This was very helpful I’m on a farm in Zimbabwe and there are more thorns than you can think of and I’m constantly fixing punctures and I was doing the axel replacement all wrong this whole time
He is still doing it wrong. Use a tool to get the legs parallel. But because of the thorn bushes, you can also go to "moose" tire inserts. Instead of a rubber inner tube filled with air, it is a foam "inner tube shaped" insert filled with air bubbles. They wear out eventually, but won't go flat.
Does move it, but still does not work well. I made a simple tool for mine to make sure the legs are parallel, and found that method to still be off almost .030".
@@ClayFick No way is .030" in spec. The sliders will bind with the bushings as the legs go through their travel. The tool I made is very very simple. It is just a piece of 1" diameter aluminum round stock, faced off in a latch at both ends to the proper distance between the plated fork legs. I simply measured a triple clamp for the "center to center" distance of the fork legs, and subtracted one diameter of a plated fork leg. The gauge length for my 2019 YZ250 2-stroke is 5.661", and it fits through the holes of my brake disk. All I do is get the front wheel off the ground, tighten the disk brake side axle clamp, install the gauge as low down on the forks as I can, (through my brake disk for mine), make sure it is straight, and tap over the other fork with a rubber mallet (at the axle area), until the gauge is tight between the plated fork legs, tighten the last axle clamp, and carefully remove the aluminum gauge I made. Then, you forks will be able to work their best. I first used the front brake method. When I did it this way, I actually had to go to a stiffer fork spring set, because I removed all the binding.
There is not good wheel installation vid on YT. If your not using a tool to get the legs parallel, then they won't be parallel. The forks will not work as well as they are designed and will wear out faster,---if you don't use a tool to know they are parallel.
Why would you? It's not a wear part and the bearing don't turn on it, it's fully stationary and the grease's only purpose is to inhibit rust and repel moisture.
This video was so helpful. My yz450f (2008) was binding half to a quarter way down when you compressed the forks. I did this procedure and the forks are the best they have ever felt and don't bind anymore.
I have a 2022 yz450f and i have some issues in the wheel, its out of true but the rotor is rubbing. Somi dont think its a truing issue i think maybe a bearing didnt seat properly or something. Also my allen side of the axle does not slide in at all on either end. It takes some good force looks like im ordering a mew one.
Getto tip for today, if you don't have one of the axle hex thingy bober jobers to hold the other side while use the torque wrench, try the back end of a spark plug socket and some vise grips ;)
@@rmatvmc oh definitely but I try to get around buying something by any means possible! I have created tools out of old different tools so I wouldn't have to buy new ones 😅 I'm pretty cheap
Came here to say this, a spark plug socket usually has the proper size hex and you can just insert it backwards and then use an extension with the ratchet to keep it from spinning.
wouldn't moving the bike from the floor to the stand effectively make compressing the forks pointless? seems like after compressing the forks, you'd want to immediately tighten the right side pinch bolts and then finish checking torque specs.
if you don't know already you can just spin the tier while the bike is still on the stand and grab the brake and it'll be the same as what he did by compressing the forks then just tighten the pinch blots then the axle nut. The Dirtbike Channel made a video about this and that's where i learned to do it from
I have a DRZ400SM and when I do this I usually get a larger "free play" on the front axle. Suzuki manual says that I need to torque the axle nut to 20Nm, then tighten all the pinch bolts, and after that tighten the axle nut to 42Nm. This kind of ensures that there is no slack in on the front axle (speedo drive from one side of the wheel and spacer on the other are all kept "tightly" together without excess movement/free play. If at any point I loosen right side pinch bolts to try and straighten fork alignment I get a situation where I have a few millimeters of extra "free play/gap" on my front axle (the speedo drive and spacer on the other side of the wheel are no held together "tightly" anymore. Can you comment on this? Is this still fine and I still should proceed in the manner demonstrated in this video?
I am confused, did you tight the LEFT pinch bolts, then press the bike with front brakes several times, then tight the RIGHT side pinch bolts, then finished? or I missed something: should I lose the LEFT pinch bolts, then press the bike again?
You are not missing anything, that is the correct sequence. The axle nut then left side pinch bolts get tightened, then you align the forks and tighten the right side pinch bolts.
previous owner over torqued right fork axle pinch bolts, now after getting my forks rebuilt the front axle will not go back in. ive tried everything i can think of to open it up a little without causing to much damage. any tricks or ideas anyone has?
Excellent video! I have a question though. After installing the new typhoon rotor on the front wheel of my honda crf250 the wheel was very tight and the pads were holding the wheel from rolling freely and dragging on the rotor. At this point I believe my next step is to bleed the brakes but not sure. Any tips or information you can respond with would help. Thank you
Great video! So when I compress my front forks on my crf250x to get the right fork to align before tightening the right side...The fork wants to end up sliding out from hub on the axle and leaving excessive side play. I have all new bearings. Has anyone ever heard of a bent triple clamp? Or any help? thanks!
My axle won't go back in. Opened gap up a little and still won't go in. The bigger part of axle won't go in at all. Your saying just to file edge to get it in?
Just happened to me with my husky 250 4T Enduro. There was an impact inside the bore that make the axle impossible to fully place in. Just a little file work and it was good. Just need to prevent the corrosion frequently now but that'q not a big deal.
Is it possible replace a stock dirt bike's 21 inch front wheel by its rear 18 inch, ignoring tyre width? Thus converting into supermoto by buying one extra wheel
Look up a flat track setup. I'm debating on doing that to a 450 for the street. Basically you get a supermoto setup with having 2 19 inch wheels rather than 17s.
What size torque wrench for the axle nut and what size torque wrench for the pinch bolts ?Also what type of grease do you put on the axle? Thanks for the vid!
I use a 1/2" drive torque wrench for my axle nut because the wrench torques up to 150 ft lbs and my manual says 84 ft lbs. For the pinch bolts i use a 3/8" drive torque wrench as those bolts only need 15 ft lbs on a yz250f
You can use a screwdriver on the metal backings of the brake pads to separate them. That should get you by, but if the piston is stuck, you might need to rebuild the caliper. -Charles
Sorry. That method does not work well either, (unless you loosen the top fork clamps, remove the fork caps and handle bars to compress the forks all the way to bottom.). I gut tired of these guessing games, so I figure out the center distance of my triple clamps, subtracted one diameter of the plated fork sliders, for the distance between the slider tubes, (which is 5.661" for a 2019 YZ250 2-stroke), and faced off a piece of aluminum 1" diameter round stock to fit between the plated fork sliders, (though a hole in the brake disk), and tapped that loose fork clamp end until the rod is tight and straight between the fork legs. Tighten the fork clamp. Carefully remove the aluminum rod, and your legs are parallel with in + or - .001". Your forks will work better and last longer if you know they are parallel. Side note, this is a deal with upside down forks, as traditional forks had axle spacers that kept the legs parallel. I have no idea why upside down forks are designed this way, but I know a lot of people are wearing out their forks faster then they should be. Actually measuring it somehow is the only way to make sure they are parallel. You can have a you machine shop face you off a piece of aluminum stock for probably about 10 bucks, if they charge you at all. All you have to be able to do is measure the right distance. If you can't, sue your school.
Getting your wheel "aligned" with the forks is not the issue. That is done when you tighten the axle at the disk side. Getting the forks parallel is the issue, and you are not going to do that with out a tool that spaces your lower forks at the correct distance to insure parallelism, before you tighten the pinch last clamp. If you don't use a tool,--you are not getting the best performance out of your forks and wearing them out faster. Would you like to comment, Rocky Mountain? Can you tell me I am wrong? I am not wrong.
Thanks for the comment, but don't be mad at us. Dustin shows the process exactly how Honda and the other manufacturers want it done to ensure the forks are parallel. I know this isn't the answer you want, but this method works great and it's hard to argue against all the engineers at every major motorcycle manufacturer. Hopefully this helps. -Charles
@@rmatvmc I am not mad. I am amazed. The Yamaha engineers also place the tranny oil height screw (that replaced a dip stick a long time ago), that starts flowing oil at about 350cc, and it takes 750cc. There is only one way to insure the forks are parallel, and that is to figure out a way to actually measure it.
Thank you man, loved the fact you mention an alternative for us without the special tool
This was very helpful I’m on a farm in Zimbabwe and there are more thorns than you can think of and I’m constantly fixing punctures and I was doing the axel replacement all wrong this whole time
He is still doing it wrong. Use a tool to get the legs parallel. But because of the thorn bushes, you can also go to "moose" tire inserts. Instead of a rubber inner tube filled with air, it is a foam "inner tube shaped" insert filled with air bubbles. They wear out eventually, but won't go flat.
You can also just spin the front tire and hit the front brake a couple times while the bike is on the stand to straighten the right fork
Does move it, but still does not work well. I made a simple tool for mine to make sure the legs are parallel, and found that method to still be off almost .030".
That’s within spec on a dirt bike in my opinion. Would be cool to see or learn about your tool though !
@@ClayFick No way is .030" in spec. The sliders will bind with the bushings as the legs go through their travel. The tool I made is very very simple. It is just a piece of 1" diameter aluminum round stock, faced off in a latch at both ends to the proper distance between the plated fork legs. I simply measured a triple clamp for the "center to center" distance of the fork legs, and subtracted one diameter of a plated fork leg. The gauge length for my 2019 YZ250 2-stroke is 5.661", and it fits through the holes of my brake disk. All I do is get the front wheel off the ground, tighten the disk brake side axle clamp, install the gauge as low down on the forks as I can, (through my brake disk for mine), make sure it is straight, and tap over the other fork with a rubber mallet (at the axle area), until the gauge is tight between the plated fork legs, tighten the last axle clamp, and carefully remove the aluminum gauge I made. Then, you forks will be able to work their best.
I first used the front brake method. When I did it this way, I actually had to go to a stiffer fork spring set, because I removed all the binding.
faced off on a lathe
Best front wheel removal and install video I have seen; well done and thank you!
There is not good wheel installation vid on YT. If your not using a tool to get the legs parallel, then they won't be parallel. The forks will not work as well as they are designed and will wear out faster,---if you don't use a tool to know they are parallel.
I grease my axle 10 hours or so and still watch this video everytime lol
Why would you? It's not a wear part and the bearing don't turn on it, it's fully stationary and the grease's only purpose is to inhibit rust and repel moisture.
This video was so helpful. My yz450f (2008) was binding half to a quarter way down when you compressed the forks. I did this procedure and the forks are the best they have ever felt and don't bind anymore.
That's great to hear *Raptor Vlogz.* Thanks for the feedback and for the comment.
Nathan new yz125 had both pinch bolts gone and the axel nut missing
That’s a problem beo
Thanks great info and video.
Thanks for posting
I used an impact driver for the axle bolt is that ok? On a ttr125
I have a 2022 yz450f and i have some issues in the wheel, its out of true but the rotor is rubbing. Somi dont think its a truing issue i think maybe a bearing didnt seat properly or something. Also my allen side of the axle does not slide in at all on either end. It takes some good force looks like im ordering a mew one.
Getto tip for today, if you don't have one of the axle hex thingy bober jobers to hold the other side while use the torque wrench, try the back end of a spark plug socket and some vise grips ;)
*Luke Howland* Not bad for in a pinch. Or, you can always just buy one. :)
@@rmatvmc oh definitely but I try to get around buying something by any means possible! I have created tools out of old different tools so I wouldn't have to buy new ones 😅 I'm pretty cheap
Hey it works right!? Half the fun is creating the tool i'm sure. Thanks for sharing your tricks!
If it looks stupid but works, it ain't stupid! Story of my life..
Came here to say this, a spark plug socket usually has the proper size hex and you can just insert it backwards and then use an extension with the ratchet to keep it from spinning.
Solid Video. thank you. Saved to my collection of maintenance tips
clean ahh bike
wouldn't moving the bike from the floor to the stand effectively make compressing the forks pointless? seems like after compressing the forks, you'd want to immediately tighten the right side pinch bolts and then finish checking torque specs.
if you don't know already you can just spin the tier while the bike is still on the stand and grab the brake and it'll be the same as what he did by compressing the forks then just tighten the pinch blots then the axle nut. The Dirtbike Channel made a video about this and that's where i learned to do it from
mitchell baxter I was thinking the same thing.
I have a DRZ400SM and when I do this I usually get a larger "free play" on the front axle. Suzuki manual says that I need to torque the axle nut to 20Nm, then tighten all the pinch bolts, and after that tighten the axle nut to 42Nm. This kind of ensures that there is no slack in on the front axle (speedo drive from one side of the wheel and spacer on the other are all kept "tightly" together without excess movement/free play. If at any point I loosen right side pinch bolts to try and straighten fork alignment I get a situation where I have a few millimeters of extra "free play/gap" on my front axle (the speedo drive and spacer on the other side of the wheel are no held together "tightly" anymore.
Can you comment on this? Is this still fine and I still should proceed in the manner demonstrated in this video?
I am confused, did you tight the LEFT pinch bolts, then press the bike with front brakes several times, then tight the RIGHT side pinch bolts, then finished? or I missed something:
should I lose the LEFT pinch bolts, then press the bike again?
You are not missing anything, that is the correct sequence. The axle nut then left side pinch bolts get tightened, then you align the forks and tighten the right side pinch bolts.
super thanks :)
previous owner over torqued right fork axle pinch bolts, now after getting my forks rebuilt the front axle will not go back in. ive tried everything i can think of to open it up a little without causing to much damage. any tricks or ideas anyone has?
how did you get the axle out if it is too tight to get back in?
same here. what did you do? Im stuck
Excellent video! I have a question though. After installing the new typhoon rotor on the front wheel of my honda crf250 the wheel was very tight and the pads were holding the wheel from rolling freely and dragging on the rotor. At this point I believe my next step is to bleed the brakes but not sure. Any tips or information you can respond with would help. Thank you
Kind of a worthless channel, huh
Great video! So when I compress my front forks on my crf250x to get the right fork to align before tightening the right side...The fork wants to end up sliding out from hub on the axle and leaving excessive side play. I have all new bearings. Has anyone ever heard of a bent triple clamp? Or any help? thanks!
cs9575 thats normal
Yes I'm stuck on the same problem. Did you end up resolving that issue?
During front wheel school Dustin must have missed torque wrench day.
Critical at 3:00, especially if you don’t have a hex axle tool... 3:50...
My axle won't go back in. Opened gap up a little and still won't go in. The bigger part of axle won't go in at all. Your saying just to file edge to get it in?
Just happened to me with my husky 250 4T Enduro. There was an impact inside the bore that make the axle impossible to fully place in. Just a little file work and it was good. Just need to prevent the corrosion frequently now but that'q not a big deal.
Is it possible replace a stock dirt bike's 21 inch front wheel by its rear 18 inch, ignoring tyre width? Thus converting into supermoto by buying one extra wheel
Sure it is possible. You will probably have to make your own parts though.
Look up a flat track setup. I'm debating on doing that to a 450 for the street. Basically you get a supermoto setup with having 2 19 inch wheels rather than 17s.
What size torque wrench for the axle nut and what size torque wrench for the pinch bolts ?Also what type of grease do you put on the axle? Thanks for the vid!
I use a 1/2" drive torque wrench for my axle nut because the wrench torques up to 150 ft lbs and my manual says 84 ft lbs. For the pinch bolts i use a 3/8" drive torque wrench as those bolts only need 15 ft lbs on a yz250f
why is there a kick stand on this bike? or why is there no head lights on it.
It’s a crf450rx. Comes with kickstand but no headlight
Hi. Q: can you store the dirt bike with the wheels off during transport?
No that could ruin the forks
My brake pads are closed together
screw driver and lightly pry to open them up
Are those rivets holding the fork guards on?!
No, they're hex head bolts
No, they are button head hex bolts. Sort of looks like a rivet when they are not in focus, though.
My brake pad closed on itself and I can’t open it at all anymore
You can use a screwdriver on the metal backings of the brake pads to separate them. That should get you by, but if the piston is stuck, you might need to rebuild the caliper. -Charles
Yyou
Sorry. That method does not work well either, (unless you loosen the top fork clamps, remove the fork caps and handle bars to compress the forks all the way to bottom.).
I gut tired of these guessing games, so I figure out the center distance of my triple clamps, subtracted one diameter of the plated fork sliders, for the distance between the slider tubes, (which is 5.661" for a 2019 YZ250 2-stroke), and faced off a piece of aluminum 1" diameter round stock to fit between the plated fork sliders, (though a hole in the brake disk), and tapped that loose fork clamp end until the rod is tight and straight between the fork legs. Tighten the fork clamp. Carefully remove the aluminum rod, and your legs are parallel with in + or - .001". Your forks will work better and last longer if you know they are parallel.
Side note, this is a deal with upside down forks, as traditional forks had axle spacers that kept the legs parallel. I have no idea why upside down forks are designed this way, but I know a lot of people are wearing out their forks faster then they should be. Actually measuring it somehow is the only way to make sure they are parallel.
You can have a you machine shop face you off a piece of aluminum stock for probably about 10 bucks, if they charge you at all. All you have to be able to do is measure the right distance. If you can't, sue your school.
Getting your wheel "aligned" with the forks is not the issue. That is done when you tighten the axle at the disk side. Getting the forks parallel is the issue, and you are not going to do that with out a tool that spaces your lower forks at the correct distance to insure parallelism, before you tighten the pinch last clamp.
If you don't use a tool,--you are not getting the best performance out of your forks and wearing them out faster.
Would you like to comment, Rocky Mountain? Can you tell me I am wrong? I am not wrong.
Thanks for the comment, but don't be mad at us. Dustin shows the process exactly how Honda and the other manufacturers want it done to ensure the forks are parallel. I know this isn't the answer you want, but this method works great and it's hard to argue against all the engineers at every major motorcycle manufacturer. Hopefully this helps. -Charles
@@rmatvmc I am not mad. I am amazed. The Yamaha engineers also place the tranny oil height screw (that replaced a dip stick a long time ago), that starts flowing oil at about 350cc, and it takes 750cc. There is only one way to insure the forks are parallel, and that is to figure out a way to actually measure it.
Lube up ur head.
Annoying music
I did all this with a wrench and channel locks. Don't need all that tusk shitnto take an axle out 😂😂😂
toomuch talk