So Phil arrived about 0930 and we got started right away. We decide to remove the exhaust system but not the rear fender as I put his bike on my lift. The Exhaust came off with out too much grief and only had a little issue with the top rear exhaust shield bolt. The key to that is remove the middle mounting bolt and then the rear exhaust mounting bolt so as to be able to let the exhaust hang down from the foot peg stay. This gives you room to remove the rear top exhaust shield bolt with out too much trouble. Remove the shield then loosen the two front exhaust clamps. Make sure you coat the exhaust mounting and clamp bolts with the anti-seize compound. Don't forget to undo the O2 senor plug under the right side cover, the cable is held in place by a small plastic clip. You can see it by looking through the bike frame from the left side of the bike.(thank goodness for the lift)Pull the exhaust system off and set aside.
Some one was asking about how to get the brake caliper off. Remove the rear most brake hose bracket bolt, remove the brake stopper bolt. Loosen axle pinch bolt. Remove the axle nut. Pull axle out until the caliper bracket is clear of the axle. Pivot caliber bracket counter clockwise and lift caliber off of the disk. Very small clearance but it is there. Then gently work it out and let it hang down. The Caliber will set upside down on the lift table with no undue stress on the hose. If one so desires, one can tie it up off the table top. See pictures. To re-install, put axle back into the rear drive to where it is just poking thru. Mate wheel back into the splines. It will hold it self in. Push axle to where it will just come through the wheel. Gently spread the break pads apart with a flat blade screw driver, then work the caliber bracket between wheel and swing-arm, sliding the caliber down onto the disk. Do not for get the small wheel spacer, if it came off the wheel. A-line the bracket hole with axle and then push axle through to the other side of the swing arm. Now install the stopper bolt. Do not tighten stopper bolt until axle nut is torque properly (66 ft lbs.) then torque stopper bolt. (66 ft lbs) Then tighten axle pinch bolt (24 ft lbs) install the exhaust system in reverse order as uninstalling it, being careful not to damage the exhaust gaskets where the system attach to the header pipes. You might have to tap on the end of the exhaust system with a piece of wood and a rubber mallet, plus do some wiggling of the system to persuade it to slide on the header pipes.
If you remember I did a write up about inspecting / replacing the three O-rings in the final drive system (
http://www.nt-owners.org/forums/showthread.php?5320-3-O-rings&highlight= )I also just finished a write up about inspecting the rubber cushion drive bumpers and aluminum inserts. (
http://www.nt-owners.org/forums/showthread.php?8124-Time-to-fully-inspect-your-rear-end&highlight=) These should be inspected each and every time the rear tire is changed. Also clean and inspect the drive flange spider as it has a thrust washer that needs to be lubed with Honda Molly 60. You will need to pull it out of the rubber cushion drive. Phil's final drive showed a lot of wear because some dealer did not take the time to inspect and lube the final drive system properly during tire changes. Fortunately for Phil, he has an extended warranty. Hope they cover the wear. The bike has 80k miles but should not, with proper maint have this kind of wear. My ST1300 has over 123000 miles and looks brand new in the final drive components. Here are the pictures we took today. Hope they help with my explanation. Remember to follow the Honda manual for proper lube points and proper Lube (Honda Molly 60)
Removing and remounting the tire was easy and had no issues. Liberal use of Lube is the Key. We did have to take the wheel and tire over to an auto tire shop as my compressor did not have to volume to seat the bead on Phil's PR4. The tire had been stored a while with the shipping straps squeezing the tire bead together, Thus making it difficult to get the bead to seal.
I am going to supervise and instruct from my garage chair. My hand will have a coffee cup in it. Maybe I can take some pictures with the other hand.
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