Front tire rubbing on fender brace

Hello,
I have done a fair amount of work on the front end of my '74 R75/6 over the last years. This included upgrading to dual disks, new fork seals and boots, new rubber (Metezler lasertech, 3.25"). Recently I have been plauged with an annoying problem. I can't seem to maintain clearance between the front tire and the fender brace. I have had the fender on and off several times. The side of the tire is rubbing against the chrome brace for the fender on the left side. I don't want to be bending things to get clearance. Is there a shim for the axel spacer which can effectively move the wheelleft to right in the fork? Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks,
Theo Marks

'74 R75/6
'01 R1150GS

Is the tire OK some of the time but not others? Is the wheel centered between the fork tubes? Are your front bearings OK? I don't think you want to be moving the wheel around, otherwise you'll upset the tracking/balance of the bike. I've heard that the fender brace on some of the early bikes were quite narrow. I'm not familiar with the Lasertech tire...it sounds fairly common. I'm wondering if it isn't slightly larger than normal. The dimension of 3.25" is not necessarily 3.25" from tire to tire and across manufacturers.

The Lasertec rubs the /6 fork brace, simple as that. It's a narrow fork brace and a poorly shaped tire for that bike. There are others that will rub also.

Buy a /7 fork brace or use a different tire (the Conti Blitz fits but I don't like it. The Avon RoadRider fits and so far I do like it).

The big rub

I had the same problem with my 75 R/90/6. I took the braces off and cut the indent off the inside of the brace, where it was rubbing the new tire. I am on a ship at the moment and won't be able to send a pic. until I get home in Dec. The fix worked fine, study the brace and you will be able to see what needs removed.

Enginerod

I am having the same problem with the new tires I just put on (Lasertecs) my /6. I searched the parts catalog and saw that the /7 brace is the same part number as the /6.
Will a brace from the 80's Airheads work?

Wow!

I just went out to my garage a made some measurements of my R90/6 front end and it's making me nervous.

I measured my stock 3.25 Lazer front at 3.65 inches total width at the tread, with 35 lbs of air in the tire. That leaves 7/16" of clearance at the sidewall on each side of the tire, measured at the widest part of the brace.

That seems like a lot of clearance to me but is the Lazertec in the same size really that much larger? If it is, I need to make a call and cancel my tire order!

photorider said:

I am having the same problem with the new tires I just put on (Lasertecs) my /6. I searched the parts catalog and saw that the /7 brace is the same part number as the /6.
Will a brace from the 80's Airheads work?

Click to expand...

I recently purchased a new brace. It cleared my Lasertec fine, but I had to relieve the fender a bit to make it fit the later style brace.

Me too

I had the same problem on my 74 R90/6. I ran Continentals, can't remember what size, but when I went to stock size, 3.25 Blitz, it rubbed. I put that front on my R100 and bought a 90/90 19. I think a 100/90 might have worked as the 90/90 sure looks narrow but it sure doesn't rub. It's all about tire mfgs.

been there, done that

Same thing happened to me when I put a Lasertech on my '74 75/6. I tried to fix it by buying a used fender brace that came from a /7, but that brace was bent and caused serious stiction. It did have enough clearance however, and would have been a solution it it wasn't bent. So I used my dremel to open up the bolt holes on the original /6 brace, allowing it to ride up a bit higher. This seemed to solve the clearance problem.
Just this month I came up with the definative solution. I bought the reissued San Jose fork brace (new from SJBMW). Clearance problem solved, and front end feels mucho tighter.
I do like the Lasertech tires, so I consider it all worthwhile.
Theo Marks