Rear wheel not turning properly

So, i heard a little about the "UJM" (Universal Japanese Motorcycle), which infers that many parts from different make motorcycles MAY be interchangeable with different bikes. Thus, i bought a '79 Suzuki gs550 rolling chassis for CHEAP and put the wheels on my '82 550. Turns out they were a pretty close match. Unfortunately, the tighter i turn the rear axle bolt, the less my rear wheel will spins freely. I don't know very much about wheel components so i was just wondering if anyone could give me a simple explanation as to how exactly this wheel is supposed to be working. My assumption is that the metal spacer i have in place (which i sort of machined to fit) is pressing against the bearing...? Is that possible? I haven't been able to dig into it yet. Thanks in advance!

Matt

While I'm not familiar to your wheel set up I do know that any amount of material tightend up on anything but the internal part of your bearings is not good. The spacer that you made is likely too large or crooked and is causing drag on the bearing. As well, are you sure your sprokets line up. The more you tighten up the wheel the more exagerated any misalignment wil be.

You were misled. The term UJM was not inferring that the parts from different brands were interchangeable; they are not (at least not without modification) and never were. It was referring to the fact that the big 4 Japanese bike companies each made multi-cylinder overhead cam bikes that had the same general layout and similar performance characteristics. Ed

Be careful. With that kind of assumption without a mechanical or engineering background can put a hurt on you big time. Swapping front end components, back ends or doing frame mods usually needs measurement and study. At least if you want a good shot to keep your butt off the pavement it does. These Universal Japanese Motorcycles are not plug and play and the term IS misleading. Glad you found out before you were on the road.