New tires

[OU812]

Just had them installed, and the front tire does not spin freely. I think he over torqued the front axle. Any thoughts?

[geothepencil]

There is often some brake pad drag. Is this causing the wheel to not spin freely? See if one rotor is hotter than the other. I would start with this approach.

geo

[Ves]

Just had them installed, and the front tire does not spin freely. I think he over torqued the front axle. Any thoughts?

1. Take it back and tell them to fix it.
2. Loosen it all up and retorque. But if it was me I'd probably remove, inspect the axle, add some grease, reinstall and torque.
3. Come on down. I'll help you sort it out. But you probably don't want to ride it too far in that state.

How do the tires feel?

[R4R&R]

The wheel spins on the axle. I don't think over-torqueing it would give that result (unless a gorilla put it on). Like the others said, check the brakes and the speedo gear attachment. Make sure nothing is rubbing the wheel/tire except the calipers (brake pads). Hopefully they didn't bend the rotors (brake discs).

[Rockosmith]

For reasons I don't understand, every time I have the front wheel off of my '04 R, the brakes seem to drag slightly for a while. With the bike on the centerstand it is more difficult to spin than before wheel removal. After a few miles, all returns to normal. That said, make sure the brakes are not dragging excessively (some dragging is ok but should not be difficult to spin) so as to get hot and potentially cause a problem while riding.

[MikeCam]

Many folks skip the step of 'centering' the wheel on the axle before tightening the clamps and axle bolt.

Loosen everything up, bounce the front several times while rolling forward and backward to re-center the wheel in the forks. Then retorque clamps and axle bolt.

Then recheck alignment and spin.

[Arbee]

Chalk up a 10km ride without using brakes, stop... then put your hand (carefully) on the discs (rotors)

If they are hot there is a fault.

[OU812]

Re torqued today, he was right on. Still fells the same. I will have to ride it for a bit, then see if it changes. Thanks everyone!

[OU812]

Many folks skip the step of 'centering' the wheel on the axle before tightening the clamps and axle bolt.

Loosen everything up, bounce the front several times while rolling forward and backward to re-center the wheel in the forks. Then retorque clamps and axle bolt.

Then recheck alignment and spin.

OK, I missed this one. I will try it. Thanks Mike.

[DJ Downunder]

MikeCam wrote:
Many folks skip the step of 'centering' the wheel on the axle before tightening the clamps and axle bolt.

Loosen everything up, bounce the front several times while rolling forward and backward to re-center the wheel in the forks. Then retorque clamps and axle bolt.

Then recheck alignment and spin.

OK, I missed this one. I will try it. Thanks Mike.

It's important to hold your tongue to the left while doing all this....

DJ

[OU812]

Many folks skip the step of 'centering' the wheel on the axle before tightening the clamps and axle bolt.

Loosen everything up, bounce the front several times while rolling forward and backward to re-center the wheel in the forks. Then retorque clamps and axle bolt.

Then recheck alignment and spin.

Done, and Done! It worked. You are the Wizard Mike!