Rear wheel off easy, hard to put on. Help.

supersport · #1 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 04:30 PM

I pulled the rear wheel for a new tire and I also put on new front and rear sprocket. I'm have a fitting issue getting the wheel back on. I put the flanged spacer on the left side. I get the caliper to fit in the swingarm slot, and when I lift the wheel to align the axle holes, the right spacer butts against the caliper at the axle hole. What did I do wrong? Do I need to spread the swingarms? Embarrassed to have such a lame problem, but I know the answer is in this forum.

Deton8d · #2 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 05:14 PM

Its a pain in the ass sometimes..

What I do is leave the caliper hanging outside of the swingarm at first, put the wheel in and mount the chain, then shove the axle through the wheel so its almost out the other side.. then I grab the wheel itself, hold it straight and slide the caliper in its place. The rubber brake line has enough slack in it so you can pull the caliper all the way back to get the alignment tab in its slot.. then just shove the caliper forward and slide the axle through. If the cush drive/sprocket starts falling out you may have to push the wheel to your left to get it all shoved back in place before the caliper will slide into its spot. And don't have the left side spacer block in its place on the swingarm until the axle is through the caliper on the other side, that will give you a little more chain slack to wiggle things around to get them to line up. Thats how I've been doing it..

My buddies who have bikes that don't have enough slack in their rear brakes to do it the way I do it have been flipping their axle around so they can put their rear brake caliper in place and have the axle hold the caliper steady while they put their rear wheel in position. I tried it once, I didn't really like it but my buddies swear by it..

WERA 31 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 05:16 PM

Is the sproket carrier all the way in the cush drive assy.? I usually spray a little lubricant on the rubber stoppers just to make sure the carrier goes in all the way.

I've never had to spread my swingarm, or anything else like that.

Just Riding Along · #4 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 05:55 PM

Have the axle "hanging off the chain side. Find a socket or something similar to locate the hanger, when you feed the axle through it'll bump out.

If you're changing a lot of wheels get a block of wood and split it diagonally to act as a lift for the wheel. I think you're just canting it sideways as you try to do 3 things at once. The sliding wedge will let you boost the wheel up till it's just about dead even with the axle and focus on sliding it all through straight. If you didn't have to spread anything to get the wheel out then you don't need to spread it to get it back in.

Now you did say you swapped gearing too, and that might mean a longer chain now. Or it could be just like Wera 31 said and the carrier has wormed its way out a bit. You can just push it back by hand.

RC-IZ · #5 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 06:50 PM

This can be a bitch sometimes...

I usually leave the caliper in the correct spot, slide the wheel far enough forward to get the chain on, then sit facing the clutch-side of the rear wheel, with both feet supporting the front and rear of the tire (instead of the block of wood mentioned above-GREAT IDEA) then you can lift the wheel with your feet, use one hand to make sure the spacer clears and the other to push the axle thru...

its one of those things that either goes so smooth you don't even think about it or you have to call a friend to patch the hole in your garage from the wrench you threw.

Keep working with it and DO NOT SPREAD THE SWING ARM!

superbike2001 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 07:49 PM

I have done it many tims and also many times in one day! Ever time, it was different and sometimes it was easy and other a royal PITA

Rookie · #7 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 07:57 PM

I never have a problem

backlash · #8 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbike2001

I have done it many tims and also many times in one day! Ever time, it was different and sometimes it was easy and other a royal PITA

I try not to do it more than once a day

I use the "put something under the wheel" trick. I have two drill bit cases that raise the tire to almost be perfect. Sometimes that damn rear caliper gets the best of me though

superbike2001 · #9 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by backlash

I try not to do it more than once a day

I use the "put something under the wheel" trick. I have two drill bit cases that raise the tire to almost be perfect. Sometimes that damn rear caliper gets the best of me though

At the track... Rain... no rain... rain.... no rain ! aww **** it just ride with rains on man! (Rookie)

Rookie · #10 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbike2001

At the track... Rain... no rain... rain.... no rain ! aww **** it just ride with rains on man! (Rookie)

I want to be like Dave and ride Slicks on a wet track

supersport · #11 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 10:40 PM

I put your ideas together and got the wheel on by myself in about 30 seconds . Serious. The wood as a ramp helped, and a big tip was to slide the caliper in last. The manual says to put the caliper in first, but that takes another arm. Thanks to your help I can now get one more ride on the RC before winter hits in Wisconsin this week!