Session 52: Removing wheels
Yesterday I removed the wheels from the RVF afterwork. It took me about 30 minutes but it wasn't too difficult. Haynes manual and Pitbull stands made it easy.
I started by taking the bike off the Baxley front wheel chock then using the Pitbull single sided stand to lift the rear wheel up - shove the stand pin into the hub tube and push the lever. Up she went. Removed the hub nut cotter pin using needle nose pliers to unbend the pin end and a mallet to help drive it out. Haynes says to thow it out but seems fine to me so I will I reuse it
.
Securing the rear wheel is a large 36mm nut. BTW there was supposed to be a plastic cap over the nut but mine was missing. I had nothing close to 36mm in metric or inch. Next I went looking for my largest adjustable wrench. Nope! Even my 12" Crescent was too tiny. Desperate to finish I dug around and found my plumber’s pipe wrench. I apologized to my baby in advance :laughing. (Edit* apparently I'm not the first to have used a pipe wrench on the nut. Forensic evidence submitted for your review).
Tranny in 6th gear to prevent the wheel from turning, wrench fitted snugly and parallel to the ground. And a push of maybe 15-20 pounds unscrewed the nut without incident or damage to the nut :thumbup. The nut unscrewed, a thin shim came off next and finally the cool looking finned spacer (finnned mostly to look cool I think) :rolleyes.
Pulled on the wheel and it slid off the hub revealing a view of the other side of the RVF's signature SSSA. Plus four prominent pins which couple the hub to the wheel. Cool! :thumbup
Moving to the front I placed the Pitbull “pin” stand in place and lifted the front end up. Unfortunately the stand directly blocks access to the front axle. Now why would they design it to do that I’m not sure - seems like a mistake if you ask me. Maybe that’s why the guy I bought them from had both styles to sell. The fork lifting Pitbull worked aces.
Haynes manual said to remove the two brake caliper bolts with a 12mm socket, slide the calipers off the rotors (required some prying and coaxing) and suspend the calipers using a bungie cord so as to not stress the hydraulic lines. No bungies handy I improvised a plastic grocery bag hanging from the handlebar grips -nice and cozy :thumbup.
Loosened the two pairs of bolts at the fork ends which clamp the axle.
Next loosen the bolt on the right side of the bike that was holding the axle together. I didn't have the correct 22mm socket but a 7/8” fit perfectly well (actually negligibly 0.25mm on the large side). It took a bit of force but came undone with my 18” socket handle. The manual then says to use the drilled hole on the left side of the axle and stuff a screw driver into the hole to help wiggle/work out the axle. I used a punch instead and wrangled the axle out buy turning back and forth while pulling. With the axle pulled pulled out the wheel dropped out the forks. Success!
A photo of the parts is shown basically the axle is a threaded rod into which a bolt threads into and clamps two spacers/bushings to the wheel thru hole. Note left and right spacers differ.
The wheel center has a pressed bearing on each side. I stuck my gloved index fingers into the axle hoke and spun the wheel. They were not smooth and felt rather notchy
. I may need to learn how to replace/service with wheel bearings. Better yet, I call Evolution tomorrow to get their feedback.
Fast forward to today. Called three places for estimates: Cal Moto in MV wanted $30 per wheel, Wrench Your Ride in Santa Clara charges $60 :wtf. Evolution Motorcycles (recommended by Whammy) @$20 seemed very reasonable and a Barf sponsor so they earned a try.
During lunch dropped off the wheels at Evolution. BTW if you buy tires from them it’s even cheaper (but I bet not as cheap as my stacked coupon ebay deal
). Other bonus surprise is they are only 10 minutes away from my work in Mountain View and it seems noon time is an amazing time for light traffic on 101.
I pick up my wheels tomorrow. I need to remember to call them in the morning and ask them to inspect the bearings.
Oh, anything else I should do while the wheels are off?