The process of changing a front tire is nearly as straightforward as the rear, but adds a few steps. The center stand will be required along with some kind of support under the skid plate.
The lift table with this size bike is more difficult than it's worth. You can back the bike into the wheel chock and jack up the front. The center stand eliminates this need and makes the process easy. I use a Handy Industries scissor jack under the skid plate to keep the front off the ground. I run the jack up so the rear tire is touching the ground to keep the bike stable. Be careful as the center stand is not very wide and the bike has the possibility of falling over.
I was able to get 15k miles out of the front tire and the calipers were in need of a cleaning.
Remove the axle nut and nearly remove the (4) pinch bolts. Tap the axle out while supporting the tire.
I remove the caliper pins and pads to ultrasonic soak the calipers themselves. All the hardware from removing the tire goes into the ultrasonic cleaner as well to remove all brake dust funk.
I had an issue with some slow speed brake pulsing due to some pitting at the same point on both rotors. I removed, roughed up all brake surfaces, and offset the pitted spot to help reduce the pulsing. This allowed a good cleaning of the spokes and brake discs. Be aware of the directional arrow on each disc and the ABS wheel.
25NM torque.
DO NOT RUIN YOUR FORK TUBES BY OVER TIGHTENING THE PINCH BOLTS!
Reinstall the assembled calipers at 25 NM.
Mudguard back in place, ABS wire re-attached to the brake line on right side, test ride to verify install.
I was able to get 15k miles out of the front tire and the calipers were in need of a cleaning.
Removing the mud guard for cleaning everything and more room to work...
Remove the axle nut and nearly remove the (4) pinch bolts. Tap the axle out while supporting the tire.
I remove the caliper pins and pads to ultrasonic soak the calipers themselves. All the hardware from removing the tire goes into the ultrasonic cleaner as well to remove all brake dust funk.
I had an issue with some slow speed brake pulsing due to some pitting at the same point on both rotors. I removed, roughed up all brake surfaces, and offset the pitted spot to help reduce the pulsing. This allowed a good cleaning of the spokes and brake discs. Be aware of the directional arrow on each disc and the ABS wheel.
25NM torque.
Re-install axle, torque nut to 50NM, tighten pinch bolts CAREFULLY to ONLY 10NM.
Reinstall the assembled calipers at 25 NM.
Mudguard back in place, ABS wire re-attached to the brake line on right side, test ride to verify install.
Hi Kirb, might want to warn readers that they shiuld pay attention to the wheel spacers for the front wheel. If bringing the wheel to a shop for tires swap the spacers might stick to the wheel hub, and you might not get them back from the shop as they may fall off and disappear, setting you up for a very frustrating experience. Guess who it might have happened to... yes my bad for not paying attention.
ReplyDeleteOverall, thank you so much for all your well documented pointers.