Since I own this bike the rear wheel was misaligned. The left side was on the 4th notch (from the rear), the right side was on the 3rd notch. I dont know how significant this difference but since riding it felt fine I didnt think about it that much and when I tensioned the chain the right side was stuck on the 3rd notch.
Now that I finally have some proper tools I decided to fix this.
I had to loosen everything all the way and slapped the wheel around until, finally, the stuck right slipped suddenly all the way beyond the notches. Maybe there was dirt in there or something...
Now I tensioned the chain and aligned the wheel. This resulted in the following noise:
A whole lot worse than this is the fact that the rear brake is next to useless now. It feels spongy and barely works.
I am assuming this is because of the uneven wear previously? My current plan is to let the pads wear until they are even again.
Can this slight misalignment have caused this?
Did I overtighten the axle nut, causing the brake rotor to not sit straight in the caliper?
How about a torque wrench for christmas?
If I was to hazard a guess it would be that one of the ads is in contact with the disk. I would start by popping the top off the caliper and having a look at how the disk is fit into the caliper.
Also if my brake ads were worn unevenly I would not be happy riding until they evened out. The last thing you want is a reduced response when trying to stop your bike. If the pads are alsor ubbing, riding against the brake isn't ideal either.
O0
One thing to consider is that the metered tabs should NOT be used to align the wheel. Those tabs aren't the most accurate.
You should get a chain alignment gauge to properly align the wheel.
As far as the brake rubbing, I would take the caliper off and inspect the pads to see if they're worn on an angle. If they are, I would replace them. Having the rear brake ineffective is a safety hazard, and "wearing them in" can take a long time and cause further damage to the rotor and possibly the caliper.
If the pads ARENT worn crooked, make sure to clean the caliper really well, compress the caliper piston, put it back on, and pump the brake.
I second the practice of NOT using the adjuster marks to align. The first time the wheel gets removed those things become pretty much worthless and are never accurate again. If you don't have a special alignment tool its better to just measure the distance from the center of the rear axle bolt to the center of the swingarm pivot bolt. Do this on both sides making sure they match. I use a wooden yard stick.
My experience: when the chain was just slightly out of alignment, and I rolled the bike in N, it made a sticking sound, like a loose rubber belt at low rpms.
Definitly measure from center suspension bolt to center axle on both sides. There are some great tools to facilitate this.
The brake is much better after using it for week.
I will go and check the alignment properly and adjust if necessary. But why wouldnt the marks be accurate aside from them being spaced pretty far apart?
Those indicators aren't precision machined out of a piece of billet or something, nor are they actually incorporated into the swing arm. They're cast or stamped out of some cheap steel and held in place by the axle itself.
They are made of malliable material and so can bend and twist easily, and they align themselves with little tabs that hook onto the swing arm and I've seen these bend and thus the plate doesn't even sit straight.
On top of all things when you have to adjust the wheel these plates are LOOSE since you can't move a wheel that's tight...
In reality its just a sight guage. You wouldn't measure proper oil level based off a sight guage, you'd use a measuring cup or something and go by the manual specification.
If it worked like a cam that indexes off a pin like I've seen on a lot of dirt bikes I would trust it, but since it's just a sight guage it's worthless.
It's REALLY for checking if your wheel has moved since adjustment. Once your slack is set and your alignment is good and you've tightened everything down, check the marks and either write down where they are (take a picture?) or actually mark the swingarm. Go for a ride, check it again and verify everything is still where it should be.
They should also be used to judge maximum chain slack. Once you start running out of notches you should be looking to get a new chain.