Easy rear wheel removal - no exhaust removal needed

[harryhendo]

Hi Folks,

My NT finally needed a new rear tire, so I looked over the youtube videos and the shop manual, but decided to use a new approach that really worked well. It does NOT require removing the exhaust, and DOES allow the use of a socket on the large 27MM right side axle nut and the extraction of the brake caliper stay nut.

1) put the bike on the centerstand
2) (optional) run a rope from the front wheel to the centerstand so the bike can't move forward off the stand
3) use a bottle jack or floor jack on the rear swingarm, either side, to relieve the stress on the rear center mounted shock



4) remove the hex head bolt and nut from the lower rear shock mounting bracket. It is easily accessible from the side of the bike, with no obstructions. It is a 17mm nut.



5) ease the wheel and swing arm downward by releasing the pressure in the jack, and the wheel will drop down enough to expose the axle nut and the caliper stay nut. It drops down enough to allow you to use a socket to remove the 27mm axle nut and the brake caliper stay nut. No exhaust removal needed!



6) remove the rear wheel (optionally, remove the rear fender to gain more clearance and room... I did this and recommend doing so, as it is very easy to do).

After you put the wheel back on, insert the axle, torque down the axle nut (89 Nm) and brake caliper stay nut (89 Nm), and then use the bottle jack to move the swingarm back up into position to reinsert and torque down the rear shock attachment hex head bolt and nut (44 Nm).

Wow, this saved me a LOT of time and frustration compared to other methods I have seen. Perhaps this has already been posted somewhere, but most postings talk about removing the exhaust, and I didn't want to do so.

 

[Woodaddict]

saved you TIME??????.........easier and has been posted somewhere deep in the old posts.......just loosen rear most bolt of muffler. have to reach behind and thru passenger peg bracket to put 10mm wrench on nut, then with allen head wrench loosen bolt a ways. this gives you enough room to loosen brake caliper bolt and pull out to wedge against muffler, then caliper housing is free.
us NT'ers always looking for anything easier!!!

 

[NewTo700V]

You guys sure do like to make this complicated.

There's no need to touch any muffler bolts or drop the swingarm. The only thing requiring removal is the rear fender, unless you have access to a motorcycle table lift with a dropout floor panel.

The caliper stop bolt will back out and touch the muffler leaving enough clearance to pull the caliper as-is. I use the two wrench locking method to gain added leverage when loosening and tightening. Box end of wrench 1 goes on the caliper stop bolt. Box end of wrench 2 gets passed over to interlock with the open jaw side of wrench 1.

Instead of thinking socket, think axle wrench. I use one with 27, 22, and 14mm hex openings. It's $15 on Amazon. I use a 14mm, 1/2" drive hex bit socket mounted to a 1/2" drive ratchet to break torque. The hex bit gets passed through the 14mm opening on the axle wrench. I then use a low profile 3/8 to 1/2 drive adapter to use it with my 3/8 drive torque wrench to tighten. Use your favorite torque wrench extension formula to work out the new setting. If you're one of those guys who's never used a torque wrench and never had a problem, ignore that part and just grab the 1/2" ratchet again.

Just note that for a torque extension formula to be accurate, the extension needs to remain inline with the torque wrench. This isn't a problem. Depending on where the axle wrench can be put on in the course of the nut's travel while tightening, the hex bit can be inserted on either side of the axle wrench. Just flip the lever on the torque wrench head. In the photo below I would be tightening, but lever on torque wrench is set for counter-clockwise rotation you would normally associate with fastener loosening. (Those mechanically aware will know the lever is set for clockwise just to support the wrench for the photo op. )

 

[Shadowjack]

I just replaced my tires last week (the first time on this bike!) The muffler was just barely too close to get the stopper bolt out far enough, so I had to loosen the muffler hanger bolt to push it aside that last little bit. YMMV.

 

[ST1100Y]

The only thing requiring removal is the rear fender, unless you have access to a motorcycle table lift with a dropout floor panel.

To increase stability while the (heavier) ST1100 is set on the main-stand, I've bolted the floor panel shut on my table...
And both NT700's I'm working on (my GF's and a friend's) have the axle inserted from the left...
Axle and spacers out, pull caliper stop-bolt fully outward, lift & hold caliper with your right hand up into the recessed area of the RHS pannier, roll wheel out with your left paw, place caliper back on stop-bolt to avoid any tension on the brake line and sensor wire, grab wheel with both hands and walk away with it...

 

[NewTo700V]

To increase stability while the (heavier) ST1100 is set on the main-stand, I've bolted the floor panel shut on my table...
And both NT700's I'm working on (my GF's and a friend's) have the axle inserted from the left...
Axle and spacers out, pull caliper stop-bolt fully outward, lift & hold caliper with your right hand up into the recessed area of the RHS pannier, roll wheel out with your left paw, place caliper back on stop-bolt to avoid any tension on the brake line and sensor wire, grab wheel with both hands and walk away with it...

The rear fender isn't bad once you've gotten used to messing with it. I usually just loosen the inner hex cap screws on the left luggage carcass and the little phillips head that joins the two plastic pieces together (accessed from the right side). That's enough to coax the fender in and out.

 

[DirtFlier]

An interesting approach but I'll stick with my own method that leaves the muffler in place but loosened. I remove the right saddlebag lid and saddlebag inner which give me complete access to the rear wheel and rear brake. Yes, it takes extra minutes but I'm not trying to beat Flat Rate anyhow and I can see what I'm doing!

One point about the need for using a torque wrench extension. Normally with a bolt & nut you always check torque on the nut since the bolt may be either tight in the hole initially or when squeezing the parts together. The rear axle has no such problems so as long as the axle shaft is clean and lightly greased it will spin (without nut) fairly easily. The wheel is being suspend by other components so the axle isn't carrying any weight.

I use a box wrench or adjustable wrench to hold the axle nut, then use a torque wrench to tighten the head of the axle bolt.

 

[rc_heli_nut]

I'll second what DirtFlier said, without a lift removing the saddlebag is an easy approach. I'm not on the clock, and the extra visibility and access with the bag removed is great.

For those having trouble clearing the brake stopper bolt, try pressing the rear outer pad in slightly, then you can pivot the caliper bracket a bit to clear the end of the stopper bolt. Be sure to pump the brake pedal a few times before riding.

 

[ARKNT]

2) (optional) run a rope from the front wheel to the centerstand so the bike can't move forward off the stand

This step can be pretty important. Years back I pushed a Yamaha 650 XS650 off the center stand. The swingarm landed on my big toe. I had an ER visit and several stitches. The nail bed has never been right since.
I use a tie down strap instead of a rope. Easily adjusts and is secure.

Brad

 

[DirtFlier]

Long ago I had an situation where I had pushed back the front brake pads using a wooden shim to make it easier to fit the caliper over the disc. And for whatever mindless reason, I forgot to pump the brake lever several times so the pads would contact the disc again. When I rolled the bike back off the lift, I was in for a BIG shock when it kept rolling in spite of me applying front brake! Luckily no damage was done, I was unhurt, and eventually my heart beat went back down to normal!

 

[ST1100Y]

...I was in for a BIG shock when it kept rolling in spite of me applying front brake!...

I made it SOP to pump and test every brake for full function while the wheel is still suspended (spin/turn wheel with one hand while dipping the brake lever/pedal with the other), so you'll notice if one drags, a caliper piston is stuck or other issues...

 

[Aran]

I didn't have any issue with the muffler interfering, my problem was the brake caliper being an absolute horrific mess to get out and back in. I ended up pulling the brake line and just taking it off with the wheel.

I'm used to maintenance on an FJR1300, which is so streamlined and simple by comparison. Seriously considering going back to one when I can afford to.

 

[DirtFlier]

After I had my then-new NT700V for a few months, I was planning to take a long 2000+ mile trip and had read on various forums about the lack of grease on the drive/driven splines so I wanted to avoid that pitfall. I had a tube of Moly 60 from my previous bike so did the job removing as few parts as possible. And as Aran has commented above, getting the brake caliper mount back in place was a real PAIN-in-the-A! With the muffler and bags still in place, I was doing it by the Braille method while laying on my garage floor and not knowing any of the details of the parts.

Some months later when I had to replace the rear tire, I finally got a good look at the lug and pin bolt for the caliper mount. Being able to see all the parts makes it much easier to disassemble and reassemble.

 

[Ron47]

good grief! I wish I had joined this forum before following the Owner’s Manual instructions. I am a seasoned wrench but spent 12-hours over a 3-day period changing the rear tire! Honda techs could use some pointers from you guys! Truly appreciate these gems of wrenchology shared here.

 

[Chucksklrst]

After dealing with the rear wheel removal for tire change, Lubing the splines both on the spider and the hub, changing fork seals, doing a valve check / adjustment every 8k miles, and dealing with the finicky pannier latches, after 4years and almost 40,000 miles I solved those issues by selling the bike to my neighbor and replacing it with a FJR. I have to say that the maint. on the FJR is easier to do and not as frequently. Valve check on the FJR are every 25,000 miles. A bit more work if a shim needs to be changed but with shim under bucket, it is rare.

 

[rc_heli_nut]

good grief! I wish I had joined this forum before following the Owner’s Manual instructions. I am a seasoned wrench but spent 12-hours over a 3-day period changing the rear tire! Honda techs could use some pointers from you guys! Truly appreciate these gems of wrenchology shared here.

I'm totally convinced at this point, if you don't have a lift, removing the right saddlebag is the way to go for a tire swap. I did a write-up in the tech forums a few years ago detailing the steps, it might still be there.

 

[Moto-Kafe]

Do the forum members see any reasons NOT to swap the axle insertion direction (i.e. insert axle from right to left, having the torqued nut on the left side of the swingarm) IF the axle insertion activity can clear the muffler (meaning the muffler has been removed or, the rear wheel has been dropped enough to allow insertion under the muffler)??

 

[rc_heli_nut]

I would not do that, you can remove the axle easily with a 27mm combo wrench, hold the axle from spinning on the left with a 22mm, use the 27mm box end to get nut loose, finish with open end. Plenty of room to clear the muffler. The axle nut has a stainless insert that acts as a threadlocker. These are called Fuji nuts, they are common on Japanese vehicles.

I use a 27mm crowfoot, 1/2 inch drive, set at a 90 degree angle below muffler, to a 1/2 torque wrench to tighten nut to spec, have not had any problems rounding off flats. Spec is 66 ft lbs.

 

[harryhendo]

There must be a reason for the direction used, so I would not mess with it. It is not obvious why Honda did it that way, but I'd prefer not to discover why when riding it. ;-)

 

[rc_heli_nut]

I'm keeping my eyes open for a 27mm to 1/2" shorty box end adapter, or a 27mm flare crowfoot, to improve my NT work a bit. Still looking....