Axle clamp bolt question

[Affschnozel]

Had my new Pilot Activ installed today by a local shop and had a small dispute about the need of

loosening the axle clamp/pinch bolt with the mechanic(he didn't), who said that the axle was bent a little and was

hard to remove ( every axle needs a little initial persuasion,not? ) when I do it it slides out smoothly enough  

One right thing he noticed while balancing the new tire that the rim was bent in few places, something I missed

from my crash a few years back  

So is loosening the clamp bolt really necessary to withdraw the axle (the manual says so anyway)?

[ohgood]

Had my new Pilot Activ installed today by a local shop and had a small dispute about the need of

loosening the axle clamp/pinch bolt with the mechanic(he didn't), who said that the axle was bent a little and was

hard to remove ( every axle needs a little initial persuasion,not? ) when I do it it slides out smoothly enough  

One right thing he noticed while balancing the new tire that the rim was bent in few places, something I missed

from my crash a few years back  

So is loosening the clamp bolt really necessary to withdraw the axle (the manual says so anyway)?

short answer, yes, it's called a pinch joint for a reason.

you can check your axle's straightness easily enough:

lift the front end
loosen the pinch bolt
loosen the axle nut
turn the AXLE with a wrench and watch for the wheel girating left to right, right to left. if it does, the axle is bent.

or you can remove the axle and roll it on a flat surface. even folks with really poor eyesight will see the wobble of 10-15 thousandths.

edited:

if the mechanic isn't open to doing things -your- way, it's time for a new mechanic.

yes, the axle needs a tiny bit of persuasion.anything more than a couple taps means your fork legs may be bent, axle bent, etc.

[Affschnozel]

I do all the work on the bike myself except tires 'cause they mount and balance free of charge

I worked as a mechanic in motorcycle shop awhile back myself and every bike I worked on required the loosening of clamp bolts

that's what started the argument, the axle itself is perfectly straight btw ,thanks 

[gsJack]

I never loosen the pinch bolt on the right front of the GS to pull the wheel, once it's set it's good for life unless you change parts.  After the front axle bolt nut is tightened you can loosen the pinch bolt, bounce the front up and down, and then tighten it and leave it  It compensates for the tolerance stack up thru the tripple clamp assembly to get the space correct for the front axle assembly so the fork tubes don't bind from a side load.  Bike axles can be very hard to remove if they're put in dry and left for a long time, I always coat mine with cup grease before putting them back in so they'll come out easy next tiome.

[Affschnozel]

Yes,thank you gsJack ,it's a misconception that the clamp bolt clamps the axle itself (although it is called axle clamp bolt  )

it only clamps the spacer in the fork tube just as you said , i didn't give it much thought before ,working at shop we were

required to loosen bolts so that on reassembly everything would be right , well I'm still learning new things everyday