subframe, is a little over a quarter of an inch shorter on the left side of the bike then the right side. Is this normal? If not, how do I adjust the position of the rear wheel? If so, is it common for the wheel to come off center that badly? I get zero wobble, the bike rides normal still. Thank you all for any help!

You probably realize you have the wrong size rear tire on your bike, the 2008 Aero calls for a Rear - 160/80-15 and you said you have a Rear - 170/80-15

The tire you have is wider, taller and is a bigger tire.

i cannot account for why it wasnt rubbing before your buddy took a ride.

Who installed the Dunlop Rear - 170/80-15 on your 2008 Aero? That person may have painstakingly found the one "sweet spot" to where that oversize tire can mounted positioned where it would not appear to Rub.

Did you or your friend add AIR to the tire just before his ride, or did your buddy get AIR when he rode? This could account for a slight change in tire with height.

Like has been said maybe your buddy took it over a pothole and it knocked the wheel off kilter.

Your rear tire is too large for your bike.

Difference between the two tires
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/tirecalc.php?tires=160-80r15-170-80r15

 

[ks_greg]

I've been running a 170/80 Pirelli on the back of my Aero for awhile, shocks set on 3, I weigh about 175 - 180, no passenger, and have had no issues with rubbing, even on bumpy roads.

 

[smilie]

You probably realize you have the wrong size rear tire on your bike, the 2008 Aero calls for a Rear - 160/80-15 and you said you have a Rear - 170/80-15

The tire you have is wider, taller and is a bigger tire.

i cannot account for why it wasnt rubbing before your buddy took a ride.

Who installed the Dunlop Rear - 170/80-15 on your 2008 Aero? That person may have painstakingly found the one "sweet spot" to where that oversize tire can mounted positioned where it would not appear to Rub.

Did you or your friend add AIR to the tire just before his ride, or did your buddy get AIR when he rode? This could account for a slight change in tire with height.

Like has been said maybe your buddy took it over a pothole and it knocked the wheel off kilter.

Your rear tire is too large for your bike.

Difference between the two tires
160/80-R15 vs 170/80-R15 Tire Comparison - Tire Size Calculator

As per other members on this site, the 170/80 will fit with room to spare. Less clearance, but at least 1/4" on each side to spare according to my measurements. I'm going to know for sure because I've got a new Michelin170/80 i'll be putting on my 07 spirit which also calls for the 160/80-15 stock.

 

[Bobolto]

I've been running a 170/80 Pirelli on the back of my Aero for awhile, shocks set on 3, I weigh about 175 - 180, no passenger, and have had no issues with rubbing, even on bumpy roads.

Bike and tires are looking good man.

yeah who knows, he'll figure it out...

 

[Bobolto]

As per other members on this site, the 170/80 will fit with room to spare. Less clearance, but at least 1/4" on each side to spare according to my measurements. I'm going to know for sure because I've got a new Michelin170/80 i'll be putting on my 07 spirit which also calls for the 160/80-15 stock.

Yeah i've known for a long time guys are doing that, don't quite understand why though. I could see if you were trying to fit the only size whitewall that might fit your bike, even then i would advise against.

I mean your not gaining anything to speak of, is it supposed to be cool or ? Nice knowing you have a bigger tire?
The tire model you really want and thats the closest size (whitewall scenario)?.

I dunno, seems like there are enough things to fend off and no need to add any especially with what seems to be little or no benefit.

just my opinion which as you know i am more then willing to give ... :lol:

 

[bajafrenzy]

Opinions are always welcome! They always offer food for thought. In my case, the 170 is the only size whitewall for the K555. I love the look of the wide white walls with the two tone black and white paint. I'm at work until tomorrow. I'll post some pictures of the rubbing.

It's definitely a lesson learned scenario, but I gotta look past it at this point. Whether or not the person is telling me the truth or not, that's on them. Frustrating, sure, especially since I'm the one dealing with the problem. But what's done is done, time to focus on the issue at hand.

You can hear the sub frame squeaking against the tire when you get on and off the bike. It's a pretty consistent rub mark around most of the tire. And literally no scuff/scratch/dent to indicate damage. I don't know if there's a better way to check the axle for trueness, or if there's something else that can get knocked out from a big pothole, but when I checked the axle, the runout was within specs of the maintenance manual. Does anybody have any tips for resinstalling the tire in a manner that lets me influence where it's positioned left to right? (Aside from grinding down the spacer). If it was knocked over in a garage, then the subframe might just need a nudge with a bottle jack to get it aligned properly. Does anyone have a good subframe available to measure spacing and diagonals? Those would be helpful numbers.