Tools of the trade.

Pitbull stands front and rear. The best stands on the market


Cambodian stools. A must have for any garage.


Mechanics gloves to protect my delicate hands.


Put bike on stands


More tools of the trade.


Remove cotter pin (if applicable)


Loosen rear axle nut


Loosen chain tension bolt and nut


Remove push block




Do the same on the other side.


Gently tap the axle out, just enough so there is something to grab onto on the other side.




Using your ninja like skills use your left foot to support the rear tire. This makes pulling out the axle rod much easier.


And there you have it. 15 minutes tops. Rest the brake caliper on the rear stand


Notice how I rested the rear axle bolt and the direction. This makes putting it back in easier.


With the rear tire off, pull out the cush drive and spacers. If it can fall out and get lost, pull it out and store is safely.


Notice where I put the spacers and push blocks. Each rest on the side they belong, making it easier when reinstalling the tire.


That is it to taking off the rear tire.

Don't forget to put the sprocket back on when putting on the rear wheel of an R1.

Now let's do the front tire.

Remove the brake caliper bolts. Remove both sides this way.




Rest the bolts right below where the calipers use to be.


Rest the calipers on some wooden blocks so they are not dangling. Just something I like to do.


Remove the brake side pinch bolts. Do not touch the other side yet.


Using a standard socket or hex socket for older bikes, remove the axle bolt.




Now remove the pinch bolts on the clutch side.


Again use your ninja skills to support the tire so it is easier to pull out the axle and remove the front wheel.




Notice how the spacers and bolts are stored. This makes it much easier to remember which bolts go where.


Rest the calipers on wooden blocks or the ever so useful Cambodian stool.


You are done with the front wheel. 20 minutes tops. Now sit back and admire your work. Get a drink or just pat yourself on the back.

you forgot to list the moto-crocs as tools of the trade.

Now let's demount and mount some tires!

Tools of the trade. I prefer the NoMar tire changer. Use anyone you like.


Of course you will need some new tires. I may just have a few on hand.




Remove valve core to let out all the air.


Break the bead all the way around on both sides for both front and rear rim.


I use wood blocks sometimes to keep the bead broken.


Store the valve cores and valve caps in a safe place.


Once the tire is clamped in, spray a light mist of soapy water on the tire.


Using the NoMar mount/demount bar, insert the single end into the tire and lift out the bead. Relieving pressure on the other side will aid in this process.




Now do the same on the lower bead.


All done with rear tire demount.


Pay attention to the direction of the tire as tires are directional.


This is a good time to clean off the bead seat area on the rim.


Tire mount lube will make your life easier and this stuff is safe for rims/paint.


Apply a thin layer of tire lube between 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock. It is not necessary to lube the entire rim.


After verifying direction, lube the under side of the tire again at 9 and 3 o'clock. You are now ready to seat the lower side of the bead onto the rim.






All done. The lower bead is easy and can be done by hand.


Line up the dots/bar code with the valve stem. The dots/bar code is the lightest part of the tire while the valve stem is generally the heaviest part of the rim.


You are now ready to mount the upper bead.






Pushing down on the opposite side of the bead into the drop center will help loosen the bead. The tire should slip on with very little force. Do not try to overpower the tire.


Almost done.


Done. Don't worry about the bend in the tire. Inflating the tire will fix that.



Repeat on the front rim.





















All done.


Reinstall the valve cores and it's time to inflate the tires. You will hear two loud pops as the bead seats itself. Keep your fingers away from the bead as to not get pinched.


That is all there is to demounting and mounting tires manually. If all goes well this is a 20-30 minute process for both rims.

Now let's get to balancing. I use an MRD static wheel balancer. You won't find this for sale anywhere.


Insert the rods and cones into the axle and rest it on the balancer.


The heavy spot always goes to the bottom. Mark it with a line of chalk. You then need to compensate by adding weights on the opposite side.


Depending how fast the wheel rotates down, that is how many weights you will need. I purposely put too many weights on to illustrate what will happen. Too much weight and it sinks to the bottom. Too little weight and the weight spins to the top.


Once you figured out how many weights to use, stick them on permanently. You now have a perfectly balanced wheel.


My wheel needed three weights. Remember when I said to line up the dots with the valve stem? Well if you did that, you will require less weights to balance. The fewer the weights the better.




Repeat on the rear wheel and you are done with balancing. 10-15 minutes if all goes well.

Now it's time to reinstall the front wheel.

Coat the front axle with some grease.


Reinstall any and all spacers back to where they came from.


Again use your ninja skills to support the tire.


Insert the front axle all the way in.






Reinstall the clutch side pinch bolts.


I like to torque them back to spec. They only require 15lbs of torque, so don't over tighten them.


Reinstall brake calipers.




Torque them back to spec. about 30lbs or so should do it.


Repeat on the other side.


Now reinstall the front axle bolt.


67.5lbs is what is spec for a Gixxer. Please consult your manual. Finally reinstall your pinch bolts.


Look around for spare parts. There shouldn't be any. Just a neat pile of tools.


Front wheel all done. Pat yourself on the back.

Good write up Mao!

OK almost done. It's time to remount the rear wheel.

Reinstall cush drive and spacers.




Coat the rear axle with some grease.


Insert the tire in between the swing arm.


This is the tricky part. The rear brake caliper fits into a groove and everything must line up. It's no problem for a ninja though.






Getting there. It's OK to curse at this part of the job.


While using your ninja foot to support the tire, reinsert the rear axle.


Easy as pie.


Hand tighten the rear axle nut.


Measure chain slack. It should be between 1" and 1 1/4" on most bikes. Please seek your manual.


Use a 10mm wrench to adjust your chain's tension until it is within spec.


I like to use caliper to measure the distance so I can align the opposite side to + or - 0.005"


Adjust the chain tension bolt until it barely touches the caliper.




Once you are satisfied with the chain tension, use a 12mm wrench to lock the bolt in place. Repeat on other side


Now torque the rear axle nut back to spec. 72.5lbs on a Gixxer.


Reinstall cotter pin (if applicable)


Give the wheels a spin and test front and rear brakes. Now sit back and admire your work. It should have taken you 2-3 hours from start to finish. It may be necessary to bleed you brakes but we'll tackle that on a later date.

Only thing left to do is crack open a cold one.


Now everyone knows what changing tires entails. It may or may not be for you but this is why prices are the way it is. Some may want to tackle this on their own and others will just want to pay to have it done. The choice is up to you. I hope people learned something from this though.

i learned you drink blue moon

Actually I don't. A GM customer donated a case to the garage. I'll drink whatever people are buying me. When Ray and his Polish friend was here it was Okechin beer. GM only stocks bottled water so BYOB.

that's an assload of pics....

You forgot to add one thing to your write up and that is before you open a beer you need to clean your bike first You should charge yourself $5 per rim

I charged myself 2x the normal rate for having such a dirty bike. Damn EarMuffs was supposed to clean it but he bailed on me again.

Nice write up

excellent! Now...to find/buy a nifty rear stand so I can do my own maintenance. Garage Mao too far from Aurora

Thanks and this is why I created this How To. I prefer that more people do their own maintenance or as much of it as they can.

Nice write up!

Great write up

Thanks everyone. With the 4 year anniversary of GarageMao approaching, I would like to focus more on education rather than just cheap services.

I realize that not everyone has the time, resources nor space to work on their bikes but as motorcyclists, I encourage people to do as much of their own work as possible.

Motorcycle maintenance and motorcycle riding goes hand in hand. Sure you can pay to have it done but you will know your bike better and have more satisfaction, not to mention the convenience of doing your own work. Some day GM may close it's doors as the baton will have to be passed to others.