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Inspections/maintenance I should do while wheels are off?


Miguel!

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I will have both wheels off the next couple days to mount new tires. Any maintenance/inspections I should do while I have them off? TIA! Miguel

 

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12 minutes ago, Miguel! said:

I will have both wheels off the next couple days to mount new tires. Any maintenance/inspections I should do while I have them off? TIA! Miguel

 

Afternoon  Miguel!

 

Stick your finger in the front wheel bearings & give them a spin feeling for roughness. 

 

Also a good time to inspect brake pads wear  & inspect caliper piston area for excessive crud buildup. 

 

Put a very light skim of grease on the front axle when installing.

 

Might also be a good time to (lightly)  lubricate the speedometer cable. 

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As always, thx dr. How do I lube the Speedo cable?

 

Anything I should inspect/maintain on the rear wheel beside the brake pads and piston area for crude buildup? Miguel

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12 hours ago, Miguel! said:

As always, thx dr. How do I lube the Speedo cable?

 

Anything I should inspect/maintain on the rear wheel beside the brake pads and piston area for crude buildup? Miguel

 Morning Miguel!  

 

On the speedometer cable, with the lower end of the cable housing disconnected just slide (pull) the inner cable out then wipe it it off with a lint free rag. Then "very lightly" lubricate the inner cable with speedometer-cable grease or a light white grease. Don't over-grease just a thin coating. Do not use a heavy grease like a chassis grease or other thick grease as that can cause speedometer or cable problems in colder weather.

 

Only lube the inner cable to within 2"- 3" of the top (not all the way to the top) as you don't want the grease to migrate up into the speedometer head magnetic drive cup area.

 

Rotate the inner cable when installing to make sure the top fully slides into the speedometer head drive seat. (before removing the inner cable note it's position at the bottom of outer cable housing then make sure it goes back to have the same protrusion)  

 

You can also grease the speedometer drive/driven gear area at the front wheel with light grease & make sure the seal areas are clean with a very light coating of grease on the seal lips. 

 

On the rear, not much to do other than brake pad inspection & making sure the pads slide (move)  easily, & the piston area is not all curded up. 

 

If an 1100 then you might check the ABS wheel sensor air gaps after wheel re-install, if an 1150 (I-ABS) motorcycle then sensor  gaps are fixed with no adjustment.

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With then bike in neutral and the brake pads removed/caliper dismounted (either - just to remove any drag on the disk), I would always rotate the fd by hand from the wheel side. You want it to feel smooth, like the front wheel bearings. In my experience any notchiness I could feel indicated some final drive work was coming up. 
 

Maybe though D.R. will tell me I was just making psychosomatic diagnoses. :dontknow:

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Thanks szurszewski. I will check the final drive smoothness when I get the back wheel off, probably on Saturday or early next week. My front wheel is ready to be installed but I didn't have time today. Hopefully, I'll have time tmw morning and time for a ride in the afternoon. 

 

Thanks for your input!

Miguel

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9 hours ago, Miguel! said:

Thanks szurszewski. I will check the final drive smoothness when I get the back wheel off, probably on Saturday or early next week. My front wheel is ready to be installed but I didn't have time today. Hopefully, I'll have time tmw morning and time for a ride in the afternoon. 

 

Thanks for your input!

Miguel

Morning  Miguel

 

Just keep in mind to not confuse a little once or twice pre rev lumpiness with a defined bearing roughness. With the swing arm hanging down, on  a lot of BMW boxer bikes, the drive shaft U joints can give a somewhat irregular spin feel.  

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Thanks you for that DR. I've been thinking about what I should expect from turning the final drive and feeling its response. I have no experience to judge it by so I'll be unlikely to be judgmental unless it feels really bad. As you may recall from other threads, I take my bike to an experienced oilhead mechanic (he's been working on oilheads independently for 15 years and even longer when he wrenched at the now-defunct dealer) to do work for me that I'm unwilling/unable to do myself. He did a 12,000 mile service 1,000 miles ago. He told me the bike is running well and rides as well as any other R11RT he's ridden. SO I'm inclined not to worry about it regardless of what it feels like but look forward to getting a sense for the final drive smoothness for future comparisons. I'll record some notes to remind myself of how it felt for next time I remove the rear wheel. 

 

Cheers! Miguel

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A question regarding reinstalling the front wheel.... 

 

I replaced the front tire and reinstalled the front wheel. Wheel removal was pretty straightforward. One of the things I'd meant to do before removing the wheel was to spin it to get a sense of brake drag, both seeing how long it spins when when I rotate it by hand and listen to the sound of the disk against the brake shoes. I forgot (rookie mistake!) so I don't have a sense of what the normal wheel would do. I did give the bearings a spin with my finger when I took the wheel off and the bearings felt smooth tho a bit heavy like thick grease in the  bearings. It didn't seem unreasonable. 

 

Question: After reinstalling the wheel and giving the brake lever two good squeezes before the brakes grabbed, I gave the wheel a good spin by hand. It spins for about 1-1.5 turns before stopping. I hear a little rubbing between the disk and the shoes but it doesn't seem loud or unreasonable.  I doubt I'd hear it when underway, even coasting with the engine off. But the wheel doesn't spin absolutely effortlessly like my Campagnolo Super Record road-racing bicycle wheels which spins unbelieveablely smoothly and for a long time. I did gently rock the brake calipers against the disk to spread the shoes before pulling the calipers off. Reinstallation was tight but not a problem and I did make sure the disk was between the brake shoes and not between a brake shoe and piston when I reinstalled the wheel. There didn't appear to be a lot of crude around the brake pistons.

 

Thoughts and comments welcome. 

Thanks! Miguel

 

 

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8 hours ago, Miguel! said:

A question regarding reinstalling the front wheel.... 

 

I replaced the front tire and reinstalled the front wheel. Wheel removal was pretty straightforward. One of the things I'd meant to do before removing the wheel was to spin it to get a sense of brake drag, both seeing how long it spins when when I rotate it by hand and listen to the sound of the disk against the brake shoes. I forgot (rookie mistake!) so I don't have a sense of what the normal wheel would do. I did give the bearings a spin with my finger when I took the wheel off and the bearings felt smooth tho a bit heavy like thick grease in the  bearings. It didn't seem unreasonable. 

 

Question: After reinstalling the wheel and giving the brake lever two good squeezes before the brakes grabbed, I gave the wheel a good spin by hand. It spins for about 1-1.5 turns before stopping. I hear a little rubbing between the disk and the shoes but it doesn't seem loud or unreasonable.  I doubt I'd hear it when underway, even coasting with the engine off. But the wheel doesn't spin absolutely effortlessly like my Campagnolo Super Record road-racing bicycle wheels which spins unbelieveablely smoothly and for a long time. I did gently rock the brake calipers against the disk to spread the shoes before pulling the calipers off. Reinstallation was tight but not a problem and I did make sure the disk was between the brake shoes and not between a brake shoe and piston when I reinstalled the wheel. There didn't appear to be a lot of crude around the brake pistons.

 

Thoughts and comments welcome. 

Thanks! Miguel

 

 

Morning   Miguel!

 

Your wheel sounds pretty normal, your disk brake has no actual brake pad return springs so the only pad return is the very slight caliper piston return from the piston seals & a little pad kick back from the spinning brake rotor & deflecting wheel.

 

The best test (as long as it initially free spins without excessive drag) is to use the front brake sitting still, then ride the motorcycle a couple of miles using ONLY the rear brake (only on the 1100 bikes not the 1150 I-ABS bikes though). 

 

If the brake rotor doesn't get hot to the touch than you are good-to-go.

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DR. I did 100 mile ride today so I’m pretty sure  The tire is broken now. I did 60 miles straight without breaking on the front wheel, then dismounted and felt the rear disc and the two front discs. All three were relatively cool. The right front was slightly warm indicating that there is some rubbing. But it was just warm to the touch and not hot at all. I’m guessing that’s just fine. Thanks for the help. Miguel

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Just a final post for posterity. I removed the rear wheel and had the new tire mounted and wheel balanced. While the wheel was off, I spun the rear hub with the transmission in neutral. It was a smooth as butter. No clunks, tight spots, glitches, .... The wheel went on without a problem. I did a 40 mile ride afterwards. No problems. 

 

BTW, I got help from Chris Harris videos that helped me visualize what I needed to do and a few tips along the way. I know he can be controversial but I found them quite helpful. 

 

Also, a local independent shop charged me $28 to remove the tire from the rim, mount the new tire with a new stem, dynamically balance the wheel and dispose of the old tire (which costs $5 in California). 

 

Cheers!! Miguel

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