| Author | Message | ||
     Andymnelson |
Alrighty, I'm about to change my tires for the first time on my XB. I bought the tires from a BadWebber, and plan to take the wheels off my bike and bring them in to have them mounted. I have always serviced my own bikes, and have no hesitation doing this...but I have not yet had the wheels off of my XB! I have a good set of stands and a service manual. Some questions for THOSE THAT HAVE DONE THIS (ahem, no "advice" from those that have only read about it please): 1) I assume that I need to remove the front rotor? 2) If yes to #1, I have read that the brake hardware should be replaced when removing the rotor- is this necessary? Is it a good idea? (pretty sure it's all original hardware with 14,000 miles on it) 3) I know that since I have the original '03 belt on my bike that I need to be careful not to apply any twisting or unnatural bending forces on it. Any special techniques that help this? 4) Any special hints or tips from the pros that my service manual won't give me? Perhaps we can move this to the KV once we get some satisfactory answers- I searched thoroughly and did not find any help on this. | ||
| Andymnelson |
Thanks, I understand all the opinions on the belt, but it hasn't let me down yet....I'll replace it when it's broken.  I'm not trying to be a punk, but let's not turn this thread into a debate over whether or not one should replace the belt. I'm not, but I do have questions as originally asked. Edit: I hope you didn't feel offended by this post. I certainly did not mean to do so. I appreciate your opinion on the belt replacement, and it is a very valid opinion! I just didn't want the following 12 posts to be "+1 on replacing the belt". :-p Hopefully no hard feelings. (Message edited by andymnelson on April 16, 2009) | ||
| Gowindward |
You can leave both the front and rear rotors in place. Use plenty of anti-sieze on the axles when you put everything back together. On threads, on surfaces that ride on the bearings..etc. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Manual has tolerances on pads, be a good time to check them. If you pull belt off the small pulley first, it makes it easier to get of the biggie. | ||
| Andymnelson |
Thanks Loren and Michael. Will the average shop be able to change the front with the rotor in place? | ||
| Blackm2 |
Take it to an HD dealer Andy. They should be set up to do all Buells. I just had my M2 done. Took the new tires, and the rims and they R&R'd for 75 bucks. You want to leave the rotors on for balancing purposes. | ||
| Andymnelson |
Yeah, I have a good HD/Buell dealer that I plan to take them to, not too worried about that part of the process...rather the removal and replacement of the wheels form the bike. "You want to leave the rotors on for balancing purposes" That's the words I needed to hear! Duh, I didn't think about that! :-p | ||
| Gowindward |
"Will the average shop be able to change the front with the rotor in place?" I change my own tires, so do not know about the average shop, but it is just a tire change and not anything special that I know about and I have change a lot of tires on my 12R. She has over 40K on her. | ||
| Sloppy |
If you're having problems with your pants falling down then you really should change your belt. | ||
| Blacklightning |
+1 ON THE PANTS. Sorry andy, lol  | ||
| Andymnelson |
+1 on except maybe  instead. | ||
| Andymnelson |
And my pants are fine, so no belt change for me! | ||
| Fireboltwillie |
i just did my rear,and a year ago did both. i found that unbolting the brake calipers fron and rear make getting the wheel off easier. the rotors can stay on. as for the rear, after the caliper is off and supported off to the side, loosen the pinch bolts, remove the axle. i had enough play with the axle removed to get the belt off of the rear sprocket. no twisting/no worries. you will see that the axle has a big tapered section to it. when remounting, get the wheel in place with the belt on the sprocket. insert the axle (it won't be perfectly centered at first) and install the axle. as the tapered part of the axle contacts the wheel, it will pull it into place. sort or like the lug nuts on a car wheel. | ||
| Reepicheep |
It's probably not in the knowledge vault because the factory service manual has such a clear and straightforward description... No need to remove any rotors. Most shops should be able to handle it, but the rear wheel on the Buells is really wide at the axle (due to the wide rear tire and the pulley), so some shops may not be able to fit it on their balancer. My rims chip *really* easy. I was mad at my dealer for hacking them up until I did a few of my own changes. No matter how careful I was, I chipped up the powder coat as well. For what that's worth... | ||
| Andymnelson |
"It's probably not in the knowledge vault because the factory service manual has such a clear and straightforward description... " I understand this, my question specifically asked for "Any special hints or tips from the pros that my service manual won't give me". Thanks for your input. | ||
| Saratoga |
I just bought tires... HD dealer wanted $176 to mount/balance- 80 front and 96 rear. Did not buy tires from them. No, rotors do not have to come off. Rim clamp (aka Coates) machines do not interfere with them. Pulley may have to be removed because it is too wide for some shops' balancing machines (it did in my case). I took off the tensioner completely when removing the wheels. Yes it took extra time, but I didn't have to fight with the belt at all. (Message edited by saratoga on April 16, 2009) | ||
| Al_lighton |
Most of the stuff has been covered here...but one thing I haven't seen that is VERY important is that you should absolutely follow the torque specs in the manual on both axles. Overtorquing the axles is probably the single biggest cause of bearing failures. Other things: 1) It's right there on the fork end, but the front is LEFT HAND THREAD!!! 2) The 03 manual doesn't say this, the 06+ manuals do: when torquing the axles, bring them up to torque, back them off a couple turns, then retorque them. 3) It was already written here, but use LOTS of antiseize on the axle threads and where they contact the bearings. Once they seize in there, it's bad tiki. 4) I used to spoon on my own tires without a tire changing machine, got tired of doing this on my small fleet of bikes, so I bought a real tire changing machine. If the shop has a motorcycle tire machine with taller clamps, there is no issue with rotors or pulleys and no reason to take them off the wheels. 5) EVERY time you remove the wheels, hang the bearings on your thumbs and spin the wheel. The grease in the bearings will keep it from spinning exceptionally freely, but, there should be no rough spots in the rotation. If the bearings feel notchy as the wheel spins, the bearings are on their last legs. If you run them long like this, they will go totally bad and the outer races will spin in the wheel bores and you will throw your wheel in the trash. You want to catch a bearing going bad BEFORE this happens, so check them every time your wheels are off the bike. Al | ||
| Groffxb9r |
remove the belt pully as well it will give you more free play to take it of the rear sproket. take off both calipers you will need to to make clearence for the tire. as far as tires i couldn't be happier with the life and performance i get with michelin pilot power ct dual compound. i have 8k on the rear and have 2k left. many small burnouts on it as well. a bit pricey but i wont run any other tire again | ||
| Andymnelson |
Thanks Al and Jarod, just the kind of advice I was hoping for- I love BadWeb! | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Re: taking it to dealer. Check what the dealer charges before leaving bike with them. It's already a topic on other threads. Not all are going to charge $75 for the process. Mine was going to about $250. I found somebody who did it for $60. (BTW, not a cheapie, he has a small race shop with a great reputation.) | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Al Lighton: Thanks for the note on checking bearings. The main reason I didn't leave it with the dealer shop was the suggestion of bearing replacement. They said it might be necessary and, of course, I wouldn't be there to check for myself. In all my years of racing mx, I might have changed one bearing. I couldn't see that my 9R would need any. Bit heavy on the thumb but good guidelines for checking bearings. | ||
| Andymnelson |
I have a dealer here that charges $25 per tire plus fees....about $32 total per tire, when brought in off the bike. Not great, but not bad either. When I called, he was excited that I had a Buell to be worked on, and reminded me to be sure to leave the rotors and sprocket on for balancing- good sign for sure! | ||
| Sslowmo |
You would have to buy New hardware for the mounting of the rotors. There not cheap and there is NO reason to take them off the wheels just for a tire change. Save your money and buy something cool, Like a camera to mount on the bike.... | ||
| Irideabuell |
Check to see if you have a Cycle Gear shop near you. They have competitively priced tires and will mount and balance tires for you for $30 if you don't buy from them. They also offer road hazard insurance for $19.99 a tire if you buy from them that will cover the replacement of your tire if it's punctured or cut. I'm about to use that service as I just walked out to find my rear tire flat after my last ride. I'd much rather pay the $20 and perhaps a little prorata if it's got more than 25% of the usable tread gone than replace the $150 tire. | ||
| Andymnelson |
Irideabuell: I already had tires, just needed to mount em up. Also, already had someone to mount them, was just looking for tips on the removal/install of the wheels. And, I'm done Thanks to those who provided their expertise. Seriously, only took about 20 minutes to them off, 20 minutes to install and that includes time to get the bike on and off the stands and torque things to proper specs! Thanks again to all. |
