The Wheels are Coming Off!

[nhchris]

Hey you wrenches,

I am pulling the wheels off my FJ to get some new Road 5s mounted.

Do you folks know of any gotchas or best practices for doing this?  Will parts fly in all directions once axels are removed?

OMG and what about the ABS? Any magic getting it working again when wheels are replaced?  

All advice appreciated and no offense taken for snarky responses;)

Also, what's the deal with the pinch bolt on the front fork?

cb

[betoney]

@nhchris - nothing tricky about removing the wheels but before you do anything on either wheel, remove the wheel speed sensor first and make sure it is clean when reinstalling.  

Make sure you have the necessary tools to remove the axle's, 14mm hex for the front and 27mm socket for the rear.  Nothing special about the axle pinch bolt, loosen it before removing the axle and tighten it last after reinstalling the axle.

One method I use is to install the front wheel, axle and brake calipers, tighten to spec and then lower the front end onto the floor.  Grab the handle bars and pump the forks several times and then tighten the axle pinch bolt, some say this will center the fork leg on the axle.  I am sure others use different methods.  YMMV. 

Removing and replacing the wheels isn't a difficult procedure, do it a few times and it will eventually become a 10 minute job.

[chitown]

What Betoney said.

The spacers are about as much fun as most bikes. 

Keep the sensors away from magnetic objects and don't let them get whacked. I usually use some painter's tape or similar to put them firmly out of the way.

If you haven't done wheel install on an ABS bike there are often locating posts for the spacer on the sensor side of the wheel to make sure it's in the correct position. These are pretty obvious on the FJ-09/Tracer models, not so much on older bikes. 

Like Betoney I've always pumped my fork legs before tightening the front axle to make sure nothing is binding. It's actually called out in the FJ-09 shop manual.

Some folks reported stripping the front sensor bolt early on. The manual says 5 point something ft -lb iirc (I don't use torque wrenches on wheel installs). 

Edited May 14, 2019 by chitown
typo

[Gregorius T]

I often will apply a bit of grease to each spacer, to keep them stuck in place, while pushing the axle back in.  

The trickiest part for me is getting the brake calipers slotted back in place.  One trick I do is to sit directly in front ( for front wheel install ) or in back ( for rear wheel install ), and jam my foot under the wheel.  I use my foot to jiggy the wheel up, and in place.  I then have both hands free, to muck with the brake calipers, and push the axle in place.  

I've never bothered removing the ABS sensors.  Those sensors are actually pretty damn tough, and as long as you're not a clumsy fingers, and banging the wheel around, the sensors should be fine.  If you think about it, those sensors operate in a pretty harsh environment.  Pebbles, road grit, bugs, and all manner of debris smacks into them.  That's just me, though.  I've removed my wheels several times now, and my sensors are just fine.

Make sure you loosen that front pinch bolt, before attempting to loosen the front axle.  I forgot to do that one time, and ended up bearing down fairly hard, to loosen the front axle, before realizing my mistake.  Fortunately, I didn't damage anything.

Edited May 14, 2019 by Gregorius T

[BBB]

2 hours ago, Gregorius T said:

The trickiest part for me is getting the brake calipers slotted back in place.  One trick I do is to sit directly in front ( for front wheel install ) or in back ( for rear wheel install ), and jam my foot under the wheel.  I use my foot to jiggy the wheel up, and in place.  I then have both hands free, to muck with the brake calipers, and push the axle in place.  

I install the wheel and then replace the calipers. If you spread the brake pads slightly this helps to get them back over the rotors. I would definitely remove the ABS sensors, they’re so easy to remove anyway.

[nhchris]

Thanks all, this is very helpful.

(I'm also gonna take a few pics before i turn wrenches so I can put everything back where it belongs!)

And with tire mounting prices nearing $!00 per wheel for a ride in, absolutely necessary!

cb

Edited May 15, 2019 by nhchris

[tktplz]

10 hours ago, nhchris said:

(I'm also gonna take a few pics before i turn wrenches so I can put everything back where it belongs!)

And easy to do. I do it all the time. Back in the old days....funny hearing me say that but anyway, back in the old days we would only disassemble 1 side of a drum brake system. That way you had 1 side to look at to put the side you took apart back together. That's why I use the camera so much now, even at work. It's so easy nowadays. 

[chitown]

On 5/14/2019 at 12:09 AM, BBB said:

I install the wheel and then replace the calipers. If you spread the brake pads slightly this helps to get them back over the rotors. I would definitely remove the ABS sensors, they’re so easy to remove anyway.

This. If I'm going to the trouble to yank the wheel I want to check brake pad wear and clean any crap from the sensors. The rear sensor in particular is pretty easy to hit with hard parts in ways road debris won't. Ymmv.  

[nhchris]

Wheels back on sporting new Road 5s.

I had my local KTM shop mount and bal the tires ($55 each) and the rims look perfect.

All went well and ABS light went out after a short roll.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions.

BTW: I bought the Road 5s on Amazon even cheaper than Cycle Gear had them. $200 for the rear and $145 for the front w free Prime shipping.

Edited June 6, 2019 by nhchris

[hawkeye]

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 12:04 PM, nhchris said:

Wheels back on sporting new Road 5s.

I had my local KTM shop mount and bal the tires ($55 each) and the rims look perfect.

All went well and ABS light went out after a short roll.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions.

BTW: I bought the Road 5s on Amazon even cheaper than Cycle Gear had them. $200 for the rear and $145 for the front w free Prime shipping.

The Road 5s are great, I think you'll be very happy with your choice 😎Glad to hear the dealer didn't scuff your rims, others haven't been so lucky.