Questions on changing out front wheel 900 custom.

[spitfire9]

Hi all- I bought greeneyes82's '08 front wheel/tire/rotor from him this past week to replace mine (thanks, dude!), which is an '07 that the orig owner somehow completely destoyed the finish on. Somehow he stripped the clearcoat off, then the silver oxidized and went all gray and now I have black primer splotches.

Anyway, I will get the wheel Monday and I wanted to make sure I did this right. Basically my plan is to first loosen the big bolt. Then stand the bike upright and barely lift it, more like stabalize it with a large 3 ton hydraulic jack. I am aware of the swingarm grease fittings underneath so I'll be careful with that. Remove the brake caliper and maybe wiretie it up so it isn;t hanging it's weight on the line.
Now is the part I'm wondering about. Do you just take that big nut off and tap the bolt through to the other (rt) side and out? Thats what I think I need to do.

Lift bike just a tad and slip the wheel out and replace, reversing procedure, with last thing being reinstalling the brake caliper.

Sound right? Any tips/tricks or glaring problems with the plan? I don't have a bike lift and really would rather not mess with renting one, unless you guys think it's a necessity.

Also- I don't have a manual yet and was wondering how do you guys recommend keeping that finish looking good? I look at my rear wheel and it's all shiny and looks like wax would do fine, but I can't imagine what the heck happened to this front wheel. Looks like some kind of chemical damage.

The plus side of all of this is I'll have an extra front wheel to get beadblasted and chrome dipped in the future.

[RichLockyer]

Front axle clamp bolt - 15ft/lbs
Front axle nut - 79.7ft/lbs (I think "around 80" is good enough).
Caliper mounting bolts - 25ft/lbs

Get a proper lift that will allow you to strap the frame down, but even at that, keep the rear wheel on the ground. When you release the front rim, it's going to want to rise. If you use only a bottle jack or a regular car-style floor jack, you WILL drop the bike (don't ask me how I know this... trust me, get an ATV lift from Sears and tie it down!)

1 - Remove the caliper
2 - Lift the bike
3 - Loosen the pinch bolt
4 - Loosen the axle and slip it out.
5 - Remove wheel.
6 - Grease the bearing seal lips, and transfer the spacers from your wheel to the new one
7 - Slip the wheel back in, slide the axle into place, and torque. Remove the bike from the lift.
Do NOT tighten the pinch bolt yet.
8 - Reinstall the caliper.
9 - Move the bike up against a wall, and using your full weight, fully compress the front suspension "several" times (don't apply the brake).
10 - Torque the pinch bolt on the right fork leg.

Now... while it's up on the lift (before you even begin to pull the tire), you might want to check your steering head torque. With the bike on the lift and the front tire off the ground and the bars centered, GENTLY push each grip and allow the bars to fall to full lock.
If they slam to the locks, the steering head is too loose, which will result in poor handling and short bearing life.
If they don't reach the locks, the bearings are too tight.
They should also feel smooth and not "rough" or "notchy".
Grab the forks and pull them forward and backwards... should be tight with no "rocking".

[crazydave]

Just to add on thing to Rich's excellent list. A wooden dowel comes in handy for tapping the axle out, may not need it, but if you do it's cheap and won't hurt anything. Just get one a tad smaller then the axle and you're set.

[spitfire9]

Wow- thanks. I'll have to get an ATV lift I guess.

"You will drop the bike..."

Uhm, okay no asking, lol.

[RichLockyer]

Wow- thanks. I'll have to get an ATV lift I guess.

"You will drop the bike..."

Uhm, okay no asking, lol.

Fortunately, the pile of crap in my garage prevented any damage, but it also prevented me from getting in there for a proper "recovery" and it took me almost 1/2 hour to get it back up.

I had it on an ATV lift, but it wasn't strapped down.

The Sears lift is one of the better ones as it goes lower than the cheaper Goodyear and Harbor Freight lifts by about an inch. I've got a Costco Special that I paid about $70 for and it has to be "rocked" to get under the frame and engine case. The extra inch would be good, but if I could replace the wheels with wheels that are about 1/4" smaller the lift would still clear the floor and give me enough clearance.