Bench Wrench

New Tires

When mounting a new tire, make certain the rim has been thoroughly cleaned. If you leave a speck of old rubber, rust or dirt, as little as .004 of an inch, the result can be a variation force of up to eleven pounds, which causes motorcycle tires to wobble. Lubricate the tire and rim to allow the tire to seat itself properly. Balancing a new tire is also very important; 1.8 ounces of imbalance can result in 110 pounds of variation force at 80 mph which causes a very bad wobble. Computer balancers are state of the art and should be used to assure a proper balance.

Dale Baker #09956 Safety Director, OH-10

Rear Wheel Service — 3/92, P23

You may ask, "Doesn't my dealer do that?" Not unless you tell him that you want it done. This service should be completed every tire change or 10,000 miles (16,000k) or at least every tow years; but in most cases it isn't done because we don't always have a dealer replace our tires and/or we don't tell him to do the work.

So now that winter has set in, it would be a good time to think about servicing the rear wheel of your Venture. The procedure is fairly simple to do on bikes without a trailer hitch and only a little harder if your bike has one.

Remove the rear bags, right muffler, rear brake caliper and trailer hitch, if you have one; then remove the rear wheel. If your Venture is a 1983, 84, or 85 you will need to remove the rear drive or differential and remove the drive shaft.

Clean the drive shaft and coupling, then grease both ends before putting it back in. (Note: make sure that the shaft goes back into the U-joint. If you're not sure, remove the spring on the boot covering the U-joint and check it.)

Next, clean the spline or gear on the rear drive and grease it with a good quality grease (personally I use a medium Moly based grease).

Now find a couple of 2X4s and place the rear wheel spline side up on the boards. When you clean the hub and splines off you will see the spring clip or circlip that holds the hub in place; remove this clip and re­move the hub. Now clean the hub and in­spect it for wear then apply grease to the inside of the hub and to the six posts that fit into the wheel.

Check the 0-ring on the wheel to be sure it is in place before you replace the hub and circlip. Check the bearings inside of the wheel and check the bearing movement; if they are rough or worn, replace them.

Now for the mono shock pivots place a jack under the rear drive to take the strain off of the mono shock then dissemble, clean and grease all of the pivot points and

reassemble. (If you have a 90, 91 or you have had grease fittings installed, just give them a squirt.)

No More Deceleration Wobble!

After wearing out three sets of tires, (1 Qualifier, 2 Metzlers) I had convinced myself that my 1988 Venture must have a mechanical problem. This was due to the fact that it always shook violently while slowing down if both hands were removed from the bars. Wrong!

In my case I didn't need steering bearings, fork braces, wheel bearings, frame bolts tightened - nothing! All I needed was a set of Bridgestone Dual Compound #27 F & R. These tires were purchased, installed, and balanced at Stoughton Cycle Ranch in Indianapolis, Indiana and turned my wobbling monster into a pleasure to ride under wet and dry conditions. If you have a wobble, try these tires.

Mark Hudson #06824 Mooresville, IN

Removing the Rear Wheel

Begin by putting your bike on the center stand. Next, prop up the front end with a wooden block or floor jack, properly placed under the engine, and remove the front wheel. Now, strap the left side of the center stand securely to the left front case guard with a motorcycle tie-down or other very strong strap.

Tip the bike back and remove the jack or block. Gently let the front forks to the floor, preferably on a board. Now, the front is down, the rear is up, and you can now remove the muffler and rear wheel as prescribed in the book. They will come out sideways with a little teasing, but the trailer hitch and bags stay on.

Be sure the straps are strong and tight. Otherwise, the center stand will give up since it is ahead of the balance point of the cam. It would pay to have a helper handy. The front of the bike is not all that heavy, but it pays to hedge your bet.
You can always center stand it on the sidewalk and pop the rear wheel out over the gutter. It will drop out if you have a square curb and gutter, but the blade skater and walkers don't like it besides, no class!

While that wheel is off, clean and grease the spline. Don't ever count on the shop doing this when you buy a tire. They may or may not, so it's always best to ask.

Now, go to a little more trouble, and save a lot of trouble.

Four 12mm nuts and the rear end is off the bike. Watch out where that spring came from so you can put it back. Not much to it at all.

You can now extract the drive shaft, clean it, grease it on both ends, check it for wear and put it back. You are going to have to tease the splines back into place with great patience since you won't remember where it came from, and the U-joint inside probably flopped down when the shaft came out.

Remember to tighten all four nuts when you put it back. Since there is no gasket here, a little sealer will do it. NEVER use a bonding compound here. There is only grease inside, and you might want to take it off again sometime.

Mike Kidney #05712