How do you remove the rear wheel without 'touching the adjusters'?

 

Check the Factory Service Manual, I am confident that it states after wheel installation check the belt tension. If so, they owe it to you.

 

A new tire swap can be a simple "put it on the same way it came off."
Sounds like THAT is what you got.
However if the dealer adjusts the belt tension that WILL require a rear wheel alignment.
Why?
Because once the dealer touches your belt adjusters he OWNS your alignment and any unusual tire wear "because the dealer TOUCHED the adjusters and ruined my TIRE."
For THAT your dealer wants some more money.
If I was a dealer I would have ASKED YOU BEFORE THE JOB---"do you want us to perform a rear wheel alignment and belt adjustment or just assume your current alignment is OK?"
"If you don't want it sign here that we are not responsible for bad tire wear."
Your dealer did a poor job of managing customer expectations.
Nobody is perfect.
If you don't like your dealer now then he lost a customer over a stupid lack of communication.

 

lmbo...sound like the stealer. Let me guess, you have stock/dividends? Too funny. You are correct about one thing, I will ask next time if they do it correctly and check the belt tension and alignment.

 

For all of you who say the dealer does not touch the adjusters when changing tire - how do you get enough slack on belt to remove from pulley without loosening the adjusters and pushing the wheel forward? Please share - I have had my rear wheel off probably ten times and always have to adjust the belt every time and align rear wheel. I do have a phatail swingarm, but adjusters have to be almost the same.

Sounds like Dealer BS to me.

 

Pure dealer BS, no doubt about it.

 

I do my own tire changes although, I'll admit, on the RG its a little extra work.
I always move my adjusters to full slop or it's hard on the threads when pushing the axle through the frame.

I make damn sure the belt tracks straight in the pulley and in the middle, never to one side or the other, then I know I got it right.

 

Easy to do without touching adjusters. When you remove the axle nut, just push the axle in about an inch until the small part of axle is now in front of both adjusters. (On exhaust side far enough that the large washer is past the adjuster.) Push the wheel forward and remove the belt.

 

Sorry if I sound like your "stealer."

But if you read your own original post YOU said the dealer put the wheel back on your bike and mentioned to you that your belt was out of spec which means you need an alignment.

There is NO "do it correctly" about a tire change.

Looking at the wear pattern on the old tire might lead to questions about alignment, swing arm bushing condition, wheel bearing condition, front fork bearing condition and on and on.

A technician that cares to do a good job will be interested in more that popping a new tire on and sending you out the door.

But WHERE to draw the line and simply "do what the customer wants done?"

You CAN put a new tire back on without re-doing the alignment and adjusting the belt.

As others have noted there are tricks to do this without even touching the adjusters. OR you can simply note where the adjuster marks are and put it back using those same reference points WITHOUT re-doing the alignment.

And once you adjust the belt after a tire change you don't HAVE to check the two tires are tracking together in the same direction which takes time and tools and a road check. But it would be NICE if you did.

Some guys simply just check to see the belt is riding nicely centered in the pulley and say "this wheel is now aligned."

If I did your bike alignment I would use a tension tool to check belt deflection, a couple of long straight edges to check tires are centered with each other AND then perform a ride check looking for any alignment improvement "feel" to improve the bikes "on center" tracking. Then I would check my straight edge measurements and see if any discrepancy can be explained between how it feels on the road and how the alignment looks on paper.

I would also check the bearings while I am in there as this is a great time to get ahead of problems by nosing around a bit.

All that takes time and money and of course APPROVAL by you---the guy paying the bill.

I am pretty good at this but the above usually takes me at least one more hour than simply swapping the wheel and using the "old" adjustmets as "good enough."

Don't shoot the messanger.

Oh and NO I don't own stock in your dealership.

I was in customer service for over 30 years and can see how dumb the service writers can mess up explaining things to a customer.

You are proof that the dealer made you an unhappy guy and that is a shame.

But look at the bright side.

One of the earlier comments said his Indy DID adjust the belt but left it too tight. THAT can tear up the transmission bearing and blow a belt prematurely.

At least YOUR guy just did a tire change and didn't ruin anything while he was in there.

Last time I had a dealer do a tire change on a truly stubborn oversize monster tire the technician gave me an unsecured tire valve which promptly fell INTO the tire when I stopped riding right after I took her up to 100mph to see how she felt.

It could have killed me. Oops, he said.

 

Pull the wheel yourself to have tire installed....adjust the belt yourself. It's not rocket science.