Removing Both Wheels

[AdrianS]

Hi,

I have got to remove both wheels to have a set of tyres fitted.

How well balanced is the bike on the centre stand? Which way does it tend to tilt as it will have to be supported for a few hours?

Also, which is the wheel to remove first ??!!

Thanks for any advice

Adrian

[Airman]

Hi,

I have got to remove both wheels to have a set of tyres fitted.

How well balanced is the bike on the centre stand? Which way does it tend to tilt as it will have to be supported for a few hours?

Also, which is the wheel to remove first ??!!

Thanks for any advice

Adrian

It's really well balanced. I usually like to rest the front forks on a couple of phone books or something just for safety. The real safety item here is to put a strap from the exhaust crossover dwon to the center stand. If it does rock forward you don't want the center stand to unlock and cause a fallover. The back wheel in particular may require some wrestling and thumping with the rubber mallet because of rust around the hub. Another tip is to tape the inside of the front wheels to prevent damage when you remove the calipers. They fit real close.

[challey]

Adrian --

The R is really quite well-balanced and is basically "neutrally buoyant" when on the center stand(or since you're in Staffs, centre stand) however, I would never rely on that when the wheels are off.

When taking the wheels off, I'd suggest that you first secure the center stand so that you don't inadvertantly push the bike off the stand. I use a nylon strap from the stand to the balance tube but I'm sure there are a number of other successful ways to do this. I'm not sure that it really matters which wheel comes off first but I start with the rear. Once it's out, I slip a plastic crate under the FD housing. The front then comes off and I use another crate under the forks (shimmed with a strip of plywood). If you don't have plastic or wood crates lying around, you can either build something from some wood scraps or just nip around to the rear of your local Waitrose or Sainsbury's after closing time and borrow a couple of milk crates for a few hours.

I'm sure you know that you need to remove the brake calipers to get the front wheel off. It will facilitate reassembly to gently press the pads inward before putting the calipers back on. You actually don't need to remove the rear caliper to take the rear wheel off but you can't get it back on with the caliper still in place.

Charlie

[towerworker]

Charlie--

You can remove the rear wheel without removing the caliper? I've always removed the caliper prior to wheel removal---didn't think you could do it otherwise.

Wayne

[R4R&R]

Charlie--

You can remove the rear wheel without removing the caliper? I've always removed the caliper prior to wheel removal---didn't think you could do it otherwise.

Wayne

R1200R, maybe?

[dgates]

I learned the hard way.
Once upon a time...
I took the rear wheel off first, then when I was pulling the front wheel off the bike fell forward ontop of me and then on its side. Its was a bear to get it back upright without the wheels on for leverage. Be sure to brace the bike as suggested above.

[challey]

Wayne asked:

You can remove the rear wheel without removing the caliper?

To paraphrase our new President, "Yes you can!".
At least on my 2003 you can. But since you can't get the wheel back on with the caliper still in place, it's better to just remove it before you take the wheel off.

Charlie

[snowprick]

Wayne asked:

You can remove the rear wheel without removing the caliper?

To paraphrase our new President, "Yes you can!".
At least on my 2003 you can. But since you can't get the wheel back on with the caliper still in place, it's better to just remove it before you take the wheel off.

Charlie

+1.

[ALFREDO]

I allways place something like these two when removing the wheels (pictures from cocosweb.info), better safe than sorry.





VenVSS

[Sunbeemer]

+1 on all the great advice so far given, plus I would place a rag between the rear wheel and the inner swingarm pivot nut, as it is a very close fit to the rim and whilst working the wheel off its hub, could very likely (re: will) ding the rim.

[bikermeow]

Jack under the exhaust crossover is crucial for removing front wheel.

For removal of rear wheel, simply jack under the Y-pipe or cat.

cheers

[rdsmith3]

Do a search -- Cyclerob has a post on how to remove both wheels. I followed his advice and it worked well. Tips include: You want to kick your rear wheel loose before trying to take it off while it is jacked up. You also want to hang some weights from the front handlebars, such as milk jugs full of water.

[rdsmith3]

Here is the thread I mentioned above

http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9861