A couple other things....I should say I checked alignment shortly after I bought the bike (brand new) and I think the best way for folks (with touring bikes anyway) would be to invest in the "alignment tools" that Harley uses.....If I remember right, it says you can't really do the alignment check properly without them on bikes with "Dyna-Trac" which is the system (for those who don't know) whereby the engine trans and swing arm are one unit separate from the frame and are rigidly aligned together. This unit, Harley calls it the Power Module if memory serves, is adjusted/aligned with the lower rubber mount and the upper two Heim joint adjusters both veritcally (engine/tire leaning over to the left or right) and horizontally...rear tire steering left or right as measured from a plane in which the front wheel is tracking parallel with the direction of travel of the bike.
Hope this helps and isn't clear as mud!!

 

I didn't bother to read through everything so the problem may have been solved already but one thing that I do know is that if the wheels are spokes it is very possible that they are laced unevenly causing an offset. One of my bikes was this way. To fix it I loosened the spokes for one side evenly and tightened the other side spokes the same amount working my way around until the wheel was centered correctly.

 

There all like that...so are the 08's and 7's and 6's...see a pattern? HD can't find center.. Basically if both wheels are parallel, it's fine. I however have my wheel directly in middle of the swingarm, and fender...who would of thought you could do such a thing?

 

sounds like a shim project the next time you take the wheel off

 

Why not put the straight edge on both sides of the rear wheel and measure the distance from the straight edge to the front tire and compare both sides?

 

UPDATE......

I guess I never gave you guys a final update. I will start by saying "if" Moco told me what the maximum offset tolerance for my bike was and my bike measured within that tolerance the whole thing would have been dropped from day one. I was given the tolerance numbers for years 08 and older but nothing for 09 and up. 08 and older have an alignment procedure 08 and newer do not because it "shouldnt" have an alignment problem. Since it "shouldnt" have an alignment problem it doesnt matter to MOCO if it does or not it just shouldnt and thats that.

-----Moco Engineers confirmed 2009 and Up FL models are Not supposed to have an Offsett as previous years do.
-----However their Official and final statement was that during assembly it is possible for each component to shift ever so slightly resulting in some sort of offset.
-----So they admit there shouldnt be any offset but admit each bike might have one due to the fast pace of the bikes production and that they are not hand built.
-----Every bike before 09 had a published tolerance to help identify a problem if the offset exceeded that specified distance. Moco says 2009 does not have a set tolerance because it was the first bike designed without an offset so it shouldnt have one But it might have one?
-----I asked how big of an offset would it need to have before someone at MOCO would be concerned that a part was manufactured wrong or installed wrong and they said "We Dont Know"
-----A MOCO factory test rider rode my bike and promised me technical information in writing to show what the offset was and to prove my bike was within spec. After multiple calls over 3 months I never got anything in writing.

Final Outcome...... Moco refused to put Anything in writing! They pushed it all off on the dealer so they eventually gave me a receipt saying all the bolts were torqued to specification and no parts were visibly damaged. The dealer also refused to document anything in writing about the obvious offset they confirmed by measuring it themselves at the dealership and refused to put in writing it was within spec or safe to ride.

My bike still doesnt ride straight and Yes I have ridden other 09's, rentals and friends, and the difference is obvious. Although having the tires parallel to each other is the most important thing anybody with real riding experience can tell the difference between a bike whos tires are inline and a bike whos tires are offset.

I have been riding and building bikes for 15 years and this was my First and Last Harley. I was "sold" on the new frame design which is why I bought it as I was never impressed with 08 and older frames.

 

This wont work with 09 and up. Harley doesnt make a tool or have a procedure to measure these new frames. 3 of my local dealers use 2 long pieces of angle iron and lay them on the ground using a home depot measuring tape. Scary Stuff!


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