Rear wheel removal & replace (new tire).

Well, I was planning on doing this using the new Sears bike lift but could not coordinate the timing with my buddy at his shop so I went to plan "B". I don't have great facilities to work on the bike but at least there is a roof over the shed where I put it to sleep at night so that's where most of my work takes place.

The centerstand has worked well for other small maintanence issues & for cleaning the beast so I am very comfortable with it. I added a few slats of wood under the stand to "hopefully" provide enough lift to get the tire out from under the fender but to no avail. I did need to remove the rear fender & the manual states to trace the tail light & signal light wires to their respective connections under the right side cover & unplug them if the fender is to be removed. Upon close inspection, I noticed the wires are slipped under little fingers along the underside of the fender so I slipped them out of the fingers and gained enough wire length to work the fender down from the bike frame, twist it a little & get it "up" so I could set it on the frame across the seat area (see photos & loose wires). NOTE: I removed the fender only after I figured I could not get the tire/wheel out from underneath, even couldn't get it out after the brake disc was removed trying to buy more clearance. The brake disc is most likely going to need remove so the tire changing process can happen anyway.

Wasn't too bad. The worst part was getting the torque reaction bolt (which prevents the brake caliper carrier from moving) out of it's slot. I could not get enough torque with the 14mm 12 point wrench I had (I had not removed the pipes on the right side which most likely would have provided better access and I could have used a socket) so I held it on the bolt head & wacked it with a BMFH a few times & the shock broke the thread lock compound loose. It was still tight but would turn with effort. On the way back home from getting the new tire mounted I stopped by Sears & purchase a 6 point 14mm wrench, seeing the slight damage I had done to the bolt head with the 12 point & hammer application. All went well & I was able to clean the underside of the rear fender & the swingarm area very well before reinstallation of the wheel. New high quality Mobil grease on everything as necessary. I'll need to be certain to check the tightness of all fasteners involved with this process before mounting up to ride to Sturgis, and periodically during the long ride.

Just wanted to "Share the Experience"

See ya.

Rusty:

We need a play by play on Tomo's changing expertise....Is he professional with a tire machine or just run of the mill?

Was there lots of grunge up under there before you cleaned it?

Finally, I'm presuming the through bolt is stuck in the final drive housing for reference and you did lube the 'splines' on the mating flanges before putting the wheel/tire back on the final drive mating flange?

Good Shots Rusty

Just out of curiosity did you need rear brake pads?

It didn't go well Flip. The Metzler kept collapsing back onto the bead because the sidewalls are so thin and flimsy which made it impossible to clamp the wheel on the inside of the rim. The way we did it ended up leaving some marks on his rims which I feel bad about. In retrospect the thing to do would have been to cut the Metzler off and then clamp up the rim as I had originally wanted to. I may make some spacers to hold the bead away from the rim after using the bead breaker so I can clamp the rim from the inside.

And wouldn't you know... it had to be the muggiest day I think I've seen I quite a few years. It was just absolutely miserable and there was no air moving whatsoever. That's why we are flyover....

Tom

Dammet Tom,I wanted Flipper to try It himself.Now you,ve probably scared him out of trying It. No one can believe what a ***** It is.. Jack

Tomo:

Maybe that's why the bike shops charge so much to replace the Metz. Sounds like a lot of grunt work. If you remember, Gunshots cut his off with a Metabo. It would be nice to have a circumferentially split rim but then you'd need a tube type tire because the split rim would never be leak free.

Sounds like you got home and took a shower and changed clothes.

It may be becoming obvious why I tipped the guy that changed mine $20.00. I just hate saying "I told ya so"

Sometimes I agree with doing your own wrenchin' but... when it comes to tires, my dealer (Kingsport Cycle) does the job for $35! I stand there drinking a cold Pepsi while the mechanics do all the sweating. Worth every penny!!!

R3 Rear tire bolt

I'm new to the forum. I hope I have posted in the correct place !

I recently had the rear tire changed and was charged $25 for a bolt ((BOLT, HHF, M18A1). The dealership told me this bolt always needed replaced, "every time" the rear tire was changed.

Any truth to this?
Thanks,
John

mtnman said:

Sometimes I agree with doing your own wrenchin' but... when it comes to tires, my dealer (Kingsport Cycle) does the job for $35! I stand there drinking a cold Pepsi while the mechanics do all the sweating. Worth every penny!!!

Click to expand...

I'm with you on this one. When I was younger, and didn't have the $$ I do now, I did all the work myself. Oil changes, landscaping, plumbing, carpentry, electrical. My time is a lot more valuable now. Don't get me wrong--I'm still a cheapo! But I calculate the value of my time now.

For example, I recently ditched my old Metz, bought Dunlop E3s off the net (about 65% off), brought them to a local MC tire guy, and had him change front and rear while I ate breakfast with the wife nearby.

I recall paying $40 for the front and $70 for the rear, and that was money well-spent.

The tire change was still about half the price of new Metz at the Dealer ($335 vs $650).

I "could" have bought the tire changing equipment and spent most of the day doing it myself, but I went for a ride instead.

Am I way off base here?