I had a sensation when riding a straight level road, that the tracking on my bike was off causing a slight pull to one side. The bike would always drift slightly left if I sat straight and centered and applied no input to the handlebars. I was also getting a slight belt squeek when coasting at 20-30 mph. Trying to align the rear axle to the swing arm pivot on a Heritage is a big pain-in-the-*** and not very accurate. The position of the axle adjusters is not meaningful due to manufacturing tolerances.

The best functional alignment is when the thrust vector from the rear wheel passes through the center of the contact patch of the front tire on the road.

I set-up a simple alignment test using two pieces of 8' long 1" square aluminum tubing (purchased at a local home store). I put the bike on a lift and clamped the tubes to the rear tire. I added pieces of 1" angle over the tubing where I was clamping for added stiffness. I clamped it just hard enough so the clamp in the photos below would not fall off (keep the clamp jaws parallel). Then I went up front and gently lifted on the tubing to relieve any friction where they were setting on the support. I measured to make sure the tubes were parallel to each other to make sure they were properly clamped against the rear tire.

Next, just turn the front end so the tire is parallel to the aluminum bars. It should then be in the center of the two bars. Initially, my front tire was almost touching a tube on one side and I had a one inch gap on the other side. It took only a small adjustmet of the rear axle position screws to correct this seemingly large error. I unclamped, rotated the rear tire, and reclamped the bars in a new location. The set-up repeated very well showing the same results up front.

When done, be sure to check your belt tension per the manual.

The bike now tracks perfectly, handling in curves feels better, and the belt squeak is gone too.

 

Vewy vewy smart and lots effective. Probably has a bunch of "techs" scratching their heads at something low tech working. As long as the triple tree isn't twerked you are good.

PS GF told me that word, twerk, so I thought I'd use it in an appropriate situation.

 

I've heard of using fluorescent bulbs, i use string. But I like your idea better.

 

If you get the wheels aligned straight and the handlebars are "twerked" then loosen the tree pinch bolts and "un-Twerk" them.

 

The problem with round tubes is that there is only point contact on the sides of the rear tire. Also, it is a pain to measure to a round tube in this situation.

Did I mention glass tubes break easily?

I never could get good repeatable results with string,

 

Where did you get those tubes?

 

I bought them at a local home store called Menards. Lowes & Home Depot have it too. Get some some 1" 1/8 thick angle to span the length accross the tire where you clamp it. You can see it in the rear photo.

 

Thanks, I see.

 

This looks like a really good way to check your wheel alignment. I have found that the belt noise that most people are complaining about with the new Softails has more to do with rear wheel alignment than belt tension. Now that I have my rear wheel aligned I have tighten my belt back up to the spec and I have very little to no noise.

 

Thanks for the tip. I tried it, and it worked well.