Anyone ever bend a rear axel?

A few weeks ago I noticed a sound like the brake pads were wore out and rubbing against the rotor at slow speed, along with a slight grinding noise. It was time for a new rear tire anyway So I pulled the wheels off the bike, had a new set of tires mounted up, and I threw them back on the bike. I threw on a new set of brake pads as well. I rode the bike around for a bit and noticed the sound was still there in the rear, just quieter. I couldn't tell if it was on the right or left side, but it sounded like the rotor was rubbing the brake pad.

So I took the rear tire off, looked at everything, and it seemed ok. I put the wheel back on the bike, and left the brake caliper and bracket off. I spun the wheel on the axel (without it engaged to the splines, and noticed the rear brake rotor was moving in and out a fair amount, obviously I thought it was warped. However when I got to looking at the rest of the wheel I noticed that if I put my finger around the recessed area at the center of the wheel (where the rotor side wheel bearing goes) and the swing arm, the clearance between the two seems to increase/decrease. I didn't have time to pull the axel out before work to verify its straight, but the only way I could see that doing that is if A) the wheel isn't machined properly on that lip, B) the bearing is screwed up, or C) if the axel itself is bent. I know its not a misalignment with the axel thats causing it because the rotor moves in/out and doesn't just stay off in one direction while running true.

Tomorrow before work I am going to jack the bike up and put a dial indicator on the lip of the wheel when its mounted, and turn the wheel to see how much the outer part of the wheel is actually moving in/out (if at all). I did take the rotor off the wheel to clean the rim, but I marked it so it went back on the wheel in the same position. It didn't look warped when I eyeballed it before putting it on. Any ideas are helpful...

Mine had a warped rear rotor when I got it. Rim ran true though. Bought a used rotor off eat-me-bay about 45,000 miles ago. I only use the rear brake in panic stops.

P.S. unless your axle was spinning with the wheel, it wouldn't make it wobble even if it was bent.

1olbull said:

Don't know your noise, but I just replaced my rear wheel bearings which fixed my strange rear end noise.

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I cut back on fiber, helped mine

i doubt it is a bent axle. when checking for a bent rim i would get it off the ground and run it about 10 mph and watch what the tire does if the tire moves side to side you have a bad rim if the tire runs straight and the rotor wobbles u have a bad rotor.
may have been possible when u put back the rotor u might have cocked it a little and burred the rim. i would check it first and if the rotor is the only thing wobbling then take it off and inspect where the rotor mounts.

Before work tomorrow (I hate working 12s hour 3rd shifts) I am going to clamp my dial indicator on the swingarm and spin the wheel to see how bad the rim lip is out. The rotor looked like a 1/8th of a inch or better clearly something was wrong. It really bothers me that the lip where the bearing installs on the rotor side seemed to have a wobble too. Almost like the rotor side bearing had a egg like rotation. When I looked at the lip of the wheel it didn't seem to have much of a "wobble" but it was hard to guage it without a refrence point. Between the shock and the rotor it was very clear there was a changing of clearance as the wheel spun.

I am suprized the rotor is warped, but that could explain a lot since the factory pads I removed seemed to half half the life left so it was unlikely they were causing the noise I heard before the new tires/pads. I just hope its not a messed up wheel since I can't seem to find any used for the roadster (with the ABS ring hookup).

are u sure the bearing and spacer is in there?
try to wiggle the wheel.

Oldschool said:

Before work tomorrow (I hate working 12s hour 3rd shifts) I am going to clamp my dial indicator on the swingarm and spin the wheel to see how bad the rim lip is out. The rotor looked like a 1/8th of a inch or better clearly something was wrong. It really bothers me that the lip where the bearing installs on the rotor side seemed to have a wobble too. Almost like the rotor side bearing had a egg like rotation. When I looked at the lip of the wheel it didn't seem to have much of a "wobble" but it was hard to guage it without a refrence point. Between the shock and the rotor it was very clear there was a changing of clearance as the wheel spun.

I am suprized the rotor is warped, but that could explain a lot since the factory pads I removed seemed to half half the life left so it was unlikely they were causing the noise I heard before the new tires/pads. I just hope its not a messed up wheel since I can't seem to find any used for the roadster (with the ABS ring hookup).

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IF the wheel is buckled I would try a warranty claim as you just never know... What year is your Roadster?

Rocket Scientist said:

I cut back on fiber, helped mine

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TURBO200R4 said:

are u sure the bearing and spacer is in there?
try to wiggle the wheel.

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The wheel doesn't harldly wiggle at all. Both bearings are in and the middle pipe that is inbetween the inner bearings is in place as well. I know the rotor is bolted up tight/flat to the wheel because was very methodical on putting the rotor back on after cleaning it.



IF the wheel is buckled I would try a warranty claim as you just never know... What year is your Roadster?

2011 roadster, way out of warranty. Not to mention the dealer I bought it from is no longer selling triumphs (and some of the work they did on the bike was not done right).