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1971 R75/5 rear wheel removal. How to?

K

krisnys

New member
Hi,

I must got my hands on a fairly nice BMW R75/5. It's mostly ready to ride, but has a leak from the valve stem in the the rear tire and probably needs a tube change (tire is new). Would anyone be so kind as to direct me to a description of how i can best remove the rear wheel so that i can take it to the tire shop to get it fixed?

Here in Norway, no tire shop will accept the whole bike due to regulations that state that you have to be a registered motorcycle mechanic to be allowed to work on bikes. I'd go to a motorcycle repair shop, but they all seem to be fully booked for the summer...
 
Simple. Put bike on centerstand. You may want to put a block of wood under the centerstand to get the bike up another inch or 2.
Remove axle nut. Loosen pinch bolt on the other end of the axle. Tap the axle out (if you have OEM mufflers there should be no need to move them. If custom mufflers, you may have to take them loose and move them).
Slide wheel over and off final drive. If you can't pull the tire and wheel rearward and out free of the rear fender, you may have to let the air out of the tire - this is where the extra couple of inches from the wood blocks can help.

Is the shop you are using familiar with BMW R/75 series? Do you know when last the bearing stack was removed and greased and the pre-load checked? These are important issues usually addressed when changing tires.

To re-assemble, first get some Honda Moly grease and with a brush, apply grease to teeth in wheel hub that will mate with the teeth in the final drive. Then put wheel on final drive. Carefully slide axle back through. Snug up axle nut. - (NOTE: assuming the pre-load on the bearing stack is correct here. ) By snug up I mean you tighten only enough (and it should not be much) to take out any slack - meaning, snug the nut and then grasp the tire by both sides and see if you get any wiggle of the wheel on the shaft. DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN THE AXLE NUT. If after snugging it you have play when grasping the wheel and shaking it you need to have the pre-load and grease in the bearing stack checked .
Tighten pinch bolt on axle.

Drink a beer.
 
All 70's BMW models came with a good owners manual that showed the procedure to remove and install both wheels in text and sequential pics. If yours is missing the manual can be purchased from dealers or by secondary parts suppliers. Good luck with your project. :)
 
Would anyone be so kind as to direct me to a description of how i can best remove the rear wheel so that i can take it to the tire shop to get it fixed?
Click to expand...

I'm just curious.... are you allowed to work on your own motorcycle? Changing a tire is not difficult, it is a good road skill to have, and gives peace of mind. Once you get the wheel off.

ebeeby's instruction are excellent. The hardest part for you might be pulling the axle out. Easy to do really. There is a hole through the left end of the axle. It is to put a "tom bar" through ( there is one in your tool roll (or should be)). Loosen the axle nut on the right side of the final drive. Loosen the "pinch bolt" on the left side of the swing arm. There is an "ramp" milled into the swing arm on the left side (see the yellow arrows) ... Put the bar through the hole and rotate it (and the axle); as the bar rotates it will climb up the ramp and extract the axle as it does so.

BMW Tom Bar.jpg

"tommy bar"
bmw tommy bar.jpg
 
lmo1131 said:
Put the bar through the hole and rotate it (and the axle); as the bar rotates it will climb up the ramp and extract the axle as it does so.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...I never thought of that "design feature"...do you suppose the engineer's did that on purpose? :dunno I just thought the ramp/bevel was there to use as an alignment feature (the hole should be right up against the shoulder) and lets the tommy bear slip in. I keep the tommy bar off of that bevel to avoid scratching it. Just wiggle the bar up and down 5-10 degrees and pull to the left at the same time...it should release.
 
Excellent addendum Imo.

I left out the bit about pulling the axle out. Since I am usually in my garage when pulling the wheel, I use an appropriate sized Phillips screwdriver to insert in the pull-hole and pull the axle out.

All the manual references leave out the very important last step - drink a beer. Odd that a bunch of Bavarians (the Southerners of Germany) would leave that out.....
 
I still like the method of strapping the centerstand to the exhaust crossover, removing the front wheel and rotating the bike forward so it rests on the forks with the rear wheel high in the air. Sounds crazy but it worked well for me.
 
ccolwell said:
I still like the method of strapping the centerstand to the exhaust crossover, removing the front wheel and rotating the bike forward so it rests on the forks with the rear wheel high in the air. Sounds crazy but it worked well for me.
Click to expand...

So, how easy was it to get the rear tire past the swing arm and brake hub? I've never done this before, but envision this as problematic. The bike rear end is up in the air, and even if you have a 4.00 rear tire, it will take some pulling/squeezing to move it past this point. I prefer to do that with the rear closer to the ground where I can sit on the ground and carefully walk the tire out the back. And not to mention all the extra steps of dealing with the center stand and front wheel removal. I guess I've never seen it demonstrated but seems like a potential disaster to me. :dunno
 
lmo1131;1093410 ebeeby's instruction are excellent. The hardest part for you might be pulling the axle out. Easy to do really. There is a hole through the left end of the axle. It is to put a "tom bar" through ( there is one in your tool roll (or should be)). Loosen the axle nut on the right side of the final drive. Loosen the "pinch bolt" on the left side of the swing arm. There is an "ramp" milled into the swing arm on the left side (see the yellow arrows) ... Put the bar through the hole and rotate it (and the axle); as the bar rotates it will climb up the ramp and extract the axle as it does so. [ATTACH said:
62213[/ATTACH]

Was trying to figure out a way to explain that bevel there by the axle and there you go with your photoshop skills........lol....another missed chance to WOW FOLKS with the minutae..........For me, I truly need that method of using a strap to the exhaust.......With the wider tires that come now, yes, they are actually wider though listed as the same size, it's really hard for me to wiggle them past the brake and get them out. Dropping them straight down instead of wrestling them back is so much better on the VA benefits...............God bless US old guys
Click to expand...
 
Job well explained, and thus well executed!

Thank you for all you instructions and tips! The wheel came off beautifully, tube sorted, and it's now happily back on the road. And a beer was definitely drunk. Or two. Ok, maybe three.

Getting the wheel out was really no problem. I followed the instructions given, and while it was a somewhat snug fit, it came out past the swing arm and brake hub just the way it was supposed to. I didn't have the tool roll and a "tom bar", but the axle was freed with some gentle tapping on one end and some gentle pulling with a screwdriver on the other. It was no problem holding the wheel itself while gently prying it free.

Again: Thanks!
 
20774 said:
So, how easy was it to get the rear tire past the swing arm and brake hub? I've never done this before, but envision this as problematic. The bike rear end is up in the air, and even if you have a 4.00 rear tire, it will take some pulling/squeezing to move it past this point. I prefer to do that with the rear closer to the ground where I can sit on the ground and carefully walk the tire out the back. And not to mention all the extra steps of dealing with the center stand and front wheel removal. I guess I've never seen it demonstrated but seems like a potential disaster to me. :dunno
Click to expand...

I had all the misgivings you do but it worked fine. Once the spacer is out, the wheel just slides right out/down. Working by myself it was easier than levering the bike on the centerstand on to a 2x6 so the wheel would clear the rear fender.
 
One thing I have done when trying to gain more height on the center stand is to use a 2x4 cut in half on a shallow angle to give you to two wedges when done. then you can put one on each side of the stand rock the bike away and kick the ramp under the stand, going back and forth taking small bites till you get it up on the flats. Works great for a heavy bike.
If I remember correctly the English always referred to that bar as a "TOMMY"
 
If I remember correctly the English always referred to that bar as a "TOMMY"
Click to expand...

So you're saying the word "bar" is superfluous? "Tommy" is old an British term for a soldier. :scratch
tommy bar.jpg
 
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