Barnyard/Shade Tree Front Wheel Change

[Ulrich]

I need a new tire ... that Michelin is starting to really go to $hits



So I ordered me a Metzler 'Cruisetc' same size as the C3 120/70 R 19, then I looked at the manual
and low and behold there is instructions and torque numbers !! Hurray

So ... into the wheel chock she goes and the scissor jack underneath ...



Can't use the straps ... but she stands solid anyway.
Oh here is a side remark, I just bought that wheel chock not too long ago .. looked good and 'industrial' but it really didn't work worth the $hit
until I fastened it to the garage floor



I just drilled a hole through the ams and set some concrete anchors ... now it works great!
the red paint around the arms is because I ran my foot into it a few times ... when lugged down .. that thing doesn't give!!)

Anyway .. back to the wheel

Lift the bike just far enough where the tire barely touches the wheel chock



Take off the brake calipers ... 2 bolts on either side



and move them out of the way.



Next remove the 'pinch bolts' ... there are 4, 2 on each fork leg ... on the very bottom back side
of each fork leg



Almost there! One last bolt ... the one that holds the axle in




If the axle should spin on you .. you can always put 1 'pinch bolt' back in ... but it shouldn't
BMW recommends to spin that bolt half way out and then use it to push the axle .. that actually works great
... but I still couldn't quite grab it so I had to use a punch/drift to push it a bit more.
If you have the jack just right ... the axle will really slip out easy ... don't fight it .. play with the jack
for the 'sweet spot'

And here comes the advantage of this wheel chock ... I can take the front part out easily
and just roll the wheel out!



And that is the axle .. while I was at it I cleaned it up and greased it down lightly for later re-assembly .



Now I am off to the shop to have the tire changed ... back in a bit.

 

[Ulrich]

Re-assembly

Ohhh and I completely forgot to mention .. I marked the running direction of the wheel on the disks ... just in case.



If I mark it there ... the marks will be gone first time I hit the brakes later

Got the new tire mounted and balanced by a local shop ... paid an OK price for it and now it needs to be back on the bike!
Cleaned and greased the axle spacer



And put it back in the wheel on the 'encoder side'

Rolled the wheel between the fork legs and stuffed the axle back in ... it took a bit of doing but eventually
it slipped right in. Then Tightened the axle bolt to torque (37 lb/ft (50 Nm) )
Sorry didn't take a picture there ...
Then came the confusing part in the manual and I had a real hard time following what they were trying to tell me ...
So I did it the best I understood and how I always have done it ...
Attach the brake calipers (41 lb/ft (56 Nm) ) on both sides



Don't squeeze the brakes yet!

At this time I took the front part of the wheel chock off again and sat her on the ground,
The grabbed the handle bars and gave her a few good bounces so the axle can settle in place.
then I put the jack back underneath and took the pressure off the wheel and tightened down
the 'pinch bolts' (14 lb/ft (19 Nm) ) ... you have to do it a few times back and forth to make sure you got them all
tight enough. ..



By the way I use 242 blue threadlocker on everything.
And that was it! ... get her out of the wheel choke and activate the brakes a few times to make sure the pads are where they need to be.

 

[Ulrich]

So ... I did all that yesterday and of course I went for a ride right away ... 2 things I noticed right away ... the tire noise that I had with the Michelin is almost gone!! I got so used to that grinding odd noise coming off the windshield that I instantly noticed the absence ... Fantastic!!! There is still a little bit of it,
but nowhere near what it was before !!! I love it
... and the second thing I noticed is that the handle bars are very 'light' now .. at slow speeds she steers really easy now .. took me a bit of guard at first .. now I like it.
Other than that time will tell ... I am not going to throw her into a turn yet ... not unless I have at least a couple hundred miles to 'scuff' the tires a bit.

 

[Ulrich]

A couple hundred miles later ... I absolutely love that Metzler ... the grinding agonizing road noise is seemingly completely gone ... now I can hear the tires of the cars next to me! ... but not my own. It used to sound like I am riding on a dead wheel bearing ... that is 100% gone ! WooHoo .. I also like the 'lighter' feel of the bars.
One a note ... I noticed something odd, the manual calls for a 'R' tire in the front and a 'B' in the back ... for the longest time I thought if you do (mix bias and radial) that the abyss will open up and swallow us whole!!! .. guess that is how little do I know

 

[RDavidson]

A couple hundred miles later ... I absolutely love that Metzler ... the grinding agonizing road noise is seemingly completely gone ... now I can hear the tires of the cars next to me! ... but not my own. It used to sound like I am riding on a dead wheel bearing ... that is 100% gone ! WooHoo .. I also like the 'lighter' feel of the bars.
One a note ... I noticed something odd, the manual calls for a 'R' tire in the front and a 'B' in the back ... for the longest time I thought if you do (mix bias and radial) that the abyss will open up and swallow us whole!!! .. guess that is how little do I know

What manual are you using?

 

[Ulrich]

What manual are you using?

https://manuals.bmw-motorrad.com/manuals/BA-Extern/IN/BA-INTERNET-COM/PDF/R_0L13_RM_1119_07.pdf

page 121

EDIT: If you use the .pdf index it will be page 125

 

[pbosik]

As always... great job and writeup

 

[Ulrich]

As always... great job and writeup

Thanks!

 

[Joost R1200CL to R18TC]

Yes, I was wondering about that tire noise. That weird ‘roar’ when you change road surfaces. I absolutely hate it and almost dissuaded me from buying the bike. Dealer could not figure out where it was coming from. Thanks! Clarity. Finally. Why is BMW mounting a super noisy tire?Changing to ME888s. Hopefully that will eliminate it.

So ... I did all that yesterday and of course I went for a ride right away ... 2 things I noticed right away ... the tire noise that I had with the Michelin is almost gone!! I got so used to that grinding odd noise coming off the windshield that I instantly noticed the absence ... Fantastic!!! There is still a little bit of it,
but nowhere near what it was before !!! I love it
... and the second thing I noticed is that the handle bars are very 'light' now .. at slow speeds she steers really easy now .. took me a bit of guard at first .. now I like it.
Other than that time will tell ... I am not going to throw her into a turn yet ... not unless I have at least a couple hundred miles to 'scuff' the tires a bi

 

[Ulrich]

Yes, I was wondering about that tire noise. That weird ‘roar’ when you change road surfaces. I absolutely hate it and almost dissuaded me from buying the bike. Dealer could not figure out where it was coming from. Thanks! Clarity. Finally. Why is BMW mounting a super noisy tire?Changing to ME888s. Hopefully that will eliminate it.

Maybe corporate got a good deal on them

 

[Joost R1200CL to R18TC]

Maybe corporate got a good deal on them

You may be right…. But BMW beware (if you read this)…… those stock Michelin tires make this super-premium machine feel and sound like a low grade copy-clone. If indeed you (BMW) are saving money on those delivery tires… they are no doubt costing you a fortune in lost sales. Never had a bike, not previous Beemers, Triumphs, Hondas or Harleys treat me with an ear-penetrating roar the moment the road surface changed a tad. Odd. Michelin normally makes great tires. Perhaps the stock ones are a lower cost formulation… front tire was down to 3mm at 8,000 km

 

[Ulrich]

You may be right…. But BMW beware (if you read this)…… those stock Michelin tires make this super-premium machine feel and sound like a low grade copy-clone. If indeed you (BMW) are saving money on those delivery tires… they are no doubt costing you a fortune in lost sales. Never had a bike, not previous Beemers, Triumphs, Hondas or Harleys treat me with an ear-penetrating roar the moment the road surface changed a tad. Odd. Michelin normally makes great tires. Perhaps the stock ones are a lower cost formulation… front tire was down to 3mm at 8,000 km

Yup ... and well said ! ... if you look above you see that mine was shredded with 8500 miles I have no idea what happened, I had 'Commander IIs and IIIs' before and never had one looking like that ... please let me know how the 888s do for you, I was tempted because they offer a 'White Wall' option for the 888 but not for the 'Cruisetec'

 

[Joost R1200CL to R18TC]

I was also tempted by the 'White Wall' option.... would have been lovely.

But yes, the Michelins have not done particularly well. Perhaps it is the same scenario as with the car tires..... new cars are delivered with lower quality rubber formulations to save costs for the vendors. Would hate to think BMW is doing this on $30K motorcycles... Will report on the 888s.. (And yes, the aftermarket Michelins did great on my 2003 CL.......)

 

[Cooney]

I’m not understanding how the bike stays upright when you jack it up if the wheel is just touching the chock. It looks like it’s balancing on a piece of 2”x4”.

 

[Joost R1200CL to R18TC]

So ... I did all that yesterday and of course I went for a ride right away ... 2 things I noticed right away ... the tire noise that I had with the Michelin is almost gone!! I got so used to that grinding odd noise coming off the windshield that I instantly noticed the absence ... Fantastic!!! There is still a little bit of it,
but nowhere near what it was before !!! I love it
... and the second thing I noticed is that the handle bars are very 'light' now .. at slow speeds she steers really easy now .. took me a bit of guard at first .. now I like it.
Other than that time will tell ... I am not going to throw her into a turn yet ... not unless I have at least a couple hundred miles to 'scuff' the tires a bit.

That grinding noise from the Michelin front tire almost stopped me from buying the TC. Very odd to get that from such a top tire brand and on this premium bike. The dealer did not really have an explanation for it. Indeed, changing brand made the difference.

 

[Joost R1200CL to R18TC]

Yup ... and well said ! ... if you look above you see that mine was shredded with 8500 miles I have no idea what happened, I had 'Commander IIs and IIIs' before and never had one looking like that ... please let me know how the 888s do for you, I was tempted because they offer a 'White Wall' option for the 888 but not for the 'Cruisetec'

So far the 888s are doing just fine. No weird road noises and predictable handling. (They are working as expected, meaning, I kind of get to forget about them). Air loss when parked is about the same as the Michelins, a decimal point (BAR) a month. Meanwhile, the next long trip is out to Greece. We’ll see how the 888s do on long miles over hot tarmac. (Which killed my Continentals on the CL)

 

[Ulrich]

I’m not understanding how the bike stays upright when you jack it up if the wheel is just touching the chock. It looks like it’s balancing on a piece of 2”x4”.

Asides being in the chock there are 2 straps from the triple tree to anchors on the floor. and yes there is a 2x4 under the frame.

 

[R18 100]

Having just now watched your video lesson on getting the front tire off the bike, it is easy to see that you are a natural teacher Ulrich.
If you could gather all your lessons in one location, we would flock there.

 

[Ulrich]

Thanks R ... I work with teachers and professors all day long ... but I am not teacher material ... trust me on that one

Note: The Metzler 'Crisetech' is not holding up well .. 3000 miles in and there s already some 'cupping' ... I think that bike is simply too heavy for that tire.
So, although I like the way it rides ... I want a little more durability ... next time I try the '888 Marathon' and see how that goes.

 

[fleabag]

I was surprised that at only 6K miles on my bagger, the front tire was toast. I have four bikes, so I decided to learn to change them myself and invested in the Rabaconda tire changer, which already paid for itself. I also used the Kern Stabi lift I discovered through this forum, which works well. I could change the front tire on the ground using the instructions you mentioned in the owner's manual. The rear takes a bit more work. I’m in the process of tweaking the exhaust mounting, so I decided now was the right time to change the rear, also. The bead on the rear tire was a little difficult to break, but the Rabaconda was able to do it. I’m also balancing the tires with the Marc Parnes balancer. A couple of years ago, I was lucky to find a K&L electric/pneumatic lift, which makes working on the bike so much easier. And you don’t need a noisy air compressor to run it. (120vac). For the rear, I put the bike on the lift and used the Kern lift to raise the rear tire, and the lift has a drop-down feature which makes it easy to drop the tire down.

This forum is a great resource, especially now that BMW no longer provides service manuals.