A little help needed please

[cugsy]

Fellas, I had the tyres changed. The front wheel was easy peasy ....and so we lead on to the rear wheel.  I actually got the thing on and fed the axle and bits on. Then with the castellated nut hand tight I span the wheel. It was very stiff. It would only turn with a fair bit of force. The brake wasn't on.
  I undid the nut and tapped the axle/spindle back a bit, gave a jiggle and it was freer.  But as soon as the axle/spindle was in and tightened it was very tight again. I never had a problem with my other shaft drives.  Eventually I took the wheel off and ran the engine to see the splines turning in gear. No problems - its not jammed. Now I can't get the bloody wheel on. It won't mate with the splines.
  I am losing the will to live because its sunny and I have new tyres to bed in.     Any tips?  John

[cugsy]

Bloody elves! I went away to have a cup of tea (doncha know) and a think. Came back to the bike and had another go - with some more swearing it went on. With quite a lot of jiggling the wheel also span quite freely. Then the fasteners and a lot of torque wrenching and copperslip.  Weird

[T Cro ®]

Next time around loosen the 4 shouldered acorn nuts that secure the rear differential to the swinging arm so that everything is slightly free to find an unbinding happy place ....

[cugsy]

Won't that leak oil Tony?  I'm hoping by the time I do them again the twin exhaust will have died and I can fit something lighter and get to the wheel.

[T Cro ®]

Won't that leak oil Tony?  I'm hoping by the time I do them again the twin exhaust will have died and I can fit something lighter and get to the wheel.

Nope no oil is "supposed" to be there nor is there a gaskit there either.... If your getting drippage at that location it most likely means the rear bevel drive is/or was overfilled.... That is the only way I can remove my rear wheel as I run a 17" x 5" wheel with a 170/60-17R and it is wider than the opening provided by simply removing the wheel only from the drive..

[Rick Hall]

Bloody elves! I went away to have a cup of tea (doncha know) and a think.

Gin is also effective

I've found you need to have the transmission in gear (any gear) for ease of assembly. Pre-install the axle part way helps too. Far enough in to hold the spacer tube anyway.

I'm curious why you had a slight binding the first time though. Maybe someone will have ideas.

Rick

[cugsy]

Rick - I think the spacer is the culprit. When I had a peek inside I could see it was at a slight angle. Enough to stop the splines getting together fully. You live and learn.  So the bevel and final drive is sealed? I can undo those 4 acorn nuts next time without a puddle. It doesn't have any leaks.  Ta all. John

[Rick Hall]

Yes, the final drive unit is sealed, you can remove it with no [major] loss of oil.

Many owners have a few drops of oil fall out when removing the final drive. Don't worry unless it's more than 2-3cc's.

The final drive pinon gear sub-assembly is 'loose' in the final drive case (held in by friction of an O-ring), so make sure it comes out with the final drive, and doesn't stay attached to the swing arm. You don't have to worry much about this, unless you work on my bike

You'll find a compression spring in there too, make sure it goes back in.

Once the final drive is out, keep it more/less upright, else it leaks oil out the vent hole at the top.

On re-installing the final drive, leave the four acorn nuts 'finger tight' until you get the axle (and wheel) installed. Then torque the acorn nuts.

Like Tony said, there are no gaskets or seals involved.

Rick

[Strawboss]

+1, what Rick and Tony said.

[cugsy]

Everything is back in and sorted. I learned lots and lots today - luckily i won't need most of it until the bloody thing needs tyres again   Changed the oil and filter (2 drain bolts eh?) and cleaned the black fluffy thing masquerading as an air filter. Its fairly yellow now. Time to get some new fairing bolts though..

[vinny]

If you can find the time, start to go round the bike loosening bolts, cleaning threads and using copperslip before re-assembly.
This may seem like a waste of time - but, when you need to take a bolt off, you should not have any problems!
If - like a lot of bikes, yours has not had this sort of preventative maintenance done, you could end up stuck at a roadside with a no way to loosen a stubborn bolt.

[Boomer]

How was the ride with new tyres on then Cugsy?
Should have improved the flickability, not that it will ever be a sportsbike, but should handle as well as yer old K100s.

New air filter is £13 plus shipping from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Filter-Kawasaki-GPZ750R-GPZ900R-GTR1000/dp/B008GS5Z8U
K&N filters tend to be £40+

[cugsy]

Beat you to it Vinny -  everything that comes off is copperslipped...unless its threadlocked.  Done 'em all. New sump washers too.
 And regretfully George,I haven't been out on it yet. I took the DR650 for a spin.  Soon.. I promise. I'm off to the Carole Nash do at Stafford and I'm keen to see what she's like.