Rear Wheel Removal procedure 82 GS 850 GL

[flyingace]

I use a piece of nylon rope to tie the swing arm (drive shaft side) to the upper frame. This allows me to raise and lower the rear tire for the purpose of removing the axle and removing/replacing the shocks. Seems to work better than blocks under the tire.

[PaulC]

I wonder if there are any disadvantages to putting the axle bolt on the left side?

BassCliff -

Are there any disadvantages? Yeah it won't work for my bike! My axle is not a bolt with a hex head. It's a rod with one end threaded. The brake end gets clamped by the brake line support bolt. That's what hold it from moving towards the left.

Went to "tap" out the axle and it would not move. Pulled out the 2lb hammer and split the 1" oak dowel I was using! Was ready to pull out the 16lb sledge when I research here again and found your comment on another thread about removing the brake line support bolt in order to hang the brake from the top shock support. When I looked at my bike further realized that this bolt was clamping the end of the axle. After I removed it, the axle came out nice and easy.

End result is that upon inspection the splines are down to about 1/32" from the original approx 1/8". Time for new ones.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

[BassCliff]

Plain, dull, boring, drab

Thanks for sharing that, Mr. PaulC.

I haven't taken the time to look on my bike and see how reversing the rear axle would affect the mechanical workings of the rear wheel assembly. I tend to do things by the book if that's the way it works. Call me unimaginative.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff