Tire change questions

[phenrichs]

SO my dealer wants $100 to mount tires if they get the whole bike. I believe I can remove the wheels myself but I dont have a mc jack yet.
Is there a good place to get one cheap?

I was looking at the manual, do I really have to remove the rear fender to get the wheel off? Seems a bit extreme.

[dank]

I have had mine changed at the dealer, not done it myself, but I have been there while it was being done and they have never removed the rear fender.

[VulcanE]

If you have stock pipes, all you have to remove is the saddlebags, the left saddlebag support to where you can slide the axle out.(loosen where the L pipe connects to the goat belly and let pipe swivel down to a pad of some sort) Then jack it up high enough to get the tire out (as high as a motorcycle jack will go. I think it's about 18") Harbor freight usually has motorcycle lifts for around $60.

[rlfaubion]

JC Whitney has jacks cheap at times too. I've found that in addition to jacking the bike as high as possible, it helps to have a floor jack under the tire to lower it down, unless you have extra hands. That tire is awkward and heavy. You'll save enough money changing your own tires to permit you to buy all the tools to have fun with in a short time.

[towering]

Its scary at first but turned out to be a easy projuct. I took my tire to Cycle gear and they did it for $32.

[ringadingh]

Why don't you try to change the tire yourselves, once its off the bike, you break the bead, and pry it off just like a bicycle tire. I had my old tire off and the new one on in about 15 minutes. Balancing took about 30 minutes. There are videos that show you how, its not that hard once youve seen how its done.

When you change the rear tire is the prime time to do the swingarm and driveshaft lubrication and change the gear oil too, plus inspect the rear brake and the side play on the swingarm. This stuff needs to be done, so if you don't have a lift, you'll need the dealer to do it anyway.

However, the lift was a good investment for me. See, once the rear wheel is off the bike, you're 3/4 of the way to having all the rest of that stuff done too. The dealer won't usually give you a break on that deal.

Since I have Baggers, the worst part is taking off the left muffler. A strap wrench comes in handy there.

[moenko]

Sears has two jacks: a red one for around $70 and a more sturdy, aluminum version (yellow) for $150. I have the latter, 1500 lbs capacity, and it works well, but you will need the adapter from member "Idaho" to use (any) bike jack.

[phenrichs]

I am thinking since the bulk of my money is going into getting ready for the national rally I will let the dealer do it this year and look into the lift before next year. One nice thing about where I live. I get 4-5 months of wrenching time during the winter.

[macmac]

Probably a big error to not service the drive shaft and swingarm.. My 01 and my 06 had nearly no grease. My 01 had supposedly been serviced, so I don't know what happened there in terms of grease, and the U joint was BAD.

The U joint on my 06 is just fine, but again the swingarm bearings were basicly dry, to the point the long bolt and the center spacer were rusting. The center spacer had rust inside and out, and I can't even see how water got there.

I have on line pics, but I didn't handle the camera well, so these pics are not showing 'all' I had wanted to show.

I hate to say it but you don't 'need' the lift adapter, as 3/8" thick plywood blocks cut 2"x2" will do. The lift adapter is nice, but not a real 'need'.

You do need a joint compound bucket, and you do need a decent set of socket mounted allens in metric, plus a 27mm 1/2" drive socket and a 22mm wrench, and lastly a real torque wrench.

You also need a concrete block or wood the size of one. That goes under the ft tire, which should be bungie corded to have the brake on.

That rear wheel with the tire on it weighs apx 45 pounds and is enough weight, once dropped the lift needs something to hold the bike up in the front.

You also need some nylon strap tie downs to secure the bike to the lift.

My shop floor is no more than plywood on a soft sand floor in a horse barn..

I found out the swingarm seals are not cross referanceable, and only Kawii has them. I found the dealer never stocks these here, and has never once done the service, while yet they sell about 6 Nomads a year and have since before Nomad it self came out!

I have V&H Baggers and just dropped them. I wanted to get the white rust oxide off the exhaust studs anyway, and painted them with hi temp flat black paint, and replaced the rusted pitted chrome acorn nuts with stainless after polished them.

I reused the old exhaust gaskets, but have new ones on hand. I have no leaks.

I wanted to be sure the grease was there, but found none. There wasn't enough grease to have filled a tea spoon..

The shop manual says this is to be done as standard at 7,500 miles, and I was going with a car tire which may last 20,000 miles, so I really wanted to know there was grease and a good drive shaft.

I was upset when i asked the dealer about swingarm slop, which all Vulcans have. I was upset because the so called best tech mad up parts in his head tha don't exisit.

IMO it is critcal tio get the swingarm serviced..

[rlfaubion]

I have found it rewarding to do my own servicing, and it provides you a greater degree of confidence in riding with knowing first-hand what's under your a$$. Once you get into doing this, you'll find it is not as daunting as it may look at first. Plus for the money saved, you can have all the tools to do this work, which leads to more fun!

[terbear]

instead of using a jack, I hoisted the back end of the bike off the ground with an over head hoist. I lifted on the rear saddle bag guards (seat removed). This worked very good and was easy, you don't have to remove the fender, just get the rear tire about a foot off the ground.

A local tire shop mounted the tire for $15 I think.

Terbear

[kawiman]

Originally Posted by moenko

Sears has two jacks: a red one for around $70 and a more sturdy, aluminum version (yellow) for $150. I have the latter, 1500 lbs capacity, and it works well, but you will need the adapter from member "Idaho" to use (any) bike jack.

Adapter? Got a link? I have a lift but I only use it for filling with oil right now. Havnt much liked the idea of raising the bike without being on the frame. Been looking to rig it somehow just havnt figured out how I want to do it.

[ringadingh]

Originally Posted by kawiman

Adapter? Got a link? I have a lift but I only use it for filling with oil right now. Havnt much liked the idea of raising the bike without being on the frame. Been looking to rig it somehow just havnt figured out how I want to do it.

http://kawanow.proboards77.com/index...ay&thread=1780

[kawiman]

Thanks, sent PM to Idaho.