Installing the Front Wheel

First, clean all parts, as needed. Examine your two wheel hub spacers, the wheel bearing seals, and the axle bolt. All should appear in good condition and undamaged. Refer to the Road Star Service Manual for details.

Lubricate the lips of both wheel bearing seals, as well as the axle.

Now check your front tire. There is a rotation arrow somewhere on the sidewall. This represents the desired rotation direction of the tire. Orient your wheel so that this arrow will point forward when it is at the top of the tire.

Be sure the bike is lifted high enough for the tire to clear the leading edge of the front fender. Then roll the wheel back in. As you do this, be careful of the brake rotors. They can damage paint or chrome on themselves, the forks, or the brake calipers as you position the wheel. Use protective rags, as needed.

Next, slowly begin to lower the bike down over the wheel -- bit by bit. As you do this, test and retest the wheel, to be certain it is not binding. Especially check the wheel hub spacers. They can pop off or bind. See photo below.

As the bike is progressively lowered over the wheel, the installed brake caliper will approach its rotor -- assuming you left one caliper intact. Just wiggle and align the rotor in between the brake pads. See photo below.

Tip: If the pads will not easily spread enough to straddle the rotor, you can roll the wheel forward a little, and use one or two wooden shims between the brake pads. Wedge the pads apart just enough for the rotor to slide between them. See photo below.

Warning: Do not use a screwdriver or other ill suited tool to pry brake pads apart, as you may damage their braking surfaces (or worse).

Next, be sure you have the wheel hub spacers fully inserted into each side of the wheel. Then, as you continue to check for any binding, continue slowly lowering the forks over the wheel until the fork axle-hole aligns with the wheel axle-hole.

Now, slide the axle bolt back into the right fork axle-hole and through the wheel. Then screw the axle bolt back into the left-side fork. Torque the bolt to 56 ft-lbs using a 22mm wrench.

Tighten the pinch bolt on the lower, right fork. To do this, torque 14 ft-lbs using 6mm hex (allen) wrench.

Finally, reinstall the brake caliper(s) that you removed. To do this, first guide the brake pads to straddle the rotor. Then slide the caliper into position with the forks. See photo below. Torque the two bolts of each caliper to 29 ft-lbs using a 12mm wrench.

Double check your work. Wheels are important in keeping pavement off your skin.

Now, do two more things before riding:

• Squeeze the brake lever several times to get the brake pads back in position and the caliper cylinders full of brake fluid. Don't be alarmed if the lever initially feels weak or spongy. Just keep repeating until it feels normal.
• Check your tire pressure.