Rear wheel removal
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2007
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My method is to raise the bike all the way on my Pitbull jack, remove left muffler (never tried disconnecting shocks), use special wrench (believe mine is a Pit Posse) along with a piece of pipe to loosen and remove axle nut. I use my floor jack with a regular saddle that has a depression in the middle to support the wheel. By just putting a bit of upward pressure on the wheel, the axle can be withdrawn from the left side easily. At this point I slide the wheel forward (easy, since it's on a floor jack) and lower it slightly to remove the belt. Also I finesse the rear caliper off both the rotor and the mounting point on the swingarm. Then I strap the caliper to the rear crash bar to prevent it from damaging the right muffler (old towel in position.)
At that point it's easy to remove the wheel by lowering it on the floor jack.
Yes, this is an easy time to replace the rear pads if needed, but I wouldn't throw away good brakes just to save the effort.
I have mixed feelings about replacing the muffler clamp (only the left one is removed the way I do it.) You really are supposed to do it, because the clamp stretches with its initial tightening. That said, I generally re-use them once. If you don't find any exhaust leak with the clamp properly torqued, then I call it OK.
When reinstalling the wheel and torquing the axle nut (after properly tensioning the belt), if you use the Pit Posse tool (or equivalent), note that so long as your torque wrench is exactly perpendicular to the tool, you can directly enter the desired torque value on the wrench (assuming you're using a clicker) or read it directly (from a beam-type wrench.) This is a bit awkward, but leaves your right muffler clamp intact.
I'd strongly recommend using the belt tension gauge. I do mark the axle cams with a dot to get an initial position, but it only takes a tiny difference in axle position to make a significant difference in belt tension.
At that point it's easy to remove the wheel by lowering it on the floor jack.
Yes, this is an easy time to replace the rear pads if needed, but I wouldn't throw away good brakes just to save the effort.
I have mixed feelings about replacing the muffler clamp (only the left one is removed the way I do it.) You really are supposed to do it, because the clamp stretches with its initial tightening. That said, I generally re-use them once. If you don't find any exhaust leak with the clamp properly torqued, then I call it OK.
When reinstalling the wheel and torquing the axle nut (after properly tensioning the belt), if you use the Pit Posse tool (or equivalent), note that so long as your torque wrench is exactly perpendicular to the tool, you can directly enter the desired torque value on the wrench (assuming you're using a clicker) or read it directly (from a beam-type wrench.) This is a bit awkward, but leaves your right muffler clamp intact.
I'd strongly recommend using the belt tension gauge. I do mark the axle cams with a dot to get an initial position, but it only takes a tiny difference in axle position to make a significant difference in belt tension.
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