Sorry if I repeat too much, did not read all posts.
I had (have-ish) an '86 454. Squaring the rear wheel should fix the problem. I had the same problem on two bikes with belt drives.
You might have to play with getting the wheel square, the markings are not 100% accurate. Also, if you need to losen the axle, it takes a big wrench. 1 and 3/4" if I remember correctly. It is a huge nut, and about the only standard one on the bike. The opposite side is metric (22mm, perhaps?). You might check this forum out, as it is all 454 riders: http://www.thegreatwhiteknight.com/
BTW: My site has a cool 454 logo I made (humble, as always
) at http://www.geocities.com/steimle4/. It is a PNG image, so best viewed in a Mozilla browser.--Dave