Removing the Rear Wheel

Important Tip: Do not Press the brake pedal while your wheel is out. Otherwise you may have trouble getting the rotors back between the brake pads.

The Road Star's balance point--front to rear--is roughly under the engine's 'V'. Position your lift close enough to this point so as to maintain the bike's stability, and your safety, even when the rear wheel is removed.

Raise the lift to take most of the weight off the wheel. Leave a bit of weight on the tire -- approximately the weight of the tire and wheel. More on this later.

Have some rags handy to protect surfaces.

You must loosen the single, 14mm bolt that secures the rear brake caliper bracket to the lower swing arm, on the right side of the bike. See photo below. Actually, if you've got an oversize tire, you'll have to remove the bolt--or maybe the bracket and/or caliper.

Note: If you have permanently mounted saddlebags, or you feel it would be better to remove the rear fender to expose the rear wheel, do the following (in order):

• Remove the two upper bolts for the mud guard (the plastic, leading-edge piece of the rear fender). 10mm.
• Pull the two, rubber pieces covering the heads of the sub-frame bolts, under the seat, just rear of the battery.
• Remove those two sub-frame bolts. 14mm.
• Unplug the tail light wiring. It is found under the seat, just behind the battery-top, to the left side.
• Remove the nut from the sub-frame 'horn'. It is the big, long bolt at the rear of the area beneath the seat. Do not extract the bolt yet. 17mm.
• While having an assistant support the weight of the fender assembly, carefully extract the sub-frame 'horn' bolt, wiggle the fender assembly up and out of the bike, and set it somewhere cushioned and safe.

Then you just hold wrenches on both sides of the rear axle and unscrew the nut from the right side. The left-side (bolt) takes a 22mm wrench. The right-side (nut) takes a 27mm wrench. See photo below.

Tip: To protect the bolt's chrome, you can place a piece of clean cloth between the bolt and wrench.

Tip: Depending on what exhaust pipes you have, you may have to use a box wrench or open-end wrench on the right side. When I had stock pipes, and even when I had Bub Big Willy pipes, I only had room to use an open-end type wrench. I didn’t have a 27mm open-end wrench, so I used a good quality, adjustable, Crescent wrench.

If you've got someone to help you hold and support the wheel's weight as you extract the axle, raise the bike enough that the wheel clears the ground. Then have your assistant pull up on the wheel with steadily increasing force until you can easily extract the axle. Be careful to keep the bike steady on its lift.

If you are working solo, put the right amount of weight on the tire, and extract the axle bolt. If you have the right amount of weight on the tire, the axle should pull (or push) out without binding and little drag. Tip: You should be able to extract the axle using very little effort. If not, there may too much or too little weight on the tire. Adjust the lift up or down by tiny amounts, as needed, to be sure you can pull (or push) the axle out easily.

Safety Note: You must be able to extract the axle with very little binding/drag (effort). Failure to do so may result in any of the following:

• Sudden lurch of the bike as the axle is removed. This may create a shift of the bike on the lift, causing the bike to fall.
• Sudden drop of the wheel/tire as the axle is withdrawn. This may also scratch or break other parts.
• Damage to the axle threads as the axle is withdrawn. This may make it difficult or impossible to reinstall the axle.

All these conditions and consequences may result in pinched fingers, or worse bodily harm. Exercise caution.

As you remove the rear axle, keep track of several parts:

• A big, thick, chrome washer on the right side, under the axle nut.
• The alignment adjuster blocks on both sides. They'll fall out, unless you remove them before they do. These blocks are not identical, so note which is which.
• Metal, wheel, hub spacers that sit between the wheel hub and the swing arm.
• The rear drive pulley--yes, that great big pulley for the drive-belt. The pulley is only held on by rubber dampeners inside the wheel's left side. Be careful the pulley doesn't come loose and then jam into something as you try to work the wheel out.

From the bike’s left side, work the drive belt off the rear pulley. To do this, raise the lift higher and higher until the wheel assembly is low enough that the belt can be easily peeled off the pulley using your fingers. See photo below.

Then keep raising the lift to roll the tire out toward the rear of the bike.

Tip: Most hydraulic center lifts move the bike sideways as they are raised or lowered. You must also move your wheel a bit sideways to avoid binding your wheel on other bike parts.

Tip: Some lifts do not raise the bike high enough to roll the wheel free. In this case you can simply lean it over a bit as you roll it back.

Once the wheel is out, do not lay it on its side on a hard floor. This might damage a brake rotor, the pulley, or the hub. If you pull the pulley off the wheel, you can check the condition of the cush rubber dampeners, and clean the area. See photo below.

Unless you will be reinstalling your wheel right away, lower the lift enough to place the front tire back on the floor, if it is still on. Do anything and everything to reduce the risk of an accident. Ask yourself, "What if I slipped and fell against the bike? How easily could the bike fall?" If there are ways to improve safety, do them.

Tip: If your wheel will be off for more than an hour or two, be sure your lift's safety catch is enabled, if equipped. Some lift hydraulics will relax over time, resulting in the lift gradually settling down without your knowledge. I learned this the hard way when one morning I opened my garage door to discover my bike (a prior bike) laying on its right side, and the lift down!
If your lift is hydraulic, it should have several of these mechanical safety catch points. Be sure you enable the catch, and lower your lift into one of them.