Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech 02 America - Tools needed to get front wheel off?

OK, I'm terrible at using the search function and couldn't get what I needed there. Does anyone know what tools are needed to pull the front wheel off an '02 America? It looks like giant hex keys, but what size? Thanks for any insight.

12mm and 19mm hex. You can invert a standard 5/8" spark plug socket to sub for the 19 but you're going to want to buy a 12mm.

Hooray! Thanks Roadie!

Heres a thread with similar info: Remove front forks

I just did this last week. You need an 8mm hex to loosen the pinch bolts at the bottom of each fork. With the bike on the ground, loosen the ones on the right.(sitting on it right) Then with the 12mm hex bit socket (you really need this, the workarounds I have tried, don't work), you can free the axle nut on the right. (I ordered mine from Sears for less than 15 bucks) Then, with the bike still on the ground, loosen the pinch bolts on the left. Lift the bike up on your jack and you can slide the axle out. I bought a 19mm hex socket for the job and found I didn't really need it. I just reversed the process on the install and found with the pinch bolts tightened on the bike, the left side of the axle didn't need any counter pressure.

The link listed in the earlier post might have the same info, because I know I got mine from this forum.

Torque everything up, ride for a bit, then recheck the torque.

Ed, that's a cool bit of ingenuity you came up with. How many guys (not me of course) have failed to find a way to do something and the solution was lying right in front of them!

If you take a metric bolt with a 12 mm head put it in a vice, heat it up with a torch and bend the bolt 90 degrees with a piece of pipe you'll have a quick and easy home made allen wrench this works for most oversized allen heads as the larger sizes get pricey. If you don't have access to a torch, jam two nuts together on the threads of the bolt and tighten them against each other then use a wrench on the inside one to rotate the bolt.

I used the bolt method a few years ago and I keep them for that purpose. I heated mine and bent them.

Thanks for all the great tips guys. I ordered new tubes and tires last week and was planning on riding out to visit my buddy that lives about 100 miles away and swapping old for new in his garage. I pulled my girl out of the shed for some TLC and noticed the front was flat. Why couldn't my tube have waited another few weeks before dry rotting out at the stem?! Oh well, good thing I already had the necessary materials on the way!

The surgery was successful gents, thanks for all the help. I pulled the wheel, had my local motorcycle shop mount and balance the new rubber, and got it all put back together. I even survived the test ride!

The 5/8 spark plug socket idea was brilliant! I had to remove the little rubber sleeve that holds onto the sparkplug, and then re-insert it after, but it went great. Thanks again all!

P.S. My tube pinch bolts are actually 6mm. Did that change in later years? Mine is an '02.

Congratulations, Levi! The more ya do, the better it feels.