Front Wheel - Service Manual Sez ...

[LosLobos]

to remove fender and right caliper - Why is this necessary ?

Why can't you just undo pinch and axle bolts, pull the axle and drop the wheel?

[ember1205]

I pulled both front calipers AND the fender (takes just a few minutes) when I removed my front wheel for new tires. It made a) wheel removal and installation MUCH simpler and b) inspection of the brake pads (and their replacement) much easier as well.

Each caliper is held on by two bolts (the right one is 12mm hex bolts, the left is 6mm allen head bolts). The fender is held on by four 5mm allen wrench bolts.

What I learned, and why I ended up pulling the fender, is that the bike is nose-heavy (quite, actually) and the tire does not roll out easily unless the fender is out of the way (the tire will not clear the fender).

[Conedodger]

I tried removing only one caliper on my 6th gen and ended up scratching the wheel on the other caliper.

[wera803]

I think the idea is to remove the right caliper and fender, then rotate the left lower fork leg (with the left caliper attached) to clear the wheel and pull it out. Personally, I just pull both calipers.

You have to pull the calipers or do what the book says to get the wheel out. The calipers sit inboard too much towards the center of the wheel so you can't just pull the wheel past them.

[FJ12Ryder]

That's exactly right. I do the same: just pull both calipers and roll out the wheel. I do use a Pitbull stand that gives some extra lift to the front so that helps too.

[ember1205]

I used a pair of standard automotive jack stands, one under each fork. Once the wheel was out, I slid the axle back in and plunked one of the stands under the center of the axle.

[KevCarver]

As mentioned above, I think the manual is basing on just using the center stand and something (blocks) under the header to keep the nose up. In that scenario the wheel won't clear the fender. Using stands it is fine to leave the fender on.

[LosLobos]

Thanks for all the info guys - saves me some time doing it half-a**ed and scratching mah wheel and having to do it the book way anyways .

Gonna use center stand and raise front with shop hoist strapped to triple tree.

[2FAST4U]

I realize you've got a 5G, but what I do on my 6G should work:

1) Put the bike on its center stand

2) remove the rear wheel

3) Remove the pinch bolts, main axle bolt, and all four brake caliper bolts

4) Have somebody push down on the rear of the bike to lift the front end up

5) Slide the axle out and remove the front wheel while carefully sliding the calipers off the discs

6) Slide a cinder block (with a 1' long 2x6 on it) under the forks

7) Have your helper release pressure off the back and slowly lower the bike so that the forks are now resting on the wood / cinder block

I've done this countless times.

[ember1205]

I'm almost completely certain that this will not work as the calipers are inside of the rim slightly and there is no way to remove the wheel without removal of at least one of them.

Additionally, the left caliper, being the linked one, mounts just slightly differently than the right caliper and has even less clearance between the rim and rotor. While mine came out 'easily enough', it took a few tries with the new brake pads installed to get it back onto the rotor while also clearing the rim (AFTER the wheel was reinstalled).

The calipers come off in about three minutes. Just remove them...

[Terry]

There's no way that you could remove just the fender and one calliper, then rotate the fork leg with the remaining calliper to clear the wheel. The mass of linked brake hose connections bolted across both fork legs above the fender would stop that.

As has been said, just pull both callipers off. Taking the fender off is a quick and easy step too.

[PorradaVFR]

My technique:

1. Remove rear wheel
2. Remove both calipers (I use a bungee to hold them up so they're not just hanging on the brake lines)
3. Loosen the axle, slide wheel off
4. Use milk crate to hold forks (I use another bungee to keep the bike stable on it)

No need to remove the fender, although I can see why it would help. Re-installing is the same, backwards - lift the front up a couple of inches, position the axle and slide it in. Easy peasy one-person job.

[DFerrell]

If looking for an extra bit of clearance I'll place the center stand on a piece of 2 by 10 scrap lumber and hoist it up, it's harder to get up but gives a little more room for taking off the wheels and such.

[ember1205]

If looking for an extra bit of clearance I'll place the center stand on a piece of 2 by 10 scrap lumber and hoist it up, it's harder to get up but gives a little more room for taking off the wheels and such.

I had to do something similar with the Goldwing. I started by rolling the back wheel up onto a piece of 5/4 decking to raise its height. I then slid a piece of decking under the center stand before raising it. Worked quite well and gave me the extra clearance I needed to pull both wheels. That bike weighs twice as much and I didn't have an issue putting it on the center stand that way.