Rear Wheel Removal (what the manual doesn't tell you...)

[roadventure]

Thank you all for posting on this as it was very helpful
I just changed out my rear tire and rear brake line ( see why in pic ) the step by step instructions were dead on, I was able to change out tire without removing the shock being wheel had been off before.

Glad you found it helpful!

dave

 

[vtwinbob]

Recently I ordered a set of AVON replacement tires for my California. The OEM Dunlop 251 was worn down to the wear bars at 5100 miles. That tire seems to be too soft for a touring type bike. I have used the AVON A71/A72 tires on other bikes and have had good luck with them. Hopefully they will perform just as well on the California.

I needed to remove the rear wheel. I look in the shop manual and it seems to be pretty simple. (you will need a 32mm socket and a 14mm hex key...)

Remove saddlebags and mufflers.

Break the axle nut loose on the axle and removed it per the instructions. DON'T REMOVE THE AXLE YET!

Raise the California on a suitable lift or jack.

You will need to remove the left side rear shock absorber so that you will have clearance to move the rear brake caliper out of the way.

Remove the left rear shock absorber (screw top and bottom) wrap it in a rag and temporarily position outside of the swing arm taking care to not bend the hose to the remote reservoir. (for the Touring model, the shock can be completely removed and placed on the workbench)

NOW, slide the axle out to the right side far enough so that is slides out of the caliper housing (about 2 1/2 inches)

With the axle moved out of the caliper boss, slide the caliper up far enough that the pads clear the rotor. Wrap the caliper in a rag and temporarily position it outside of the swing arm taking care to not bend or flex the brake tube, hose too much.

At this point you have about 1" of space between the wheel assembly and the left side swing arm. Slide the axle out to the right a little more, about 2 inches more and remove the left hand spacer located in the wheel hub. After the spacer is removed you should have about 2 to 2 1/2 inches of space between the left swing arm and the wheel hub.

Carefully tap the axle back in place (no spacer, no caliper) through the left hand swing arm. Do not put the axle nut back on at this time. The rear wheel is now fully supported and ready for the next step.

Chances are very good (if this it the first time you have removed the rear wheel) that the male drive splines on the wheel and the female drive splines in the drive hub are rusted together. This due to the inability of MG assembly people to apply a light coating of grease to the splines when the bike is first assembled.

With the wheel fully supported as previously described by the axle, you will need to carefully "persuade" the splines on the wheel hub to slide out of the splines in the drive. Be careful to not break anything if you start pounding on things. Eventually the splines will separate and you can now slowly work the axle out of the right side swing arm and drop the wheel assembly down to the ground.

NOTE: When you reassemble everything apply a light coating of Pro Honda Moly60 Paste lubricant to the splines. This will make the rear wheel removal, next time, SO much easier.

Have fun out there!

This may be a stupid question, which would not be my first, but when you say remove saddlebags, does that mean brackets also. Looking at it with bags removed, it doesn't look like this is necessary.

 

[William H.]

I left the mounting brackets for the bags on.

 

[scott_m]

Unless the mounts directly interfere, I doubt you need to remove them. Just the bags themselves. That’s typical on European equipment.

Only Harley-Davidson has models with such engineering stupidity that require removing the saddlebag mounts!

I encounter them at my shop frequently.