| Author | Message | ||
     Leethestud |
Okee dokee guys and gals, I'm going to get myself a new front tire at cyclegear down the road. It's $150 install if I bring the whole bike and $20 install if I just bring the wheel. Obviously, I plan to get this wheel off myself. I don't have a jack or a lift. I do have a nice oak tree that will support at least 600lbs on the lowest branch (just tested it with 3 grown men). My plan... To use ratchet straps (rated at for the proper weight, of course) looped through the top crown the the fork to hoist the front end about 6" off the ground, to facilitate the removal of the wheel. Rear wheel and most of the load will remain on the ground. I also have a set of canyon dancers, that would make the cleanest lifting point but I am unsure of how much weight they and the clip ons can support. Has anyone ever done this / anything similar? Any advice? I'm a stubborn DIY guy so forget about paying someone or buying a $200 lift. Thanks. Assuming 400lb bike... rear wheel on the ground. I'll probably be lifting 200ish pounds plus whatever movement goes down trying to wrestle the wheel off. | ||
| Sprintst |
Either method will work. I did front forks back in the day using that method and the garage rafters The bars support twice the combined weight of the bike, the rider, the passenger and luggage, since on deceleration you can pull about 1G. So the bars will well take over 1000 lbs Either way works. Front wheel removal is pretty easy, and with stock exhaust there is no need to remove the caliper (Message edited by sprintst on October 23, 2012) | ||
| Chessm |
if youre not going to remove the brake caliper, taking off the front fender helps | ||
| Duphuckincati |
Yeah, if you remove the fender and move the wheel back towards the motor you rotate the caliper fork leg out once it's clear of the rotor and badda-boom badda-bing, Bob's yer uncle. Also, check with T-Rex stands company, they have a nice deal on front and rear stands, like $166 for both. http://t-rex-racing.com/catalog.php?item=203 | ||
| Chessm |
you can get by with just a cheap rear stand. use it to prop up the rear wheel and use a car jack under the muffler to lift the front wheel. i used to do this with a cheap harbor freight rear stand | ||
| Nuts4mc |
look at the back side of the caliper...the side toward the wheel - it has "slots" cast it to align with the "spokes" in the wheel - makes removal of the caliper a little easier...If I remember correctly the axle is left hand threaded ( I know the back axle is...) + remove the front fender, ++ T-rex stands....hope this helps | ||
| Reepicheep |
What Chess said. The tree thing is too complicated with too many ways things can go wrong. Get two jack stands, and a 18" piece of rebar small enough to go through the axle. Put the rebar through the axle you aren't removing, lift and support that wheel off the ground with the rebar on jack stands on either side, then jack up the muffler on the opposite end. Then just be careful. On the Uly, you don't even actually need the jack stands if you are careful. You make a three point stand from the wheel you aren't removing, the side stand, and the jack under the muffler. If the front tire is on the ground, use a strap on the brake. If the back wheel is down, leave it in gear. | ||
| No_rice |
i just put a jack under the muffler, and lean it on the kickstand. front or back. changed tires that way for years. | ||
| Leethestud |
Ok, exactly 1/2 way there... The tire is being mounted as we speak. This took about 15 minutes to set up, actual wheel removal.. maybe 3 or 4 minutes. Didn't need to remove the caliper and I only removed the caliper side screws from the fender to allow me to spin the fork tube. Oh yeah I took off the windshield to make room for the lifting point. Used some 10000lb rope from the boat, tied around the top crown. A nice metal hand jack with a braided steel cable looped around a 2x10 rafter in the garage. easy cheesy. The jack pictured (a 1 ton transmission jack, actually) is supporting most of the load while the wheel is off. I will have to move it out of the way to re-install  (Message edited by leethestud on October 25, 2012) (Message edited by leethestud on October 25, 2012) (Message edited by leethestud on October 25, 2012) | ||
| Kevmean |
A few pictures of my home made front stand on this UKBeg thread http://www.ukbeg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=156 14 This was originally made for my X1 and also worked on a friends Suzuki 500 twin which was actually the bike available for measurements :-) | ||
| Leethestud |
Success. With any luck I won't have to do it again for 6 or 7 thousand miles. BTW getting the wheel back on was much more difficult than getting it off, in my opinion. |
