Is it necessary to lift a Valk completely off the floor to change the tires?

[Fritz The Cat]

I put two sets of tires on my my Goldwing by just positioning the lift so that only the appropriate end lifted off the garage floor,  the other end remaining on the floor. This working without any problems so I was wondering if I could do the same with the Valk. I have 2 Bros. Racing pipes that are easily removed so the rear shouldn't have to come to far up the facilitate removal. The Wing was more stable with one end on the floor. I didn't have to worry about pushing the whole rig over tightening a bolt. 

[hubcapsc]

I pretty much do it the way you describe... I've done it all kinds of ways,  I've
settled on this way being best for me... you have to take the rear fender section
off if you only lift the bike barely off the ground or the wheel won't come out...



-Mike

[Joe Hummer]

Hey Fritz,

You don't have to take your pipes loose or even off to change out your rear tire.  Just take the shocks off and raise the axle centerline over the tops on the pipes.  You will have to lower the axle centerline to below the pipes to get the rear brake off and to get the tire loose from the final drive.  Haven't had the pipes off on my bike since the first time I took the rear wheel off in 2006. 

As for the method of doing the work, lifting one end at a time would work but my concern would be with lift creep.  My lift doesn't hold unless it is on the catches.  If you have to leave your bike very long, make sure it is on the catches or you too may come out to find the bike laying on its side after the jack leaked down. 

I don't know about the Wings, but with the proper bracing or jack adapter and tying the bike down to the jack, it is pretty stable.  I usually set a tie down strap on the highway bar on one side and on the saddlebag bar on the other side.  That creates a pretty stable platform.  Yes, I have moved the bike on the jack while working on it but it is usually because I haven't tied it down right (had to remove straps because I was removing the saddlebag bars).

You mentioned moving the bike while tightening bolts...if you do a little planning, you can position the wrench so you can avoid the moments of inertia in the direction that will cause the bike to move.  (Sorry...put my engineering hat on for a minute...but it holds true.)  An example would be loosening the axle nut by pulling up on the wrench.  You are pulling up on the back of the bike further towards the back so you are basically using the wrench and part of the bike (up to the pivot point on the jack) to lift the rear of the bike.  If you instead push down on the wrench with it in front of the axle, you won’t move the bike. 

Joe

[hubcapsc]

but my concern would be with lift creep.

I don't lift mine up to the catches, so I jamb a board into the scissors... I'm sure it
voids the warranty  but I've had it up there over a week.

If you don't do something (lift to the catch, use a board) your bike will
fall off while you're not looking...

-Mike

[Fritz The Cat]

I've never had a reason to leave the bike on the jack even overnight but after thinking about it, if I got it up and apart and then discovered I had to order a part, I can see this happening.

As for the pipes, I've never had them off but it looks like they would be easier to remove that breaking the shocks loose.

[Hoser]

The shocks are easier, trust me.  Just don't accidently switch sides, it'll drive you crazy trying to remount them.  Hoser

[Joe Hummer]

I've never had a reason to leave the bike on the jack even overnight but after thinking about it, if I got it up and apart and then discovered I had to order a part, I can see this happening.

As for the pipes, I've never had them off but it looks like they would be easier to remove that breaking the shocks loose.

But, if you remove the headers, you should replace the crush gaskets.  The chances of getting the pipes to seat back on the right place on the gaskets as where they came off is pretty slim.  That is pretty much why I done it only once. 

The other thought on removing the rear wheel is to remove the rear mounting nuts and pry the pipes out enough for the swing arm below the bolts.  Not a great idea in my book.  I never found anything that would stay in place well enough to do what I wanted to. 

Joe

[hubcapsc]

The shocks come off easy if you jack your bike up to where they're "neutral"... not
under compression - not under tension. Makes it easy on the bolts that hold them
on, too...

-Mike

[CASABROKER]

Taking the shocks off way way easier, plus no exhaust leaks to mess with.  Make the wooden jack adapter solid as a rock.  Then you don't have to take the fender off, less work.

[garyheskett All 49 x 3 st.louis]

I take the bottom bolts out of the shocks,  leave the top bolts in.  By taking the bottom bolts out, the swingarm lowers and you can get the axle out and the tire off. 

[Fritz The Cat]

Hmmm, I was under the impression that I could take the mufflers off and not the headers. anybody else have the 2 Bros. Racing 6 into 2 system that can clarify this?

[Joe Hummer]

I am not familiar with the 2 Bros. 

[PhredValk]

If you can remove the cans, and not the headers, that could be a plan. I don't touch my pipes because of all the small, soft bolts on the headers. Easy to break and hard to get at.
Fred.

[RonW]

There's a benefit from lifting both wheels off the ground for rear wheel removal. Naturally, when you pull the axle from the rear wheel the bike will tip to the front direction and the rear end of the bike will see-saw up in the air at the opposite ends of the fulcrum. At least with how I stationed the lift jack under the adapter, this lifted the rear fender high enough that I didn't need to remove the lower half of the rear fender for clearance to slip out the rear wheel somewhat like this (Ross Spoonland's photo). On the other hand, if you initially only lifted the rear end up in the air you would have to pump the lift jack much higher to gain the same clearance. At this point, my front wheel ended up resting firmly on the floor.

This is only my recommendation .... bike jacked up on a lift, such that, the front wheel is planted on the floor like above .... the front wheel should be bungee-ed to keep it pointed straight and prevent the front wheel from pivoting. Due to the geometry of the bike .... if the front wheel were to pivot or swing to the left for example, the body of the bike will lean to the right (in the opposite direction of the countersteer motion). Then an unstrapped bike may topple over sideways due to a sudden list starboard or port. The more I look at it, there's not a whole lot keeping a bike balanced on a lift jack from falling over sideways. I even did this with both wheels on the ground without the bike on a lift jack. I had propped up the sidestand with pieces of plywood so the bike was sitting a few degrees from perfectly vertical (yes, I know, I know). Facing the front wheel I turned the front wheel to polish and in the same motion this tilted the bike to the side that doesn't have the sidestand and over the bike went. It happened real quick too. I'm also thinking of some way of temporarily strapping the adapter to the horizontal arms on the lift jack just for peace of mind. I believe it's a similar lock down feature on Ross Spoonland's adapter that also secures the bike in the sideways direction, here. Also thinking about drilling some holes to install eyebolts on the lift jack frame for additional strapping points. The strapping points on my lift jack aren't at the ideal locations.

[Willow]

Hmmm, I was under the impression that I could take the mufflers off and not the headers. anybody else have the 2 Bros. Racing 6 into 2 system that can clarify this?

Yes, you can.

[BF]

I take the bottom bolts out of the shocks,  leave the top bolts in.  By taking the bottom bolts out, the swingarm lowers and you can get the axle out and the tire off. 

I was going to ask that question if one had to totally remove the shocks or not and just unbolt them from the bottom. 

Glad you answered that for me.   

[Fritz The Cat]

Hmmm, I was under the impression that I could take the mufflers off and not the headers. anybody else have the 2 Bros. Racing 6 into 2 system that can clarify this?

Yes, you can.

Thank you, sir.

[Spirited-6]

I take the bottom bolts out of the shocks,  leave the top bolts in.  By taking the bottom bolts out, the swingarm lowers and you can get the axle out and the tire off. 

I was going to ask that question if one had to totally remove the shocks or not and just unbolt them from the bottom. 

Glad you answered that for me.   

This worked great for me. But, had a little line-up problem on shocks at finish. Took a little "jiggle" to line up bolts.

[Ricky-D]

It is the bottom bolt on the right side rear shock that is the "problem bolt"

If there is going to be any kind of a problem it will be with that bolt.

I chamfered the leading edge of that particular bolt to allow for an easier lining up with the shock mount and used plenty on anti-seize on it.

That bolt doesn't need any kind of extra tightening at all.

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