Ok, this is going to sound stupid...especially since I have removed and replaced the rear wheel before to change the tire.

I pulled the rear wheel, no problem. Did my maintenance, and now I can't get the thing back on. It's like some frustrating puzzle.

Any tips to help make it easier? I have it on the stand and have some wood blocks to help keep it up while I try to align the spacers, but it's as if the swingarm shrunk a couple mm inward or something!

 

Don't know what to tell ya. Just replaced my rear tire about a week ago. Removed wheel from bike, tire and tube from wheel, clean wheel and tighten spokes, retaped the band, mounted new tire and tube, installed wheel back on the bike. Took about 40 minutes. Maybe your caliper isn't seated in the groove? Also check that the spacers are all the way in. Maybe have someone give you a hand so it's a little easier. I've done thousands of tire changes, so it's quick and easy for me.

 

Like Bob is saying, just make sure that all of the spacers and caliper guides are seated properly. Also make sure that you put the axle spacers on the correct side of the hub-if I remember the right side spacer has a 'R' stamped into it. Although getting them switched up won't prevent you from getting the wheel on it will make the chain/sprockets misalign. Good luck

 

I was going to mention this "I remember the right side spacer has a 'R' stamped into it." It's not too apparent. Not sure but being on the wrong side may prevent the brake disc from lining up enough to get the wheel in . sounds like you're not off too much. Check that. Good luck.
Dan

 

Two last comments on what has made my life way easier when installing rear wheels.

First, take a big screwdriver and wedge the brake pads out as far as they can go - makes it far easier for the rotor to go in place with minimal effort, now I can focus on the spacers.

Second, I have the bike either on a swing arm stand (sport bike type, with swing arm pads instead of the spool hooks) or on my center lift stand (mx type stand with the step lift). They stand the bike up straight and allow me to use a spacer under the tire to set it in line for the axle insert. I get it all set up with the block under it and the axle slides in nice. Done right there isn't even any need to loosen the chain adjusters since the proper chain slack should easily allow adequate movement.

Hardest thing to do is to try to get the wheel set up to go in if the bike is even slightly tilted. Next hardest is to try to get everything lined up then hold it up to put in the axle.

I haven't gotten fancy, but based on what I do I think a 3/4 x 3-1/2 wide 18" long board with a block on the end of it to make a kind of ramp would allow you to roll the wheel up the ramp into place, sliding the ramp back a bit as needed to line everything up or lifting the back end up to get the wheel right. I've been lazy in the wrong way, just stacking a couple scraps I have laying there to make it work. I guess it's time for me to make my little tire ramp/lift. Heck I may even put a little cupboard grab handle on the back end so it would be easy to lift up and/or pull back to get the wheel in place.

Either way has been far better than trying to lift and hold it up while trying to get the spacers right, then slide the axle in - quite the pain.

Hope the tip is worth it. Either type of stand can be had from Harbor Freight for around $30. I like the quick lift to sit one of the dual sports straight up and down for less space taken. The swing arm lift is there because of the street bike that has no center stand, but ti works on all three bikes without pad adjustment.

 

#92143 and #92143B are the spacers mentioned
http://www.bikebandit.com/oem-parts/...9023#sch441952

Ride on
Brewster

 

Thanks for the tips, everyone! Seems like a weird problem, since we have all done it before and obviously the wheel should fit without any problem.

The right spacer does have an R stamped in to it, so that was good to verify.

After taking a break for the night and setting up a rig to hold the tire, I see the issue. The spacers will slide in to the swingarm, but the brake disc is aligned with the left/inboard brake pad and I can't angle or otherwise get the brake disc in to the caliper no matter how I try to do it.

It seems I managed to get the brake caliper tweaked to the right or something. I don't know how I could have done that, but I am now messing with it to see if I can get it to shift to the left. Only thing I did was use a screwdriver to push the pads apart further.

 

Slide the whole caliper straight back and off the swingarm. May be a little tight since your also pulling the brake line/hose with it. You should have just enough slack to do this and set it up above the swingarm on the top of right side. Then clean out the grooves in swingarm and caliper. Making sure there's no dirt or crap in there. Lightly grease that area and slide it back on making sure it's seated up against the inside of swingarm. You may have twisted, or wedged it in the groove chanels or it's crudded up with dirt or something. If everything is clean and in place, there's no reason it wouldn't fit and go back together for ya. Put some grease on your spacers to hold them in the wheel, then, with caliper also in place, carefully slide wheel (with spacers in it) into place from the back while lining up axle from the left side, sliding it in. Also clean and lightly grease the axle before doing this. Spread the brake pads apart first. It should be an easy job.

Important: Put both spacers in the wheel first...!!!

 

Thanks, Werloc! Great tips. The brake block was dry as a bone and full of crud. Pulled the caliper and cleaned and lubed that groove. Also noticed the outboard brake pad was tweaked slightly, so I corrected that. Rear wheel went on perfectly and with little effort.

A serious case of "work smarter, not harder".

Time to adjust the chain tension and scrub these new tires! Thanks again everyone.

 

Cool Beans. Yeah, be very careful on the street for a while. New tires are slippery. Have fun...