MZ/MuZ Riders

I noticed my front brake would occasionally go soft shortly after getting my front tire replaced recently but it wasn't bad so I put off looking at it until I noticed some slop in my front wheel. The first thing that came to mind was wheel bearings. When taking the axle out I noticed that the wheel spacer on the disc side was GONE! Those idiots at the shop could have killed me. I'd like to know the length of the spacer so when I go down there to chew on some ass, I know what I'm looking for should they have saved it.

Man that chaps my ass!!! There's no way you can put the axle back in and not notice that something is missing because it doesn't bottom out on anything when screwing it in to the fork on the disc side.

The very reason i started doing my own work years ago
dave

Me too! I've had my fill of shoddy work and semi-trained chimps with spanners. I wouldn't trust a bike shop monkey with my delicate pink skin any more than I'd trust one with a loaded gun in my living room- and for pretty much the same reasons.

Having said that, leaving out a wheel spacer is right up there on the negligence/stupidity scale with reversed tyres, loose drain plugs and forgotten engine oil. Whoever's responsible really needs a pull-through with a ragged two-stroke silencer baffle.

I do my mechanical work most of the time too but I didn't feel like spending the extra money in gas to haul my tire to the shop in my '78 van. I don't do tires. Unfortunately they gave me to the new guy that day. I even said something to them in jest. He's got a good record but I guess he was nervous or something and spaced out. I still don't see how you could miss that step though. It looks like they are going to have a spacer machined for me today so I went ahead and made up a fake part out of PVC pipe to get the dimensions. I came up with a length of 13mm and added .25mm to the OD of the axle to come up with an ID of 20.25mm and told them that the wall thickness should be between 3mm and 3.25mm. Hopefully that will get the job done.

Surprise, surprise! They found it hiding in the top of someone's tool box. The shop manager was picturing a much longer spacer because of the microfiche parts images but when placing the order to the machinist, he actually had my spacer in his hands. He soon realized what he'd overlooked, called me to tell me the good news and canceled his order for the new part. In return, he gave me about $60 worth of lubricants and filters so we are almost even.

Actual dimensions in case anyone ever needs them.

Part is also known as a distance pipe for search purposes.

ID=20.15mm
OD=28.00mm
Length=12.50mm