Rear wheel will not seat into the final drive on reinstallationpis

[Boxcar01]

I’ve been trying to reinstall the rear wheel on a 2000 Valkyrie all day but the rear wheel will not seat all the way into the final drive, there’s about a 1/8 inch of a gap between the wheel and the final drive. So far we thought we tried everything but just cannot get rid of this gap and get the wheel to fully slide into the final drive. Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated. There’s tons of videos about removing the rear wheel but I haven’t found any with this particular issue

[strawbobrob]

EVERYBODY has experienced this, if it’s any consolation.  I’ve only done the task about  10-20 times —relatively inexperienced compared to the regulars on this board. I wrestled with it for an hour once,got exhausted, tried again etc.  Finally just tried again and it went on like <blip>.  I was like you mother f@*¥&#!!
Someone here will respond better that’s that for advice; you pretty much have to keep that hub completely on the wheel while you’re jiggling, and move the hub to different holes and retry.  Best I got.

[Chrisj CMA]

I only use OEM O-rings and they slide right in. Some of the after market O-rings have given guys fits. It may help to insert the axle even though it’s not seated all the way just to make certain it’s properly lined up and the that also insures as you press it home it’s going in straight

[Jess from VA]

Some leave the caliper and spacer out, wheel on axle all the way through, wheel now fully supported and straight is more easily seated, then slide axle back out just enough to get caliper and spacer back in.  Trying to get it all lined up while holding that weight up gets old quick.

And remember, when fully seated, the plastic dust seal does not touch the ridge around the wheel (making it look like it's not fully seated, but it is).  This is the one that drove me crazy.

[hubcapsc]

I just put my wheel back on today. I had the rear fender section off,
the shocks off and a big turnbuckle holding the swingarm. The bike
was sunk down to where the axle was above the exhaust and I
just rolled/pushed the wheel in there, twizzled the turnbuckle a
little and the axle went in while the floor was supporting the
wheel. I'm slow as Christmas the way I work, but everything
went back together easy today, including getting the drive
shaft to go home...

Old picture:



-Mike

[Boxcar01]

I only use OEM O-rings and they slide right in. Some of the after market O-rings have given guys fits. It may help to insert the axle even though it’s not seated all the way just to make certain it’s properly lined up and the that also insures as you press it home it’s going in straight

Yep, it’s the new o-ring on the flange!  Won’t go over it to fully seat.  Going to get it close, use a ratchet strap over the wheel/final drive and tighten it till it pops in.

[Knapdog]

I’ve been trying to reinstall the rear wheel on a 2000 Valkyrie all day but the rear wheel will not seat all the way into the final drive, there’s about a 1/8 inch of a gap between the wheel and the final drive. So far we thought we tried everything but just cannot get rid of this gap and get the wheel to fully slide into the final drive. Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated. There’s tons of videos about removing the rear wheel but I haven’t found any with this particular issue

I had the same problem.
I regreased the splines and fitted  the new seals and O-rings. After juggling the wheel a bit I got a good snug fit.
I thought I may still have been a few millimetres out but the concensus is that this is how it's meant to be ......

[RonW]

I believe Boxcar01 meant sitting the 5-star driven flange fully against the pumpkin.

This brooches the question, "How would you know for sure if the 5-star flange is fully seated?" unless you remove the 5-star flange from the wheel and shove it into the pumpkin. I never remove the 5-star flange from my rear wheel. I guess you could peek through the rectangular access in the dust guard?

*This is another member's photo which i annotated. 5-star driven flange detached from the wheel and dust guard removed from the pumpkin.

[mello dude]

I seem to remember having fun with that....

[RonW]

Oh, it was your photo, mello dude. I saved the photo (Aug 2019), and didn't jot down the author's name.  




Anyways, how would you be able to see if the 5-star driven flange is fully seated (pic above) without taking the 5-star flange off the rear wheel to test fit it on
the pumpkin before hand? That is, if you leave the 5-star flange attached to the rear wheel, the seating won't be visible because the dust guard obstructs the view (bottom most pic).

Myself, I never ever remove the 5-star flange from the rear wheel. Is it advisable to remove the 5-star flange to use it to better distribute the moly paste on the mating splines? I guess it gives you an opportunity to wipe off excess moly too. It's an extra step so on and so forth.

[mello dude]

Ron...no worries 

[Avanti]

One reason to remove and inspect the flange and what is behind it.

[mello dude]

Some musing after having screwed with this...
The wheel must go together absolutely square or the Oring can catch.... like..


I bought an extra part to see how it goes together....

Another probaly overkilll, (but I major in overkill) I broke the front edge of the flange with a file and polished to give a bit of a lead in for the Oring to better slide on. I found that sharp edge on the front wasnt helping..


I did plenty of acrobatics with the durn thing back and forth, but evenualy got it together...

Another trick for the book... get a 2nd Honda axle and support the wheel from both sides to pull it together... (most Honda bikes have the same axle diameter, my 2nd one is from a VTR1000 front)

[RonW]

I remember that post, mello dude. The o-ring that seals the inner barrel of the 5-star flange (elusive o-ring) gets rolled over and the solution was to chamfer the edge.
Perhaps that can keep the 5-star flange from fully seating on the pumpkin.






Oddly, the factory chamfers Edge A on the pumpkin, so the 5-star flange's outer o-ring don't get rolled over.

[mello dude]

I would hit the like button if there was one...
Great post Ron.

[Boxcar01]

Success!  I got the wheel slipped on as far as it would go without slipping over the O-ring, then slipped a 1X6 between the wheel and the swing arm and used it like a lever to push the wheel over the O-ring and seat properly.  It’s all buttoned up and back on the road now.  Thanks all for the suggestions

[John Schmidt]

Next time, slip the axle into place and raise the wheel up so it will also go through that, then slip the axle through to the left side but leave the brake mount and spacer out at this time. That will support the wheel and line it up properly, just slide it into place. Once it's in place, pull the axle out just even with the left side of the wheel to allow inserting the spacer and brake mount. The bike itself only needs to be raised 2-3" off the floor to R&R it.