Geek quest - simple laser wheel alignment?

Has anyone ever used a laser pointer or level to check wheel &/or
sprocket alignment?
It would remove the string forever.
How would you use it?
Perhaps make a lightweight graduated cardboard target & place it centred
at the back of the rear wheel to centre the front wheel, then centre
the card on the back of the front wheel to align the rear wheel.

Any thoughts?

Bummers
There may be other uses - a frame alighment check after a crash?

 

Yeah, like that.
(Damn scooped again!)

But for $20 instead of $188

I had in mind setting up the laser beam from the front of the bike, so
that a "quarter" width of the beam was showing on the front & rear of
the outside edge of front tyre & the remaining half a beam was showing
on the rear tyre target card to centre the front wheel. You'd have to do
this on both sides of the front wheel.
Then reverse the process from the rear of the rear wheel, to the target
card centred on the front wheel & do the adjustment.

But maybe I'd need a jig?

 

Well, you'd need some way of attaching the laser level to the wheel. At
this point, you get to decide: parallel or perpendicular to the wheel.

If parallel, then you need to attach a target to the rear wheel (needs
to be rigid, preferably light-colored, and dimensionally-stable), and
you measure distance from the wheel to the laser spot with the target
attached to the rear of the rear wheel, the front of the rear wheel. Or,
you can get a target with two opaque surfaces with a slit in each. Line
the slits up on their holder (they must remain lined up no matter what),
and when you can project the laser through both slits, on both sides of
the bike (accounting for offsets, don't forget!), then you're in
alignment.

If perpendicular, then you attach one laser to the front and back of
each rim, and make sure that the lines on the floor are parallel; slap a
laser on the frame, and you can check that the wheels are true to the
frame.

That said, you would have to go to a lot of work to do this with lasers
mounted perpendicularly. Your brackets need to be _perfect_ (unless you
can calibrate them from an initial state of true). Furthermore, unless
you've got a long distance, the lines on the floor may not diverge
enough to reliably determine whether the wheels are in line or not.

Some of the same problems crop up with lasers parallel to the frame
(your target needs to be very precisely measurable, and your brackets
need to be very cleanly made, for example), but if you can make the
targets precisely enough, then it's a going concern.


Or you could use a string...

Or, and this is my personal preference, get a motorcycle with a
single-sided swing-arm. btw, I ride a '94 VFR750. HTH! ;-)

--
Later,
John



'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

 

I reckon I can do it with one $20 laser, easily.

If my previously posted technique was difficult to understand (I'm not a
wordsmith), I bet someone can explain better how to do it, with one
laser. Sure you''ll have to move it from one side to the other but you
do that with a bit of string too. And you'll have to check things from
front & back but I reckon it should be as accurate as a couple of string
lines.

Bummers
I'll sell you 2 lasers and a graduated card for $60 + shipping - now
there's an eBay idea!

 

Just sight down the top chain run (remove chain guard if necessary). If
anything is off you'll see it clearly in the chain bowing off the rear
sprocket.
If you must check the actual wheel then string is the easiest and most
acurate.

 

I agree but not with my eyes!

I actually completed the wheel alignment, with the one $20(AUS) laser
level, on my GSX1100 yesterday. - see:
https://secure4.vivid-design.com.au...d2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=


I replaced the old 630 chain with a good quality 530 new chain &
sprocket set.
The GSX has a centre stand.

The laser made checking the sprocket alignment a cinch without the need
for a straight edge (the 530, thinner than standard 630, front sprocket
needed spacing washers to align it with the new rear sprocket.)

To check the wheel alignment, I marked a centreline on the "front" face
of a bit of timber that would fit under the rear wheel. I then marked
the width of the front tyre around the centreline. The graduated timber
"centreline" was placed under the rear axle & centred on the tyre tread,
with the marks facing forward.
The front wheel was then aligned by running the laser light from the
front of the bike down each side of the front tyre so that a portion of
the light lit the front & rear of the side of the front tyre & still put
a spot on the front tyre width markings on the timber "front tyre markings"
I then moved the graduated timber to the front of the front tyre with
the graduated face facing the rear of the bike. The alignment of the
rear wheel was completed easily by a similar process as the the front
wheel centring, the laser now shining forward, from the rear of the rear
wheel.

It was far easier moving the laser from side to side and adjusting the
wheel adjusters with the level than fiddling with pair of stringlines -
and the laser spot was a lot easier to see.

I don't think it would be too hard to make up couple of jigs with a
similar set-up as the Laser lines, http://www.laser-lines.com/