First of all, relax. It's a very simple job, and once you've done it a couple of times, it will be completely painless. It's harder to explain how to do it than the actual job itself.

You should either tie your frame to the lift, or place another support under your front wheel, unless you're fortunate enough to have access to a lift table with a rear drop out. If you've got dual mufflers, you may have interference on the left side, where you will need to pull the axle out. If so, just unbolt the shocks (I remove the top bolts) so the swingarm can drop far enough. You might also need to remove or loosen the left saddlebag support.

If you've got a 08 or newer, you remove the brake caliper from the mounting support. this is a big improvement from the older bikes where you had to wrestle with the brake caliper on installation. Just lift it off the rotor and hang it out of the way with a zip tie.

When everything is out of the way, remove the clip from the right side, and take off the cone nut and adjuster. You want your bike lifted just enough to take all the load from the rear wheel, Pull the axle out from the left side, and the spacers will drop to the floor. Roll the wheel forward to loosen the drive belt, and raise the bike up off the wheel. The pulley bowl should stay attached, but it might fall off if the rubber elements are worn.

You'll get your own rhythm. Some guys will lift the bike just high enough to where they can support the wheel with their feet and reach up to pull the axle. I like to manipulate the bike with my jack, so I'm not having to physically lift the wheel into place. I will lift the bike up off the wheel on removal, and lower it back over the wheel on installation.

You may need to rap the right side of the axle with a rubber mallet. I use anti seize on the axle (grease with graphite mixed in), but you can just use grease if you don't have anti seize.

Installation is pretty much just the reverse, you'll need to be able to lift the wheel a little as you insert the axle. Set the caliper bracket into place on the right side. Stab the axle through the left side swingarm, the thin spacer, spacer, hub and wheel, and watch as it starts to exit the right side. Then slide the thick spacer into place, between the wheel and caliper bracket, push the axle through the lift side swingarm, and bolt it up loosely.

You can get the 30 dollar belt tension tool from Motion Pro, or tighten the belt by feel. Before you remove the wheel, twist the belt with your bare hands. You should be able to twist it about 45*. That's the correct tension. I don't often use my belt tension tool, just once in awhile to check the calibration of my hands.


Good on you for taking this on yourself. Too many guys are afraid to pick up a wrench to work on their bike, but I've always felt that doing your own service work is an essential part of ownership. You learn things about your ride that you can't learn any other way, and no one other than you will take as much care with your bike.

 

Skippy,

Ditto on the manual, marking your axle washers, taking off the mufflers. WD 40 helps, spray at the slide on connection

I use the motorcycle jack to lift the bike off the wheel, not a separate jack.

 

 

Remove the lower shock bolts and leave the mufflers intact.

 

For me, it's easier to use the motorcycle jack itself to control the wheel as it comes off the axle, but I'm strong enough just to reach around the fender and control it by hand.

I don't bother marking where the original position of the axle is, as it's extremely easy to simple do a new adjustment when everything comes back together. The OEM service manual gives good instructions on how to do that when the wheel is all the way off the ground, as it would be when the bike's on a jack. I also use the MoCo tool, not completely necessary I reckon, but I've found it to be more useful to use it.

Kind of hard to find a 36mm box end wrench around my parts, I use a 1 7/16" but it's not as tight as it should be...so I will get the right tool from George's Garage the next time I do this chore.

The suggestion for loosening the shocks rather than messing with the mufflers and bag mounts is something I will try next time, too...

Interesting thread, and more useful than most I see here, thanks for posting it...have got some good ideas from it.

 

If you have anti lock brakes watch the sensors

 

i'm all for saving money, but if you are planning on going to the dealer to have the tire installed anyway, why not check a couple of dealers in your area to see if any are running any tire specials? in the winter, sometimes my dealer will do a $1.00 tire installation if you buy the tire from them.

i like to tinker, but really, it's worth a buck to have the dealer do the whole she-bang... (arguably, depends if your dealer is worth a ****)

 

I removed the mufflers. Just made it easier to slide the axle in and out and also to get the torque wrench on it. Use WD-40 to get those mufflers off. Like other posters have said use anti seize, mark the axle cam tensioners, and block up the front wheel. Only thing I'll add is I use a helper to support the rear wheel when installing it. Make's it a little easier. All in all save the money and do it yourself.