If this were my first time pulling the axle on a motorcycle I would give up on anything that required pulling the rear wheel. Of course the service manual is a great resource I think the directions were loosen in order to remove. At any rate, I had the rear brake caliper loose, the upper belt gaurd off, the nut off the axle and the bike on a stand with the wheel just in contact with the ground to take the weight off. The axle would not budge. I tried raising and lowering the stand to increase or decrease the weight on the rear axle, no help. I finally took a 1/2 drive socket extension and placed it on the end of the axle shaft and tapped lightly to begin moving. The axle gave and began moving out. I then grabbed the end now protruding about 2 inches with a rag and pulled for all I was worth, and I am no weakling. Nothing. I wiggled and positioned the wheel to make sure there was no weight on the axle and nothing binding it up, all clear. Finally with the help of a neighbor we used a long extension he had already beaten up to tap the axle about another 4 inches before it finally came free. Can someone help me understand what was holding this axle in place. My prior experience with rear axles was that they were tight, but could be pulled by hand even with the wheel hanging on them. I kind of marked up the end of my axle shaft nothing bad, but I did not expect to meet this kind of resistance. Just a note this is the first time off for the rear axle, so maybe it was Mama Yama sticky grease??? <br><br>Post edited by: Crusierbob, at: 2007/07/06 13:33

Crusierbob wrote:
Just a note this is the first time off for the rear axle, so maybe it was Mama Yama sticky grease??? Post edited by: Crusierbob, at: 2007/07/06 13:33

I've pulled many Axles, typically it's a lack of grease that allows them to get a little rusty/oxidized and it turns a small job into a headache. Grease it up good and your next time around will be much more pleasant.BB

Ditto BB ..... grease that sucker up.

I've never had a problem removing the axle if there is no weight on the rear wheel. It should easily slip in and out.

When you put the nut back on the axle, only torque it to about 65 ft-lb or you'll strip the threads.

Doc

I put it back together today man is that 4 handed job. This was the first time off for the axle so the grease was whatever Yamaha put on when assembled. I put a nice coat of grease on all surfaces and hopefully will not have this issue the next time around. New tire looks great, too bad it started thundering just as I finished. Hope to ride it tomorrow.