wheel offset vs wheel alignment

The last time I checked alignment of front and rear wheels I had almost a half inch of offset to the left hand side. I know it's been discussed before and that some offset is "normal?" in Commandos. I also had my rear wheel relaced and trued a few years back. The shop that did it was a reputable Brit bike shop but I've been thinking that perhaps there should be some (or more) offset between the rim and hub? I know this subject has come up before, just wondering what others have found. The bike is a 71 roadster, it steers and handles fine, and I saw no evidence of frame damage when I replaced iso's and steering neck bearings. Not looking to dive in too deep right now, just wondering in what direction I might want to look.

Too many variables with a commando
If it rides well and no weaving above 90mph I wouldn't worry about it

MikeG said:

The last time I checked alignment of front and rear wheels I had almost a half inch of offset to the left hand side.

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The wheel rims should be in line, front rim central within the fork lowers and then with the front rim in line with the backbone of the frame the rear rim should also be in line with the backbone of the frame. To achieve this both wheel hubs will need offsets to the rims, start with the factory offsets which should get you close.

OP's bike in question:

That pic don’t look right! Looks like it’s been built with the wrong offset to me.

When we talk about offset vs alignment, in my book the steps are:

First check that the front wheel is dead central in the forks. The rear wheel offset is simply whatever is required to A) ensure the sprockets align, which fixes your hub position and B) ensure that the rear rim is aligned with the front (which in turn is dead centre in the forks). If any major miss alignment with the frame is visible after doing this then something else is wrong.

When having wheels built, the factory offset is the place to start as Kommando says, but it is very common for adjustments to be required, hence its best to have the wheels returned without tyres and tubes so it’s easier to check and much easier to return to the wheel builder for some minor offset adjusting.

concours said:

OP's bike in question:View attachment 80713

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Hmmmmm that does look a fair way out!

So what are the factory offsets?

MikeG said:

So what are the factory offsets?

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If you’ve got the wheels in the bike already you don’t need the factory offset as a reference.

Measure the front wheel offset and calculate what’s needed to get it central.

Then same with the rear wheel to get it aligned with the front calculations.

But I’d still check them afterwards sans tyres in case they need tweaking.

The front wheel of my 74 850 came from the factory offset about 1/8 inch to the left from center. It annoyed me, as the tyre almost hit the mudguard on that side. It was obvious when looking at the front of the bike. After some years the chrome on my front rim began to peel and pit, so I scored a really nice one off eBay and sent it and the hub to Buchanans for stainless spokes. I talked to a wheel builder there and he was very familiar with the offset on a disc Commando wheel. What I got back was perfectly centered between the forks. So, it seems that there were tolerances for wheel lacing at Norton.