| Author | Message | ||
     Dktechguy112 |
I know there are a lot of threads on this, and I have been reading through them. But there doesn't seem to be a consistent opinion, some people say to remove the caliper, some people say to tape the spokes and leave the caliper on. Any advice for someone removing the front wheel for the first time? In one thread froggy said he took pictures, is there anyway i can get a link to those pictures? | ||
| Jdugger |
You ain't getting that front wheel off without dropping the caliper first. | ||
| Rogue_biker |
Lift front of bike, remove the caliper. I tried to remove front wheel without dropping the caliper...it was a royal PITA and your chances of scratching the wheel and caliper is greater than 90%. Do yourself a favor, remove the two bolts holding the caliper and remove it. YOu will thank yourself over and over! | ||
| Lastonetherebuys |
I pulled my wheels off this past weekend to have the tires swapped taking them off wasn't a problem jut had the front off the ground enough to fit my foot under to have my hands free to wiggle it around without supporting the weight of the wheel in my hands and out she slid. Going back on was more of a challange ended up just loosening the caliper bolts but found it easier than taking the caliper right off. It is a little finicky but when you hit the sweet spot it just slides off and same for back on. Used the marks on the back of the caliper to line up the spokes and didn't come close to touching the rim (Message edited by lastonetherebuys on May 06, 2011) | ||
| Levor |
I just unbolted the right fork tube side of the front fender and rotated the fork out of the way, caliper and all. Reverse for install. Easy peasy. | ||
| Froggy |
Pics are still on my camera, I'll get around to it tonight.  | ||
| Mountainstorm |
My mechanic said not to remove the caliper. That's a loctited, torqued stainless to aluminum connection. There is always a chance of the threads corroding and galling and stripping out. So the fewer times you screw with it the less likely you will be cursing a blue streak and running to the store for a helicoil. When you can remove the wheel easily by rotating the caliper out of the way it makes no sense to unbolt the caliper. | ||
| Jdugger |
Man, I really want to see this rotate maneuver. Given how tight the fit is between the caliper, wheel and exhaust I'm having a tough time imagining how it's easy at all. Not saying you don't have it down, I just want to see it. My solution is simply drop the caliper. I have a longer front brake line than stock, so it slides down on the wheel and makes it (relatively) easy to remove. As for the bolts comment... I dunno. It's not a stainless bolt that's in there stock, it's a grade 8 bolt that's been coated. I use a Ti bolt with a touch of anti-seize on it to prevent the galling, and use safety wire to make sure it won't back out. I probably have 100 front wheel swaps on this thing at this point, and that tells me as long as you are reasonable about servicing it, I don't think the worries about galling and corrosion are that pressing. (Message edited by jdugger on May 06, 2011) | ||
| Froggy |
+1, I don't see how it can be done, but I'd love to be proven wrong! | ||
| Levor |
The fork rotation is really simple once you slide the wheel free of the caliper. Lift and slide it back, line up the spokes so it'll slide free, rotate the right fork to bring the caliper out and boom you're done! | ||
| Jdugger |
> Lift and slide it back, line up the spokes so it'll slide free What I'm imagining in my head is pulling the axle after having rotated the front wheel to be in alignment, lifting the wheel as you describe, and then as I PUSH the front wheel to get it off the caliper it hits the exhaust. What's it worth to you to make a quick video of your gestures that pulls this trick off? Honestly, I think you are on to something a whole ton of us guys would really, really, really, really like to see. Even the service manual specifies dropping the caliper. | ||
| Dannybuell |
+1 Jdugger I want to see this as well. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Sounds like - turn the wheel to the left or right and it won't hit the exhaust. I pull my caliper to reduce chips on the wheel. | ||
| Pmjolly |
I recently tried this trick and could not get it to work. I had to take the caliper off. | ||
| Tsnake |
video please... | ||
| Mountainstorm |
Hmmm. I am a bit of YT •••••. And I do need to swap out the front pads. Maybe I can get a video up in a day or two. The first time I tried to get the front wheel off I didn't bother to read about it or ask anyone I just assumed I would be able to do it by looking at it and I was wrong. I eventually took the caliper off to remove the wheel. I managed to avoid any cosmetic damage. On the second attempt I simply lifted the bike with straps so it was a lot higher than before and I tried again to remove it without removing the caliper. I did get it out but I made a little scuff on the caliper from where I had to get the rim past it. The subject came up with my mechanic and he said just rotate the fork. It took me a second to realize that of course once the axle is out and the hub is out of contact with the lower the lower would rotate freely (it is, after all, just a tube inside a tube). Third tire change I tried it that way, without removing the fender, as you can imagine it was like torquing back a spring. But the wheel came out easily. I had to fight it because I was being toopid. Fourth time I finally figured it out and took off the fender from the caliper side and that released the spring like pressure I was fighting...like an idiot...and it was easy. The axle comes out as you support the wheel, the wheel moves back to get the caliper free from the rotor, the rotor is rotated out to let the rim pass and the wheel is brought out through the front. It helps to have the wheel just a bit off the ground (enough to roll out from under the front of the fender, as compared to jacked way up, at least for me, because that's less distance I have to worry about the wheel dropping once I pull the axle. With the fender loose, the wheel will push it out of the way as it comes out. | ||
| Levor |
I'll see what I can do.... I don't have stands anymore so I can't go out and do this for ya'll. Its a tight squeeze but absolutely doable. I should note that, if it makes any difference, I have an RT5 exhaust. | ||
| Pmjolly |
I have the same RT5 exhaust, and couldn't figure it out. I tried this trick after I heard about it here. I took the caliper off. | ||
| Mountainstorm |
I've got the rear end hoisted for a replacement rear tire today. Once I knock that out I'll hoist the front and do I quick tutorial on it. | ||
| Jdugger |
Levor, Are you using OEM rotor mounting hardware or Erik Buell Racing hardware? | ||
| 03fatboy |
I just did a tire change and tried to get the caliper off but couldn't get the leverage on it without going and buying a allen socket (I was lazy) so I took the front fender off turned the bar all the way to the right removed the axle and turned the fork lifted it up and back no problem caliper still on the fork. Installed the same way. Line up the spokes on the caliper, the manual even states as much. | ||
| Chessm |
though it can be done without doing it, another easy thing is to remove the front fender to give yourself more room to lift the wheel onto the caliper. and its not exactly hard to remove/install the front fender. | ||
| Catalan42 |
Ditto Chessm - Just remove the front fender, twist the bars a bit, line up the spokes/caliper, and the front goes on/off easy in a snap. |
