Just wondering, I am doing some LED lights on my bike. Today when I removed the rear lights to fish the wire through the rear fender I noticed how much closer the tire was to the primary side of the bike. The other side of the tire was several times further away from the tire (I never measured but somewhere around 1/2" vs about 1 1/4" or so). I had a alignment tool I made for my sportster (I used it to check the dealers work after tire changes etc.) When I checked mine there was around 3/16" difference from one side to the other. Would that cause the tire to be so much closer to the primary side of the fender or is this normal?

It's a 2002 Wide Glide 3, seems really strange to me as the rear wheel has never been off this bike!

 

I imagine, in a perfect world, the wheel would be centered, but most aren't.

Here are a few things which will make the rear wheel look off-centered:

First, a rear fender out of alignment with in the fender struts.

Next, improperly aligned rear wheel. (not aligned using holes in swingarm).

Last, incorrect drivetrain alignment. Because the rear swing arm mounts to the tranny casing, the position of the rear wheel is affected by engine alignment.