Removing the rear wheel

[Idaho]

Finally had to do it because my rear tire is officially classified as a slick after only 8,600 miles. Fitted my trusty jack adapter to the frame and ran the bike in the air on my Craftsman jack then strapped it down tight so that my jerking and pulling on it would not tip it over. Front wheel came off with no problem as soon as I realized that I had to unbolt one of the brake calipers. Okay, remember that for the rear wheel.

Bags came off and I'm looking at all of the stuff in the way of the axle bolt. Decided to see how much the left muffler would sag if I loosend it. When the two bolts holding it to the saddle bag frame came out I was able to lower it gently to the floor. Now I'm wondering about how tight it is clamped into the goat bag but I'll deal with that question later, for now the muffler is out of the way.

On the right side I removed the cotter pin from the axle nut and used a cresent wrench to loosen that nut and pulled it off of the axle. Then I used a rod to slip in the between the right muffler and the saddle bag frame and gently tapped on it to see how far it would go. It stopped when it came into contact with the left side saddle bag frame. A few bolts later and that frame was out of the way. Back to the right side and the brake caliper. I removed the two bolts holding it to the bracket that it is mounted on and laid it over the saddle bag frame to get it out of the way. Then from the left side of the bike I grabbed the top of the wheel and wiggled it side to side with as much lift as I could muster and at the same time pulled the axle out. No problem there.

Back to the right side. I know that the wheel needs to slide to the right to clear the wheel splines from the splines in the rear end and from what I can see that means that the brake caliper bracket needs to come off of the frame. One long bolt in the front of that and it was out. Then I went back to the left side, supported the wheel with both hands and slid it to the right and it fell right out like I thought it would.

So the reason why I post this is to ask those of you who have removed a Nomad wheel if this is the proper procedure or did I take something loose that was not needed? Also if this is correct then it can be good directions for those new Nomad owners who have yet to venture into the realm of wheel removal. All in all it was not too bad really.

Now, I am debating removing the drive line to inspect that thing and lube the splines on it as well as check for any leaks that may be starting.

Thanks, Idaho

[VulcanE]

Idaho, you pretty much done it like I do. I break the nuts and bolts loose before I jack it up, remove the front tire and put blocks in to support the forks. On the rear I remove the left bag support, muffler. On right I just remove the caliper. If it hasn't been done recently, Now would be a good time to service the driveline and swingarm, 'cause you have to remove the tire to get to them anyway, and you've already got the hardest part done.

[Idaho]

Thanks VE, I will have to read up on the Swing Arm maintenance. Probably involves slathering grease on something after removing another bolt or two. Off to Gadgets site for research.

If you have the stock pipes I think the rear header needs to come off to get to the swingarm bolt. With the Baggers, that's not necessary.

Basically what Idaho did is what I do with a couple exceptions. I do have a box-end wrench that I can just fit in past the muffler to loosen the axle nut. Kawasaki used to give you an axle nut wrench with the tool kit, but evidently not on these bikes.

The other thing is this: I have a wood box I put under the rear tire. I jack up the bike so it just barely fits under the tire, when I lean on the bike and tip it forward a tiny bit. This supports the weight of the wheel as you remove and replace the axle bolt. As you have to get the spacers in place while sliding the bolt, it eliminates the need to have a third hand. The bike will rock on the jack easily, and I just lean on the bike a little instead of having to muscle the wheel around when my hands are already full.

[macmac]

If i recall the rear swing arm wants serviced at 7,500 miles or a near to like time. So this is the time to look into it. MOM has that fact.

Mainly it is inspection and new grease. I think gadjet has a method for installing grease zerks.

If there is any parts to replace it will have to be the seals on the ends which have a rather odd raised rubber ridge, which can wear way, and so you may not see that, as it may be gone.

If it is gone, you will see shinney metal that the rubber seal is made on. If you do you need new seals. That ridge is a flaw as I see it in the set up, as no seals should act like thrust washers, but in this case they do!

Cadd knows more about this and how to say it than I do, but you need to know more. So do I as CRS struck again.

A Note to guys with no goat bladder is the right side seated exhaust should come OFF the bike, and if not OFF, should be loosened, so the whole side can move down if not come OFF.

I prefer OFF... To me it is in the way big time. So at this point a pair of new header gaskets is in order, and so is a dab of anti sieze on the exhaust studds.


THE GOAT Bladder has graphite gaskets of a sort, and so you can pretty much loosen the clamps to swing parts away. Probably since these are pretty slippery you can swing parts away with out loosening the clamps, but it might be a wise idea to give the clamps a little slack just the same.

[jayc]

How did you get your front axle off? I can't get mine to budge.

[Idaho]

jayc, I see your question in the other thread. I just used the dual purpose spark plug/axle wrench tool supplied by Kawi and after loosening the lock down allen bolts the axle backed right out. What can I say? I have a 1/2 inch drive ratchet with a fairly long handle for more leverage. slipped on the appropriate size socket to fit over the axle wrench and had no problem.

[watchman]

OK, here is a little something I learned from Big Dave in Iowa. If you have the ATV jack for lifting the bike and using a small floor jack it is very easy remove the rear tire. Pick up the bike with the ATV jack enough to get the floor jack under the rear tire. Lift up in the rear tire just enough to remove the rear shocks. Now using both jacks you can adjust the bike or rear tire/swingarm to remove the axle bolt without fighting the frame or mufflers. Once you catch on you can do a rear tire replacement in about 45 minutes.