centramatic balancer question
Centramatics used to be made from 20 guage steel - which is .953mm thick. I don't know if the newer models or stainless steel are thinner. But putting on the Centramatics behind the rotors - makes each front rotor disc "push" outward by the thickness of the Centramatic - or .953mm on each side.
Before I put on my Centramatics, I had the .7mm gap between the outside left rotor and the outside edge of the brake caliper bracket - and no more. When I originally installed, the left side rotor was tight against the outside edge of the caliper bracket - thus the front wheel could not turn without damage to the brake rotor (it would grind against the fixed caliper bracket). The right side had more space to begin with and was fine.
I orginially tried to spread the forks by using a wood 2 x 4 to tap between the forks and spread them - then tightened down the fork brace to keep the spread. Reinstalled the tire and went on a 2500 road trip. Bad idea. The bike kept drifting to the right and had a significant lean. When I returned home, I also noticed significant wear on the left side of the front tire (because of the lean and drift).
Read several posts about the Centramatics, and Buckhorn seemed to have the best answer. He said to use a Dremel and "grind" down the outside edge of the left caliper bracket. So I removed approx. 1mm of material from the caliper bracket, reinstalled the Centramatics, used the Honda feeler guage to make sure that I have the required .7mm gap - which I did, and everything is now fine.
I think Fred Harmon has indicated that the new Honda service manual no longer suggests / requires the .7mm gap. I have a 2007, and the Honda manual states that the .7mm gap is required. Honda also provided a .7mm feeler gauge as part of the GL1800 tool kit to measure that gap. So I can't speak if 2008 - later models have a "wider" caliper bracket gap where the rotor disc "floats" thru.
So if you're installing, and notice very little gap, keep in mind Buckhorn's suggestion.