Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Removing front wheel

Ok guys, looks pretty straight forward, but I am wondering what size socket/allen head I'll need, and also if there are any gremlins I should watch out for? Also, should I have any grease or anything handy too? Thanks in advance.

Benny

It is pretty straightforward, I found it easier by removing the brake calipers from the caliper mounts, but I think you can get by without it; The pinch bolts need a 7mm hex bit socket, the axle cover nut (right hand fork side) is a 12mm hex bit (available at Autozone, Sears, etc), the axle fitting (Left hand fork side) is a 19mm, which you will probably not be able to find, I ended up using a bolt (that a 19mm socket would fit onto) with two nuts of the same size torqued together to make a locknut. Reassembly is pretty standard, you really only need to worry about mounting the speedo hub so that it is up against the vertical buttress casting (prevents the speedo hub from moving around and tensioning the cable), and then coaxing the calipers back onto the rotors. The torque value to put onto the 12mm axle cover nut is 44.2 ft-lbs, and the pinch bolts need to be set to 15 ft-lbs. Let us know if there's anything else you need!

you can use a spark plug socket reversed and held with a
pair of vise grips on the left side it will fit the large allen opening. someone on the site told me about this and it works. I found it harder to get the wheel back on than it was getting it off.

Cool thanks guys. I'll let you know if there's anything else...

Pretty certain the pinch bolts are a 5mm or 6mm hex, not a 7mm. I found that I didn't need anything in the 19mm side of the axle, the 12mm side torqued up fine without the 19mm side having to be held. A little bit of grease on the spindle and spacers wouldn't hurt.

If you search back thru the archives you will find a lot of info on front wheel removal. When I did mine I got a lot of replies to my questions.

Some pics. . .



Front Axle Removal 12mm Hex Drive Socket

Front speedo cable protection while wheel is off

You will notice that the front brake caliper is still mounted. I removed it before I re-installed the front wheel. Having a friend assist will make things easier. Like lowering the bike for axle alignments and such.

Sorry to rehash an old subject guys (can you tell I'm working on my bike every chance I get?) But what order do I remove things? 6mm bolts, then the 12 mm then slide the axel out?

Yes just loosen the 6mm bolts no need to remove and take the
axle nut off. My axle nut was SUPER tight! I was bending the
12mm allen wrench I was using with a cheater over it. I would
say it was a lot tighter than the 44ft/lbs it is supposed
to be. The axle spacer on the right side also needs to be
in place as you slide the wheel back up between the forks.

Thanks TC, that's my saturday project...

Hey TC, got my wheel off yesterday. Ended up using the handle to my bike jack as a breaker bar on the allen key. Definitly tight!! Also had the extra bolt with 19mm head just in case but didn't need it. All in all an easy job. Just like to double check on critical parts! Thanks again.