DIY motorcycle wheel alignment tool

**hotdog0627** · Mar 3, 2024, 06:23 PM

I know it's cheap to just go to a shop and have your motorcycle wheels aligned... but where's the fun in that...

Initially I planned to weld some scrap metal to make the tool but saw some pieces of wood, that I salvaged from old plywood/blockboard that I planned to use on something I dont know yet... tried it first as it will not consume electricity...

I just used some woodscrews and clamps to keep the guide bar from falling down easily... and it seem to do the job just fine. Although, I am still learning how to perfectly tune the wheel... while watching a Netflix movie... but I'm not going that fast anyway...

DIY motorcycle wheel alignment tool-w1.png

DIY motorcycle wheel alignment tool-w2.png

the cheap chinese spoke tool I bought from lazada (online store like amazon) is no good when the spokes start to tighten up... I had to use the adjustable wrench instead. Do you think it will help if I quench the spoke tool (like what they do in making swords/knives)?

**DIYer** · Mar 4, 2024, 02:49 AM

Thanks hotdog0627! We've added your Wheel Alignment Tool to our Motorcycle Wheel and Tire category,
as well as to your builder page: hotdog0627's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Wheel Alignment Tool by hotdog0627

tags: alignment, wheel

**eoverton** · Mar 5, 2024, 04:01 PM

Heating and quenching is very unlikely to help a cheap tool like the one in your photos. Quenching works best with high-alloy steels since they have substitutional atoms (chromium, molybdenum, nickel, etc.) in the places where BCC iron would reside. Heating above the austentizing temperature and doing a quench to form martensite (the hard form of steel) usually only works as a surface treatment. The thicker the part, the less hardened steel you're going to get towards the center. With a wrench, that's not a bad thing, since hardened (martensitic) steel is also brittle, and you want a ductile core to your part to keep it from breaking.

That said, this part from China just looks like whatever cheap junky steel somebody's brother-in-law was selling that morning. You're not going to fix it with a BCC->FCC->BCC transition from a heat-and-quench.

**Philip Davies** · Mar 6, 2024, 02:27 PM

I am very glad to see an improvised set up like this. There are many superbly engineered tools on HMT, and my offerings are really rough in comparison. Nobody has criticised me for that, I am happy to say.

**tonyfoale** · Mar 9, 2024, 03:17 PM

Spoke nipples have small squares with a hole up the centre, so you have a small cylinder in effect with a thin wall. This means that they can distort easily when tightening, the way to control this is to use a wide close fitting spanner. I would suggest getting a quality dedicated spoke spanner. You can get these to fit a single size spoke nipple or multiple sizes.

From your photo it looks like your spanner is very thin, your problems with it are probably more due to that than the quality of the steel. It is best to have a spanner thickness at least 8 mm to hold the nipple over as wide an area as possible.

If you have a mill it is very easy to make one from some 8 or 10 mm steel stock, if you do not have a mill then you can do it less easily with a hacksaw, file and patience.

**hotdog0627** · Mar 18, 2024, 11:08 PM

thanks @eoverton ... really appreaciate it! <br> i really learn a lot from this site!

**hotdog0627** · Mar 18, 2024, 11:11 PM

Originally Posted by Philip Davies

I am very glad to see an improvised set up like this. There are many superbly engineered tools on HMT, and my offerings are really rough in comparison. Nobody has criticised me for that, I am happy to say.

Thanks Philip!... critisism is always helpful

**hotdog0627** · Mar 18, 2024, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by tonyfoale

Spoke nipples have small squares with a hole up the centre, so you have a small cylinder in effect with a thin wall. This means that they can distort easily when tightening, the way to control this is to use a wide close fitting spanner. I would suggest getting a quality dedicated spoke spanner. You can get these to fit a single size spoke nipple or multiple sizes.

From your photo it looks like your spanner is very thin, your problems with it are probably more due to that than the quality of the steel. It is best to have a spanner thickness at least 8 mm to hold the nipple over as wide an area as possible.

If you have a mill it is very easy to make one from some 8 or 10 mm steel stock, if you do not have a mill then you can do it less easily with a hacksaw, file and patience.

yeah... it is only 5mm thick. I will definitely make one when I get a chance to do this again... I do have a hacksaw, file, and more importantly lots of patience

thanks Tony!...