bicyclenut
Member
OEM Metzeler tires made it to 6650 miles and front was getting close to wear indicators and had some cupping, rears were a little better but had some cupping as well. Probably could have stretched the front another 500 miles and the rear maybe 1000-1500 miles but figured might as well replace them now before riding season gets into full swing. Purchased OEM Metzelers this winter on sale so was planning to do in spring.
BMW Dealer wanted $150 on the bike and $100 if I brought wheels in off bike, plus about an hour ride or drive each way and at least an hour waiting at dealer. In the past with my Honda's I did them all on my own by hand, but usually managed to add a scratch or scrape on at least one wheel, so decided to let someone else do the mounting and balancing. Local shop only charged me $50 for both wheel, mounting and balancing plus tire disposal if I brought wheels in off the bike. He finished them within an hour.
Fairly easy to remove wheels if you plan to do this yourself. All is in the owners manual, but they do leave out a few key items.
Back wheel almost like taking a wheel off a car. Only difficulty is loosening muffler and twisting it slightly out of the way to allow the wheel to be removed. Took a bit of work to get the muffler out of the way carefully not to use too much force and cause center stand to retract. Otherwise 5 Torx bolts holding the rear wheel on and no dealing with brakes or anything else and its off.
Front wheel is a bit more work. About 4 bolts holding the fender on and in my case some front driving lights. One bolt holding the ABS sensor in place and 2 bolts on each side attaching the brake calipers to the forks. All are Torx bolts, as are most of the ones used on these bikes. At this point I realized that my jack was not offset enough to hold the forks up to remove the wheel and support the bike while the wheel was off, but a forum search saved the night as I was worried about using the jack under the bike that might not be able to support it without doing damage. Based upon forum comments and posts a small piece of 2x4 or 2x6 at the point near the underside oil plug to distribute the weight worked just fine. 2 more bolts that clamp the axle and the next is less than well explained step in the manual, the "quick release" axle. As I recall on my Silverwing it just slid out after removing the attachment bolts/clamps. Another search of the forums and I learned that it was screwed in (so much for quick release!) and needed a 19mm hex/allen key. The Owners Manual failed to mention this BTW. Not exactly you off the shelf tool at any local hardware store!?! Another forum search and I found the work around, a couple 1/2 inch nuts and a bolt will fit. (FYI, Snap-On sells a 19mm hex/Allen for $68, the 1/2 bolt solution costs about $3.00 and my local motorcycle shop can get a combination axle tool for $18) Pretty much follow the instructions in the Owners Manual and its a fairly simple job. CAUTION - don't squeeze the brake levers with the brake calipers removed from the wheel or you will have problems retracting the calipers to reinstall them. As Manual suggests, use some duct tape or other way to protect the wheels from being scratched when sliding calipers off as its a bit of a tight fit.
Reinstalling the wheels is just the opposite and seemed to go much faster than removal. Make sure to use a torque wrench and tighten all bolts to specified values which is also in the Owners Manual as well, no Service Manual required for this task. Once everything is back together make sure to squeeze the front brake lever a couple times to get pressure back. As always, go easy on the new tires for the first 100-200 miles to break them in and wear off any oils, etc. from production.
BMW Anti-Gravity Scooter ;>) fyi, blue stool my backup while away if the jack decided to lower itself and was used to do some of the work on!
New shoes (tires)
BMW Dealer wanted $150 on the bike and $100 if I brought wheels in off bike, plus about an hour ride or drive each way and at least an hour waiting at dealer. In the past with my Honda's I did them all on my own by hand, but usually managed to add a scratch or scrape on at least one wheel, so decided to let someone else do the mounting and balancing. Local shop only charged me $50 for both wheel, mounting and balancing plus tire disposal if I brought wheels in off the bike. He finished them within an hour.
Fairly easy to remove wheels if you plan to do this yourself. All is in the owners manual, but they do leave out a few key items.
Back wheel almost like taking a wheel off a car. Only difficulty is loosening muffler and twisting it slightly out of the way to allow the wheel to be removed. Took a bit of work to get the muffler out of the way carefully not to use too much force and cause center stand to retract. Otherwise 5 Torx bolts holding the rear wheel on and no dealing with brakes or anything else and its off.
Front wheel is a bit more work. About 4 bolts holding the fender on and in my case some front driving lights. One bolt holding the ABS sensor in place and 2 bolts on each side attaching the brake calipers to the forks. All are Torx bolts, as are most of the ones used on these bikes. At this point I realized that my jack was not offset enough to hold the forks up to remove the wheel and support the bike while the wheel was off, but a forum search saved the night as I was worried about using the jack under the bike that might not be able to support it without doing damage. Based upon forum comments and posts a small piece of 2x4 or 2x6 at the point near the underside oil plug to distribute the weight worked just fine. 2 more bolts that clamp the axle and the next is less than well explained step in the manual, the "quick release" axle. As I recall on my Silverwing it just slid out after removing the attachment bolts/clamps. Another search of the forums and I learned that it was screwed in (so much for quick release!) and needed a 19mm hex/allen key. The Owners Manual failed to mention this BTW. Not exactly you off the shelf tool at any local hardware store!?! Another forum search and I found the work around, a couple 1/2 inch nuts and a bolt will fit. (FYI, Snap-On sells a 19mm hex/Allen for $68, the 1/2 bolt solution costs about $3.00 and my local motorcycle shop can get a combination axle tool for $18) Pretty much follow the instructions in the Owners Manual and its a fairly simple job. CAUTION - don't squeeze the brake levers with the brake calipers removed from the wheel or you will have problems retracting the calipers to reinstall them. As Manual suggests, use some duct tape or other way to protect the wheels from being scratched when sliding calipers off as its a bit of a tight fit.
Reinstalling the wheels is just the opposite and seemed to go much faster than removal. Make sure to use a torque wrench and tighten all bolts to specified values which is also in the Owners Manual as well, no Service Manual required for this task. Once everything is back together make sure to squeeze the front brake lever a couple times to get pressure back. As always, go easy on the new tires for the first 100-200 miles to break them in and wear off any oils, etc. from production.
BMW Anti-Gravity Scooter ;>) fyi, blue stool my backup while away if the jack decided to lower itself and was used to do some of the work on!
New shoes (tires)
