I took off my front wheel yesterday to change my tire. When I got the spacers off, I noticed one of them has some little notch looking things on one side. Do these need to be put back on in a certain order/direction?

 

not that i know of. i noticed that too awhile back. i called my dealer and the machanic said he didnt know of any difference. i looked for quite a while and for some stupid reason i decided to put the notch away from the bearing. i've changed the wheel a couple times and have had no problems.

scott

 

FYI - The notches on the spacer needs to face the bearing in the wheel.

From my 2007 Touring Manual, Page 2-12

4. With the three notches on the bearing side, push axle
through long external spacer and left fork leg until axle
shoulder contacts external spacer on right fork side.


-Kevin

 

On which side? Only one spacer had the notches.

 

That would be the spacer on the left hand side of the bike.

--
Kevin
2007 Ultra Classic

 

Thanks, guess I had missed your response.

 

i had nothing to do for a while so i gave my dealer a call. he said it doesnt make any difference on which way the spacers go in, and that the little cut-out or mark is to tell which side it goes on....HOWEVER, the service manual says to put the chamfered side away from the wheel. i couldnt tell any difference on mine. maybe i didnt look close enough. it will be interesting to find out exactly what the story is on this issue. i bet either way, a whole bunch is put in both ways. my early money would go with the information in the service manual. next time i pull the wheel i will see if there are any differences. i have on 07 FXD.

scott

 

update...i got so many differnet opinions that i wanted to find out the truth. i pulled both wheels and looked at the spacers. on my bike they are exactly the same on both sides of the spacer. the little cutout or triangle is on the brake side of the bike. i think its to tell you what side of the bike the spacer goes on, but as far as i can tell it does not matter which way it goes on. there is no chamfered edge on my spacers. i wasted an hour of my time but now i know..

 

I ended up re-reading my manual. My 2007 does address the notches. There is a drawing too. Thanks for the help.

 

My 08 manual says the opposite of the 07 manual. My manual states "Be sure that the grooves on external spacer are on the outboard side (i.e. not facing the bearing in the wheel). Also says if not ABS, left and right spacers are interchangeable.