I am thinking about putting my new wheels on myself. I bought a service manual and the rear wheel removal states that you must remove the brake pads. Is this required? The front wheel seems pretty easy, but the back is a bit more involved. Any insight??

 

nope you do not have to remove the brake pads... you can just just pull out the rear axel (it will require some convincing) DO NOT ADJUST OR MESS WITH THE REAR SCREWS that is used to align your wheel... just unbolt pull that axel and remove the tire

 

One other word of caution...once you remove the wheels......DO NOT....depress your brake pedal......or on the front wheel.....your front brake lever......

Respects,
Ed

 

So you do not need to remove/disconnect the caliper. Isn't the caliper on the axle?

 

i put a little mark across the end of the axle and the swingarm on both sides before taking the wheel off so when i put it back on i knew ~where it was supposed to go back, still took some adjustments to get a bit of belt squeak out.

i had to release tension on the adjuster screws to get the belt loose enough to go over the pulley

 

To add a little bit to what Joe said, you should be able to just move the brake caliper assembly out of the way to remove the wheel. Just be very careful when removing it from the disc so nothing gets scraped, bent, or broken. I did this when I removed my rear wheel and it worked out fine. Also, if you are able to remove the wheel without changing the belt tension or the axle adjusters, you should be able to put it back on without having to adjust them. You should still check them per the manual though. You'll want to lift the bike up and support the back and front wheels before removing the shock bolts. Then lift the bike up further to let the swingarm drop - or remove the rear wheel support. You want the front wheel supported because the weight will shift to the front when you remove the rear wheel. Also, the rear axle may take some "persuasion" to come out. Before you put it back in, smear it with anti-sieze and it will go back in much easier and probably come back out later much easier.

One last tip - if you have a bike with rear passenger pegs, either remove the right side peg mount of remove your mufflers/pipes, because when you drop the shock bolts and the swing arm, the mount may come into contact with your pipes and do some damage. I don't remember the manual mentioning this but I'm glad someone warned me before I did it.

 

Novice at rear wheel removal, but I would assume you are going to have to adjust the belt deflection when you do this. Does this require a gauge?. Also seem like even if you don't touch the wheel adjuster,s you may have to adjust the alignment based on the wheel you are installing?

Thanks. I need to do this to install rear passenger pegs on a Street Bob debating on whether I can do it or should go to the shop.

 

Once you remove the axle, work the caliper up and off of the disc and pull it over out of the way. As someone else said, do not apply the brakes once you get that far.

 

No belt adjusting required. There was a thread here with pics.

[ol][*]Lift the bike[*]Loosen shock top bolts[*]Remove shock bottom bolts[*]Remove top belt guard[*]Remove the circlip from the axle[*]Remove the axle bolt - Slide axle out of swingarm[*]Lift rear brake caliper out of the way[*]Roll the wheel forward to slid belt from the pulley[*]Collect the axle spacers
[/ol]Reverse the process to reinstall. It really is simple. You've done the most important part in getting a service manual. It's kinda cool doing your own work.

 

I disconnected the hose from the caliper, and just pulledthe caliperoff when I pulled the axle out... made for having to bleed the brakes, but i didn't want to wrestle the tire past the caliper....I suppose if you deflate it though, you won't need to pull it off

and as far as adjustments go (alignment and belt deflection)...you shouldn't have to...but if you do, yes, you should use the deflection tool and take care of how far you rotate each of your adjustment screws (i put a black dot at 6pm on each of them and made a 90 degree measurement thingy for distance)...I had to adjust mine when I lowered my rear end with 440s...plus, the belt had stretched a bit so I needed to take up some slack...it was squeeking, wicked

post pics when you're done

Oh, and like someone else posted... don't go depressing brake levers or pedals when the wheels are off... otherwise, you'll find yourself rebuilding calipers or replacing them