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Rear wheel removal

W

Wascoman

New member
I am ready for the first time to remove the rear wheel from my 2015 RT. I watched Finless Bob's Youtube video which was made on a 998cc machine, and he emphasized disconnecting the swingarm position sensor before proceeding.
My problem is that I can't find a swingarm position sensor. I found a bracket on the top of the swingarm on the left side above the manufacturers label, but there is nothing attached to it (see photo).
Is my position sensor missing? Does the 1330cc machine not have a swingarm position sensor? Or, am I looking in the wrong place?
 

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:congrats:... & ...:welcome:....Not to worry …. I have a 14 RT ( Basic ) which I believe you also have ( ie. not an S or Ltd. ) ….. there is No arm because your RT ( like mine ) doesn't have the AUTO Leveling device. It is like mine the MANUAL system ….. hope this eases your mind …… Mike :ohyea:
 
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Thanks, that makes sense. I do have the basic machine without auto leveling. So now I will just follow the remainder of Bob's video.
 
Just my .02 if you remove the cotter/split pin on the right side and remove the the two bolts holding the caliper and lift the bike up in the air you can remove the belt by pulling it outward and rotating the wheel backwards at the same time, once the belt is off remove the axle bolt and drop the tire. Super Easy. The plus side is you can reinstall in reverse order and not have to readjust the belt.
 
Good advice. What has to come off of the rear wheel to get it to fit over the post on a harbor freight type tire changer? Do the BEARINGS have to come out? Wondering for the future.
 
Well, I've been trying to remove the rear wheel of my 2015 Sypder RT-basic for a couple of days now and I'm afraid it is time to go on a little bit of a rant about poor engineering.
I come from the world of BMW motorcycles which are incredibly well engineered and easy to work on. I erroneously thought that Can Am would be similar. Here are the frustrations I have run up against so far:
1. The plastic belt guard on the left side, which blocks access to the lower shock bolt, is held in place by three Torx bolts. Unfortunately, two of the three Torx bolts have some kind of free-turning nut on the back side which you can neither see nor access other than with you bloodied fingers. Until you take these Torx screws out you cannot remove the plastic belt guard and therefore cannot see nor easily access the lower shock bolt.
2. So I shift gears and try to remove the rear brake caliper. One of the two bolts holding the caliper on is almost impossible to reach. Any ratchet or socket extension hits the exhaust pipe making it almost impossible to remove this bolt without removing the exhaust system too. Ideas?
3. Last try, I thought I'd remove the lower shock bolt since I can reach it from both sides with some effort and little bit more blood. Nut on the left side comes off pretty easily but now I have to drive the bolt out from the left side and I cannot reach it with any kind of striking implement because access is blocked by the plastic belt guard (see item 1.)
I am just about to put everything back together and take it to a dealer. I'm not a world-class mechanic, but I'm not totally incompetent either - this is really poorly designed. I used to be able to remove a wheel from a BMW in less than 10 minutes. Honda's too.
 
I don't know for sure about a 2015 RT, but on most motorcycles, when you take the shock bolts loose and jack it up, dropping the rear wheel down, then you can get to the bolts that were blocked by the exhausts before. The wheel usually drops enough you can get to the bolts below the muffler. This is for most 2 wheel and 3 wheel bikes.

Clean off the back side of the free spinning nuts with some alcohol and smear a finger full of JB Weld on the base of the nuts. Wait until tomorrow and try again.
 
It was jacked up with the rear tire off of the floor when I removed the nut from the left side of the lower shock bolt. The bolt will not come out of the shock without some significant force, which I cannot apply because I cannot get clear access to the bolt.
I'm confused by your comment "drop tire on the floor". It appears to me that I cannot drop the tire on the floor without removing the lower shock bolt. I guess I could remove the rear axle (haven't tried that yet), but then I wouldn't be able to get the wheel out because the lower shock bolt is still attached, and I'd run the risk of damaging the rear brake (and electronic emergency brake, and ABS) because I haven't been able to get the caliper off because I can only remove one of the two bolts holding the caliper on.
 
You can't pull the bolt out till you lower the Jack and take the tension off the bolt.......then it will slide out
 
Wascoman said:
It was jacked up with the rear tire off of the floor when I removed the nut from the left side of the lower shock bolt. The bolt will not come out of the shock without some significant force, which I cannot apply because I cannot get clear access to the bolt.
I'm confused by your comment "drop tire on the floor". It appears to me that I cannot drop the tire on the floor without removing the lower shock bolt. I guess I could remove the rear axle (haven't tried that yet), but then I wouldn't be able to get the wheel out because the lower shock bolt is still attached, and I'd run the risk of damaging the rear brake (and electronic emergency brake, and ABS) because I haven't been able to get the caliper off because I can only remove one of the two bolts holding the caliper on.
Click to expand...

If the rear tire is off the floor, then the weight of the wheel and tire hanging on the shock bolt is what is keeping the bolt from slipping out.

Either let the jack down until the tire barely touches the floor, or you could put a board under the tire and pry up just a bit to take the weight of the wheel and tire off the bolt. It will slip out real easy when you get the weight off of it. You have to get the weight of the bike off of it by jacking it up. Stop jacking just before the the tire leaves contact with the floor or you will have the weight of the tire and wheel hanging on the bolt then. Once you get the lower shock bolt out, then you can jack it on up.

Just to make this clear, the jack must be on the frame of the bike ahead of the swing arm. You cannot jack up on the swing arm to remove the shock bolt.
 
I have never removed the shock bolt to get the wheel off.
Jack up till rear wheel is just off the ground.
remove 2 caliper bolts from rear brake
2- 36 MM wrenches. I dont need to remove my muffler.
Remove the axle nut
remove the axle
Now I do loosen the belt tension a bit before removable . My preference.
Once axle is removed raise the rear end up a but higher roll the rear wheel out.

I have done this several times now and works for me.. :ohyea:
 
OMG! I followed the advice of Gwolf (and others) and gently jacked the bike up until, at one position, the lower shock bolt just slid out easily. Once that was out, I jacked further, which left the rear wheel on the ground and, lo and behold, I can get to the second brake caliber bolt. Voila! the brake caliper is off. Removed the 36mm nut and the axle slide out easily. Jacked a little further and the wheel rolled right out after sliding the belt off.

Whole process took less than 10 minutes once I was able to get the lower shock bolt out.

Thanks to all who helped/advised w/o calling me an idiot. Stuck at home practicing "social distancing" bc I am older than dirt and have had one heart attack, but this just made my day. Thanks again all!
 
Finless Bob made a great video there indeed! I also referenced it to pull tire. However it does help if you RECONNECT the stupid rod! Derp! I did find out it goes into manual pump mode without it. So did learn something!
 
We need to get together to share stories and brag about our scars...… I did the same as you a few years back....There are a few of us around on spyders, all old as dirt. Send me an e-mail and I'll see if I can get you on our local spyder group rides. Bob in Odell
 
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