A note on axle bolt/nut torque settings

You will quickly find that when dealing with items outside of the engine that correct torque specs and correct assembly are two completely different things when it comes to the real world. Due to variables in lube, thread wear, calibration etc it is VERY UNLIKELY that you would achieve torque setting on the axles or steering head bearings by simply using a spec out of the service manual.

As an example - One of the first things we do on a race team with a new bike is re-write the torque specs to reasonable rates. The specs in the service manual for axles and pinch bolts etc are there for liability purposes on a lot of those things and there are a lot of variables with quality control and fitment of the components you are wrenching on that are not very consistent when it comes to those parts outside the motor. They do not take into account bolt stretch, leftover loc-tite residue, anti-seize or even just grease and lube.

More times than not if you Torque an axle to the spec in the service manual it is too tight. Try this next time. Assemble the rear wheel and with the axle nut loose just spin the rear wheel with your hand. Notice how fast it spins. Now torque it to the spec in the service manual and spin it again and you will see the rear wheel now has parasitic drag that causes it to slow down prematurely. That is because there is so much pressure from the swingarm axle ends pressing into the bearings and the bearing spacer in between them that lateral pressure is being applied and squeezing the bearings. This is ALWAYS bad.

If you want to learn to do this to feel you can spin the wheel continuously with one hand and tighten the axle nut with the other and when you see the rear wheel start to slow down, just back off a bit of the axle nut tension. Obviously some common sense needs to be applied as well and of course correct assembly of the wheel with all the spacers etc is a pre-requisite, but this is not exactly rocket surgery to figure out that the OEM service manual specs for axles and pinch bolts may not be required for safe assembly of the motorcycle.