| Author | Message | ||
     Tbowdre |
I am planning my 12,000 mile service pretty soon and plan to remove my frame instead of rotating. Any tips, tricks or pointers to removing the frame? It seems pretty straight forward after reading the service manual | ||
| Luisemilio25r |
Strap the engine to a motorcycle jack (if you don't have one get one from pepboys/autozone/oreilys for 60 bucks), use some 2x4 as a base. Remove front suspension, swing arm, tail, leave cooling system on(radiators, fans) connected to engine. Disconnect all necessary electrical connectors. Lift frame off engine. If empty, will only weight about 19 lbs. I used ziplocks (clear plastic bags) for all the fasteners and labeled them. When I removed the bike stand for example, I put it's fasteners in a bag and labeled them "sidestand hardware" using a sharpie. Simple stuff like that helps a lot when putting it back together. Degrease engine if necessary before reassembly, check for leaks (mine had one on the neutral switch). If possible ceramic coat headers. If bike is an 08 then clean the inside face of frame (the one facing the engine) with rubbing alcohol and install heat reflective material. That is all I can think of right now. Oh yeah, have fun! | ||
| Dmfb88 |
I personally have done both they are both relatively easy with the right tools and lifts. It is pretty straight forward double then triple check all connections to make sure everything is off. You should be fine take your time. I insulated the frame with the motor out also and cleaned a lot of dirt from little pockets where I was unable to reach before. | ||
| Chessm |
how many hours would you guys guess this should take? | ||
| Luisemilio25r |
if you do it non stop, I would say about 2 or 3 hrs to take it apart. Plus whatever you want to do with it. Then another 2 hrs to put it back together (more if you count clean up and also how anal you want to get). | ||
| Dmfb88 |
Start to finish took me closer to ten hours but I was slow with it plus beer breaks and pizza break lol. Also advise leaving the girlfriend in the house lol you shave two hours right lol. | ||
| Chessm |
would you guess that this is faster or slower than tilting the motor? | ||
| Dmfb88 |
Rotating the motor was faster for me and you don't have as much to hassle with supporting everything but checking the valves takes a little longer since it is tight to get my fat hands the the tight space. The front is harder out of the two. I personally will rotate again next time but its really your call. Once you rotate it there is only like one or two bolts holding it in there and the few plug connections. So maybe an hour faster for me, I would guess | ||
| Dmfb88 |
I mean when you rotate you still have to support the motor and the rest of the bike but when I pulled mine I had to suspended the whole bike from the rafters and put a jack under the motor and lower it out of the bike I called a friend to hold it secure so it didn't tip over. But when you rotate it you don't have to do as much. It really is a toss up some pull it some rotate it. In my situation its easier to rotate then pull it. But don't let that discourage you, neither one is that difficult. | ||
| Dktechguy112 |
faster then rotating the motor. 2 big hints: 1. you can remove the top triple tree and the forks and front wheel will drop off the bike. 2. do not take all of the wiring and parts out of the sub frame. Instead of removing all of the wiring and parts from the subframe, just slide the subframe through the frame, just remove the wires that go under the frame. here is a link to my photobucket, i took some pics when i did my frame removal. http://s901.photobucket.com/albums/ac211/dktechguy 112/buell%20frame%20part%202/   | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
Wondering why you have to take off the front (fork, front wheel). Wouldn't the entire frame with the front wheel lift off as a unit? | ||
| Ridenusa4l |
becuase you have to either have the front wheel off or just yank the whole thing at once, which i think may be a little faster and less of a hassle in the long run...but i have never done this, therefore this is all in theory. i just love to learn so if im wrong in any way, please correct me. thank you. Jake | ||
| Dmfb88 |
That actually looks like the best way I have seen. When I pulled mine I had to take the whole motor off including the wiring harness and eveything else to strip the motor a little to find some parts that went missing. I like the idea above with the pics that would be what I try next time I have a valve check. | ||
| Dktechguy112 |
You can take the frame off with the front forks and wheel attached, but it is much more difficult to slide the subframe through the frame if the front wheel is attached. Its easy to take the forks off, the big time saver is sliding the subframe through the frame. Just go slow and take your time, its not difficult. I labeled the wires with blue painters tape, and took pics of where wires run, its difficult to remember where every wire routes exactly. Another tip, you do not have to remove the radiators, you only remove the one bolt that attaches the K-bracket to the frame. | ||
| Dktechguy112 |
DCMortalcoil, When I did this I was swapping out the frame. My brother wrecked the bike and punctured the frame, so I had to put a new frame on the bike. | ||
| Luisemilio25r |
If you just rotate you might save some time. Maybe an hour. But you will have a harder time adjusting the valves. I doubled checked all measurements and also was very careful with not dropping a shim inside the cases. So I think in the long run you are better off taking the frame out and having plenty of room to take your time and do the valve adjustment perfectly. Plus you can go over every single detail on your bike. You'll get to know her better. Also if you are planning to cover the inside face of the frame with heat reflecting material, you can clean the surface really good and make sure it will stick and stay there for a long time. |
