Lifting an RT

[rcturner]

Yesterday, in preparation for an upcoming rear tire change, I put my lift under the bike and started to jack it up. I was not able to get the rear to lift without the front being a great deal higher off of the ground than the rear. I have no weight in the rear of the bike and the front trunk is loaded. My goal is to get the rear up high enough to get the tire off without causing any damage. I put my floor jack under the rear of the frame (not on the swing arm) and the front is still what comes off of the ground. I want to use the Lamont system for removing the tire and belt without messing with the belt adjustment. Has anybody actually done it and how did you jack the bike up ?

Thanks

 

[Lamonster]

 

[flybuddy]

I'm going to be doing this soon also. Are you sticking with the stock tire? When i look at Lamonster pics I realize I don't know JACK
I'm not near my Spyder at the moment but I'm guessing i can use regular floor jack at rear of frame and find somewhere further back where i could stick a jack stand after tipping the bike forward. Wouldn't be a lot of weight on the stand.

 

[Bob Denman]

What sort of lift are you using? I would think that you could play a bit with the fore and aft location of it in order to get the bike balanced a bit better... :dontknow:

 

[rcturner]

I'm going to be doing this soon also. Are you sticking with the stock tire? When i look at Lamonster pics I realize I don't know JACK
I'm not near my Spyder at the moment but I'm guessing i can use regular floor jack at rear of frame and find somewhere further back where i could stick a jack stand after tipping the bike forward. Wouldn't be a lot of weight on the stand.

I researched the tires and decided to stay with the stock Kenda. My current tire has 7000 miles on it and still shows 5/32 of tread left. I will run it to about 10000 miles if the tread holds out and then replace it. The big issue I have come up with is balancing. The only Spyder dealer or tire dealer that can handle balancing the rear tire anywhere near me is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Other than that, I will do a drop balance at home on equipment I already have.

Today, I put a 2x4 between the jack and the frame and allowed it to extend a couple of inched to the rear. This allowed me to move the lift (or floor jack) a bit behind the rear of the frame and it allowed me to lift the bike much more evenly. I think it might work OK when the time comes. My low profile floor jack might actually be a better answer than the lift in this case. Lamont's second picture shows about the same place for the rear cross bar that I ended up with using the 2x4.

 

[Bob Denman]

With a little bit of careful shopping; an ATV lift can often be found for well under a hundred bucks... They've got a nice wide cradle that supports the bottom of the bikes with a lot of placement options. :thumbup:
Downsides? :shocked: They all seem to have about a 1000 pound lift capacity, and that is getting stretched by a fully-loaded RT...

 

[scooterexpress]

I researched the tires and decided to stay with the stock Kenda. My current tire has 7000 miles on it and still shows 5/32 of tread left. I will run it to about 10000 miles if the tread holds out and then replace it. The big issue I have come up with is balancing. The only Spyder dealer or tire dealer that can handle balancing the rear tire anywhere near me is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Other than that, I will do a drop balance at home on equipment I already have.

Today, I put a 2x4 between the jack and the frame and allowed it to extend a couple of inched to the rear. This allowed me to move the lift (or floor jack) a bit behind the rear of the frame and it allowed me to lift the bike much more evenly. I think it might work OK when the time comes. My low profile floor jack might actually be a better answer than the lift in this case. Lamont's second picture shows about the same place for the rear cross bar that I ended up with using the 2x4.

use ride-on 18oz in rear that should solve your balance problem..

 

[rcturner]

use ride-on 18oz in rear that should solve your balance problem..

That my be a final solution but, I would like to have it properly balanced first. My bikes sit for 3 to 4 months during the winter and I really prefer not to have a flowing liquid in the tire for that extended time. I know what they say about this not being a problem but, that would only be a last resort.

 

[flybuddy]

I'm going to be removing rear wheel for tire replacement tomorrow (got a Toyo)..On an RT, do you have to bleed off all of the air from the rear air bag before removing the bottom shock bolt? Also, the rear parking brake assembly looks like it has to come off to get at the lower hex bolt which holds on the brake caliper. Anything special about removing or installing or is there a way to work around it that I haven't figured out? thx

 

[rcturner]

I'm going to be removing rear wheel for tire replacement tomorrow (got a Toyo)..On an RT, do you have to bleed off all of the air from the rear air bag before removing the bottom shock bolt? Also, the rear parking brake assembly looks like it has to come off to get at the lower hex bolt which holds on the brake caliper. Anything special about removing or installing or is there a way to work around it that I haven't figured out? thx

I don't think you have to do anything to the air bag, including removing the bolt. However, you must disconnect the link from the swing arm to the suspension leveling sensor (it looks like a vertical dog bone) . I haven't removed the brake yet so I can't help on that. Someone else will help us on that issue.

 

[flybuddy]

Have got the wheel off. I rolled the front up on ramps and put the floor jack (with a piece of wood) under the frame. Back will now come up as far as you need without tipping toward the front. Some issues I had...36mm nut on axle, when trying to loosen, the other side turns and you need a good size pair of pliers to hold that if you don't have a 2nd socket that size. The caliper bolts are a bit hard to get at, had to use open end wrench (13mm) and hammer on the left one, got right one with an articulated socket. No need to pull parking brake assembly separately. I let out most of the air in the airbag so there wasn't as much downward force on the shock bolt.
I'm going to change the tire out this afternoon BUT I have to wait to reassemble as I also pulled the exhaust down to replace a gasket and had the wrong part. I've got to chase that down. Good luck doing yours.

 

[Highwayman2013]

I used counteract balance beads in my new tires on my Vulcan, they seem to work fine.

 

[bikeguy]

I'm going to be doing this soon also. Are you sticking with the stock tire? When i look at Lamonster pics I realize I don't know JACK
I'm not near my Spyder at the moment but I'm guessing i can use regular floor jack at rear of frame and find somewhere further back where i could stick a jack stand after tipping the bike forward. Wouldn't be a lot of weight on the stand.

I've replaced my rear tire twice and used a standard automotive type floor jack placed as far to the rear of the frame as possible. I didn't have to have anything holding the front wheels down. I have a Harbor Freight ATV lift but it doesn't work very well for this job. To begin with, as mentioned above, it lifts the front wheels as well as the rear and, this particular lift is virtually uncontrollable when it is lowered and that just won't work for this job.

Note that I have a 2010 base RT, the cheap model, which doesn't have the on-board compressor and adjustable rear suspension. It does have an air bag but it must be inflated manually using the Schrader valve. This being the case, I can remove the lower shock mounting bolt and let the swingarm and rear tire drop down without any concern over the link to the leveling sensor. On mine, I had no problem removing the brake caliper bolts using a box end wrench. Did have a little problem getting the caliper in just the right position to replace it. Seems like you have to get the pads, the disk, the bolt holes, the sun, moon, stars, everything exactly right, then it slips in place and leaves you saying now that wasn't really hard, it just seemed that way.

Cotton

 

[flybuddy]

Thx--I've got the new tire installed on the rim now and have reassembled the wheel parts (hub, tube, brake disc, belt sprocket, etc. One issue is that the belt sprocket is not flush with rim as it was before. Will that compress once the axle is installed and snugged?

 

[bikeguy]

Thx--I've got the new tire installed on the rim now and have reassembled the wheel parts (hub, tube, brake disc, belt sprocket, etc. One issue is that the belt sprocket is not flush with rim as it was before. Will that compress once the axle is installed and snugged?

Yes! At least mine did.

Forgot to say - I used a light rubber hammer to force the sprocket fairly close so there would be no issue with everything slipping into place before the axle was snugged.

Cotton

 

[flybuddy]

Thx, I tried the rubber mallet but there's still about 1/8th inch (I even stood on it). If it fits between the swings arms I'm sure it'll get compressed when I torque the axle nut.

 

[NancysToy]

Thx, I tried the rubber mallet but there's still about 1/8th inch (I even stood on it). If it fits between the swings arms I'm sure it'll get compressed when I torque the axle nut.

You do not have it properly seated in the rubber biscuits. You may have to take it apart and try again.

 

[flybuddy]

You do not have it properly seated in the rubber biscuits. You may have to take it apart and try again.

I've taken it off and reseated several times. I've gotten it a bit better but still has a gap. It was VERY tight coming off initially.

 

[rcturner]

Realizing that I am still not actually taking the wheel and tire off yet, what I have decided is that using a floor jack under the rear if the frame is how I am going to proceed when the time comes. I have built three simple ramps to raise the bike 3 1/2 inches off of the floor. This little bit of extra height makes a world of difference in accessing the underside of the bike. About the only thing left to do in my planning process is to verify that the dealer in Sioux Fall SD can really balance the wheel and tire. As soon as the weather lets up it will be time for a road trip.

Tonight and tomorrow we are schedule for 8 to 10 inches of snow. :yikes:

 

[bikeguy]

I've taken it off and reseated several times. I've gotten it a bit better but still has a gap. It was VERY tight coming off initially.

Both times that I had mine off, the sprocket was tight coming off and tight going back on. When I say I used a rubber hammer to force it into place, I mean I tapped the sprocket lightly with a light rubber hammer, then closed the maybe 1/8 inch gap by snugging the axle nut. Between the times that I had the rear wheel off, I put more than 17,000 miles on the bike and the rubber biscuits showed no discernible wear, nor did the sprocket itself. I don't believe that the sprocket was misaligned or improperly seated. I think it's just a tight fit and takes a bit of snugging to seat it.

Cotton