KDXRIDER.NET

Hi folks, hope this miserable Sunday afternoon finds you all well.

Well, as the title says I feel such an idiot for asking such a stupid question... but I need help.

So I took the front wheel off to take to the bike shop to get a new tyre fitted. - I was careful taking it off and made a note of where the spacer was sitting etc.
Anyway, fetched the wheel back, put it on the bike the same way it came off, tightened it up and that's where the problems started.
The wheel would not turn at all, so thinking I'd over tightened it I loosened the nut off half a turn or so and the wheel did spin but came with a grinding noise.... On inspection I noticed the disc was rubbing on the fork, so I loosened it off another turn or so which did free the wheel.
Job done I thought until I took the bike for a quick spin around the block.... knock, knock, knock, knock was all I could hear coming from the area.

So now the wheel is off again and I'm at a loss at to what the problem is.

The bearings are nicely greased and spinning fine, the spacer was sitting nicely and in it's correct place, and the disc was spinning freely inbetween the pads, yet every revolution of the wheel causes a single knock.

The bike is an '88 KDX if that matters.

Any help or advice appreciated.

Yours thankfully, dumb Bonehead!

im not to familiar with the 88s (only have 96s myself) but there isn't too much to a front wheel assembly
I would put the bike up on a stand (or have a buddy tilt it) so that the front wheel is off the ground and slowly spin it to see what causes the knock

it sounds like the brake disc got dent though
or (and this is a long shot) maybe the axle got bend?

diymirage wrote:im not to familiar with the 88s (only have 96s myself) but there isn't too much to a front wheel assembly
I would put the bike up on a stand (or have a buddy tilt it) so that the front wheel is off the ground and slowly spin it to see what causes the knock

it sounds like the brake disc got dent though
or (and this is a long shot) maybe the axle got bend?

Thanks for the reply mate.

Yeah I'll pop out and give the wheel a spin if/when it ever stops raining and see if I can suss out what's causing the knock. The disc looks fine though with no scrapes/digs. - Another thing that concerns me is, now that I've loosened the wheel nut off a couple of turns to free the disc from the forks there's a gap, probably 2mm between the fork and the wheel/bearing so you can actually see the spindle/axle bolt. I'm sure it wasn't like this when I took the wheel off, but if I tighten the nut up to get rid of this gap the disc rubs on the fork again.

As you say mate there's not a lot to the front wheel assembly, which is why I feel such an idiot posting about my problem.

There is a spacer that goes on the left side of axle by the brake rotor. Maybe that fell of and is missing? Seen that happen at least a couple of times.

KDXBADASS wrote:There is a spacer that goes on the left side of axle by the brake rotor. Maybe that fell of and is missing? Seen that happen at least a couple of times.

I was thinking that there should be one there too mate, but it's been like that since I got the bike.

That would explain a lot.

I have a couple of photo's but I'm not sure I have enough forum posts to upload them....?

Any idea if the spacer has a specific name, Ebay is not helping much..?

Cheers.

Grub wrote:Any idea if the spacer has a specific name, Ebay is not helping much..?

Cheers.

if you're not careful, when screwing the axle back into the fork leg, you can catch the rotor on the caliper, and bing... dent it.

if it's dented, you'll hear the bop bop bop and feel a pulsating in the lever when applied. this is NOT a safe condition to just 'ride through it'.

good news is, you may be able to straighten the rotor with a crescent wrench if it's not too bad. tape a pencil against the fork leg and spin the wheel. each spot the pencil touches is 'high' and needs bending back. after a dozen rotations and bends, it should be pretty straight. THAT will work for 'getting home' but a new rotor is a really good idea once it's had that stress applied to it. cracks are tiny, but get BIG with some heat ;-)

good luck

oh... on ebay, just look for 'axle spacer', or cut your own from black pipe (available at lowes/home depot) with a pipe cutter. it's not rocket surgery. if you need demininsions i'll pull mine off and measure for you. :)

ohgood wrote:

Grub wrote:Any idea if the spacer has a specific name, Ebay is not helping much..?

Cheers.

if you're not careful, when screwing the axle back into the fork leg, you can catch the rotor on the caliper, and bing... dent it.

if it's dented, you'll hear the bop bop bop and feel a pulsating in the lever when applied. this is NOT a safe condition to just 'ride through it'.

good news is, you may be able to straighten the rotor with a crescent wrench if it's not too bad. tape a pencil against the fork leg and spin the wheel. each spot the pencil touches is 'high' and needs bending back. after a dozen rotations and bends, it should be pretty straight. THAT will work for 'getting home' but a new rotor is a really good idea once it's had that stress applied to it. cracks are tiny, but get BIG with some heat ;-)

good luck

oh... on ebay, just look for 'axle spacer', or cut your own from black pipe (available at lowes/home depot) with a pipe cutter. it's not rocket surgery. if you need demininsions i'll pull mine off and measure for you. :)

Thanks mate, I will indeed check to see if I've dented it, but I was very careful around the caliper and everything seemed to go back together nice and smooth.
The spacer on the 'disc side' is definitely missing. I've scoured the shed floor but it's gone. Whether is was there before I initially took the wheel off I can't be 100% sure, but I had no problems with the the disc rubbing or knocking before I took the wheel off, so I'm guessing it was there but is now long gone. No doubt I'll find it in 5 years time and think 'what the hell did this come off', lol.

Cheers.

If I may, always take pics of what you're taking apart if it's the 1st time you are doing a peticular repair, big time saver. Is there a parts diagram for your front wheel? Sounds like you're missing a dust seal/spacer. I'm pretty sure mine has spacers/dust seals on both sides.

jjavaman wrote:If I may, always take pics of what you're taking apart if it's the 1st time you are doing a peticular repair, big time saver. Is there a parts diagram for your front wheel? Sounds like you're missing a dust seal/spacer. I'm pretty sure mine has spacers/dust seals on both sides.

I've got pics mate but not sure how to upload them onto here. Do I need to have a certain amount of posts as I can't seem to find the 'Upload Photos' in the Gallery section..?

Ah, nevermind. I see I'm not allowed to upload photo's.

Ok, here's the side in question... I assume I need a spacer between the wheel/axle and fork?

Yes that is way to close. Spacer has to be missing.

The spacer is also the seals riding surface. Looks like you can see into the bearing in the pic.

Isn't there only one spacer? If it's only one spacer, it should go on the side pictured. If you are not sure, swap the spacer to the other side and see how it all bolt together.

Edit; A 89-06 KDX has one wheel spacer, goes on the brake side of the bike, the right side has the drive for the odometer. I'd start with putting the spacer on the left side (brake side) and see how it bolt together, the brake works etc.

s10gto wrote:Yes that is way to close. Spacer has to be missing.

Your spacer is definately gone. You need one badly. It goes on the disc side. None on the right side. Only the odometer drive on the right side. Get a spacer put it on the left side and you will be good to go...........

KDXBADASS wrote:

s10gto wrote:Yes that is way to close. Spacer has to be missing.

Your spacer is definately gone. You need one badly. It goes on the disc side. None on the right side. Only the odometer drive on the right side. Get a spacer put it on the left side and you will be good to go...........

Cheers mate!

Just a case of trying to source one now, the ones on Ebay look cheap and nasty Chinese rubbish.

Rockymountain atv has them under oem parts.

s10gto wrote:Rockymountain atv has them under oem parts.

Cheers for that mate!

Yep, it's part 92143A I'm missing. - I've now got one on order. Just £6. - Bargain. :)

Contact the shop that changed your tire, the spacer might be there...

tirebiter wrote:Contact the shop that changed your tire, the spacer might be there...

First thing I did mate, but no joy.