| Author | Message | ||
     Mountainstorm |
You asked for it...and I finally had time to do it. Hope it helps. | ||
| Methyman |
Great video. I have the pit bull stand which should make it easier. Great job, it is short and to the point. | ||
| D_adams |
One other thing that will help avoiding scratches, masking tape over the spokes. Maybe 4" or so at the outer end of the spoke, wrapped over it to cover both sides of each one. It makes it a little tighter fit, but acts as a buffer for the paint. Nice vid Rich, that should help a few people. | ||
| Dannybuell |
That was great! THX. | ||
| Jcjohnson33 |
Nice pants mountain, I have many just like them  But great video last time I removed my wheel I just removed the caliper. But this will make the next one quicker. Thx | ||
| Two_seasons |
Thank you for posting this video. I've saved it to Favorites. | ||
| Mountainstorm |
My pleasure guys. I needed to clean the pucks on the caliper--they were sticking and creating a very non-linear braking action. A little brake cleaner and a vibrating tooth brush removed the deposits and freed up the sticky pucks. It was not exactly a fun process...but it did return the action back to normal. As a side note, when I first pulled the wheel I found that the bearings were feeling notchy and made noise so I brought the wheel over to the Buell shop. I am on good terms with the guys there and they managed to get a pair of the new revision bearings installed before the end of their day. As usual I spent way too much time chewing the fat and never even looked at the wheel until I got it home. Much to my dismay the left side of the hub of the rim was beat to hell. I was really gutted. I called the SM immediately and he directed me to take some pictures and send them via email. As you can see in the video the non-rotor side of the wheel never comes in contact with the fork...even though I had to raise the bike another 2 inches to clear the castings for the caliper on the other side. I watched the video several times to reassure myself that I had not mangled the hub and I can see daylight between the fork and hub from the time I remove the axle. What a bummer. The SM assured me he would make it right...I am not sure what that means...but right now I have a beat to hell wheel. I am one sad panda. Then I took the bike out for a short ride to make sure I had serviced the brakes properly and that all was good. The damned belt broke. Talk about some bad luck. I ended up walking home...which happens to be wayyyyyyy up a mountain. I definitely got my exercise tonight. I thought a belt was supposed to last about 50K miles? I have about 30K on that one. So I got the bike onto the trailer and there she sits until I can scrape together enough to purchase a belt. Do you think the Buell shop will give me a replacement rim? Or am I expecting too much? Seems to me if Billy Bob found his chromed up rim on his bagger gouged and nicked after a bearing replacement he'd be fuming. What is it with motorcycle techs and Buells? Every tire change they nick up the rim...I never make a stink about that...I just mumble to myself and try and get over it. But this time the hub of the front wheel is gouged and scratched and scuffed all over. What the hell kind of process would cause that? A hydraulic press or something? Did they not use the right tooling? Talk to me! I am losing my MIND.   | ||
| Marcodesade |
Nice pants mountain, I have many just like them Yes, but do you wear YOUR camo fatigues with a tie-dye shirt?  Awesome vid. Thanks! | ||
| Froader4life |
mountain, it definitely looks like the block that the wheel was resting on as they pressed in the opposite side slipped. You can tell the scratch started on the far outside of the wheel, by the machined non painted flat part (where the blocks should have been), and they probably started to try to press in the bearing and didn't realize that the whole wheel was sliding off the block instead of the bearing pressing in. | ||
| Jcjohnson33 |
No I only wear mine while in uniform lol. But I do have some I made into shorts. Hey mountain do you have any other vids on u tube | ||
| Mountainstorm |
Thanks for the insight. The SM over at the Buell shop is a good guy. I've been dealing with them for 5+ years no problems. Best Buell service experience to date. I am sure that it'll work out. I just wish that belt was covered under the extended warranty. Probably won't be too bad installing one...I've not had to do that on the 1125r. It was a bit of a pain on the X1. | ||
| Zac4mac |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290 431/440981.html Mountain - see if that thread helps any. Took me just under an hour with tools I keep under the seat.' Should be able to do it in a half hour with a couple of practice runs. Z | ||
| Craigg |
I didn't have to remove my fender when I took mine off. I redid the brakes and replace front tire. I did remove the caliper though. Nice Video. | ||
| Catalan42 |
It's easier to remove the fender than the caliper....... | ||
| Duphuckincati |
This sorta makes me think about the little boxes with sliding panels that you have to know the secrets to opening them...you know, the kind made in China! (Just trying to stir things up) | ||
| Jdugger |
Thanks for doing this video! After watching it, I still think the easiest front wheel swap is still a longer front brake line and to drop the caliper, but this was an interesting thing to see and something I'd not expected was possible. | ||
| Mountainstorm |
The way I do it is the way my mechanic does it. Go figger. | ||
| Dannybuell |
Mountainstorm RE: the scarring on your wheel. I would confront very, very politely. If the dealer fails, polished or another color might be fun. Are there any other HD shops in your area? Is that the same mechanic that scarred your wheel? (Message edited by dannybuell on May 23, 2011) | ||
| Mountainstorm |
Nope, they only had one tech on duty Sunday, and he was not a trained Buell tech. My main man Keith would not have mangled my wheel. I might order some touch up paint from American Sport Bike. Like I told the SM at the dealership I'm not angry, just disappointed. I expect more from those guys. But things happen. On the bright side a friend here has put me in touch with a source for a new belt at a fair price and I hope to have it in hand soon. Gotta ride! I cannot stand it when my machine is "broken" it's almost a neurosis. Gotta love having friends. | ||
| Jdugger |
> The way I do it is the way my mechanic does it. It's pretty neat, I gotta admit. I have the wheels off the bike a LOT. I'm also often changing pads (about every 2-3 front tires) so I have to drop the caliper, anyway. Watching the video, I think your way is easier than dropping the caliper with a stock brake line. If you have the long front brake line, though, you can drop the whole wheel and the caliper will slide/rotate down to the bottom where it's very easy to then align and slide off. So, instead of a gesture like you did -- holding the wheel just right, up and lift to get it off, you just separately slide the caliper on and off the rotor with the wheel on the ground. The other thing to keep in mind is with the Erik Buell Racing rotor hardware, the rotor is held closer to the wheel, by around 1/8th inch or so. It doesn't sound like much, but the clearances are tight already, as you know. I'm still impressed... I would have never thought your way was even possible. Nice work, and a nice piece of knowledge to have well documented about our bikes. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Guess I should have stated - the link above shows a belt change with minimal tools. It was a "dry run" in my garage to see if I would be able to do it roadside. Beats the hell out of a belt change on a Road King... Glad for you that you have a good shop and good relationship. Zack | ||
| D_adams |
Friends are good to have on occasion... :-) | ||
| Mountainstorm |
Yep you are right Dean. And thanks again Zac. A tutorial can often be the difference between a one beer service stint and a six pack  . Jdug I change the pads with the caliper installed. Clean the pucks... the whole 9. Different strokes...as long as you can get r done it's really up to what makes your life easier. Having the caliper flopping around wasn't easier for me. I tried it when I could not get the wheel off the first time (did not know the trick yet). I've already got some scuffs on the "spokes" and the caliper from gravel getting tossed up as I travel up and down my lonnnnnng drive to the paved road. I try not to add any more. Man oh man I am getting antsy. Overnight on the belt isn't fast enough. Anyone got a jet I could borrow? | ||
| Johnny_corlano |
Yo Mountain, if HD replaces the rim they chewed up, i got dibbs on the old one! | ||
| Mountainstorm |
I can't see that happening. If they replace it they would want the damaged one and I don't think it's reasonable to replace it over simple cosmetic damage. Now a can of touch up paint would be nice. | ||
| Froggy |
I tried this today on my bike with stock exhaust, and it wasn't easy. The stocker gets in the way, and it probably would of been easier for me just to yank the caliper. I'll try it on my CR running a Keda pipe. | ||
| Oldmanriver |
I did this yesterday with my bike as the front tire was in dire need of replacement. I do have the barkers and had the front tire about two inches off the ground. At first I thought it wasn't going to work but once I found the sweet spot the tire and rotor slid right out of the caliper like butter. No scratches or damage, just have to be a little patient to find the right height, which only took a few seconds. I did also take off the fender. It is definitely easily doable. | ||
| Mountainstorm |
No scratches or damage. That's important I was pretty upset at first but now I just want to ride the bike. I can't see the front wheel hub when I am riding, just when I am washing. More riding, less washing. | ||
| Therealassmikeg |
I got similar scratches but not as bad when when I removed and reinstalled my front wheel...  | ||
| Mountainstorm |
Did you remove the caliper or just turn it out of the way? I inspect my wheels every time I wash the bike, which I did right before I made the video. There were no scuffs on the non-rotor side. I did scuff the rotor side a long time ago when I first tried getting the wheel off without removing the caliper and didn't think about turning the fork leg out. I ended up removing the caliper after much puzzling. I've had the rotor replaced, and numerous tires fitted (30K miles) and never had damage like that to the hub. The last time I had a tire fitted was at the same time I had the rotor replaced and I have pictures from that time I posted up here asking about how to reduce pulsation and chatter...turned out a new rotor was the only cure. I'm not terribly worried about the situation. Once the damage is done there's not much to do but touch it up as best as possible and move on. I do my best to keep the bike in good cosmetic condition, but it's ridden all the time...it's going to show some wear. I'll be bringing the wheel by the Buell shop in a day or two. I'm waiting on a tire to show up from Motorcycle Superstore. | ||
| Therealassmikeg |
I'm pretty sure I took the caliper off the fork, and had an extra set of hands to help.. Probably never would have thought to leave it on if I hadn't seen the video. As they say No good deed goes un-punished. It's always cool to see how other people solve the same problems differently... Thanks |
