The never ending tiny little collection of changes one needs and wants to keep doing as long as they have this old lady with them. I have not really thought much about these things but over period of time, these small little things have become a gradual progress and big help in the times of travels.
Not quite sure what the BMW was thinking when they want to put everything on their bikes to the non-standard availability of what is out there in the market. Call it monopoly but I do not like it that each time I want to open something small, it gets restrictive with how much non standard items one has to clear out of the way. Although should be simple but it isn’t if you are out of tools or a proper workshop. Just under a tenner for both these nuts, so quick picks and now over to getting them on.
Impromptu pickup
A bit of reference also, pointed by Matt at his blogs here : I managed to grab the KTM 27mm Axle nuts reference. I dropped an email to the KTM Vienna and they were lightning fast to reply back that they have axle nuts – 50310099000 (x2) in stock. Collected the same day, and there I was.
Front AxleRear Axle
Although, in the Matt’s blog, he mentions about the spacer on the rear of his ’07 Xcountry but is interesting that there isn’t any issue to have my rear nut modified or to be shimmed a bit on the lathe. It fits in fine, as seen in the picture above and there has been no issues so far with it.
Now I can grab the 27mm wheel nut wrench with an ease, so I am able to adjust my wheel chain whenever far and away from places. Thinking of the lighter T6-Almunium CNC keys, with the functionality of being able to also fix the punctures on the move. I will share that once I grab the pair of keys but lighter is my choice.
Here is how it starts, my rear disk is slightly getting a warp of thick and thin on the rear and is nowhere near a point of concern but I want this to be well looked after since I only own this bike since half of its life. While the first half it has lived, it has seen some usage but not by me. I prefer to my things, in my order of knowledge knowing, what, when and where in terms of their maintenance.
It so happens that there was an on-going discount on the parts and I managed to find a matching disk to my specifications for this G650 Xcountry and supported by my friend to lend his expert help, this couldn’t get any better. Double whammy, for the perfect timings. Brembo’s were double the price and then alternatively TRW LUCAS has a matching disk as per the retailer, with a part number 10043491.
The present state before replacement
Being a self-novice at these things, it was good to get my act together getting my hands dirty and self rolled into the grease and grime. Lovely part, if this can turn you happy, even a bonus.
I replaced my both front and rear axle nuts to 27mm after reading lots of other riders comments about how hard it could be to find 26mm when in the middle of nowhere and also the fact that the original 26mm hex nut ends up losing its shape and the grip on its shape not being long enough and rough edges makes it harder over period of time. More on this here.
Loosened up the rear Axle nut and let the side screws on the chain loosened up all the way to the front as in the pic below to allow the Axle block become free. Pushing the axle rod out was easy enough job with gentle push from the right side with gentle boot tap on it.
Axle rod and wheel removed. Note, that the Axle block holding the Axle also comes off.
Keep an eye on the spacers, and keep them separate as both sides differ. You will notice that they are not same and generally I do not see how you mix them up but still, try to keep them separately. Left to the left, and right to the right. Will help you in the later stage to run them back in easily.
When removing the rear sprocket, keep an eye on the rubber grommets holding inside the hub of the wheel and their directional weights. The ligher(smaller) side of the grommet runs in the direction of the wheel while the bigger part of the rubber grommet sits on the back of second block after the lighter one.
Wheel off
Replacing the disk thought was more so triggered by the fact that I was about to replace the rear pads. But then the warp made me re-consider the disk swap too. Previously on my other Fazer, it went on for as far as 70,000miles without a first replacement.
Take care of the ABS ring, the ABS ring shouldn’t get damaged.
As a precautionary note, take care that the disk side of the wheel is always on the top when working, also when replacing any tubes or punctures as well. When putting the bolts back on, work on them in the bi-directional channel of tightening them up. That ways, you are sure to not mess up anything and also equal distribution of the tightening before putting the final locking pressure on these bolts.
Note: When replacing the disk pads, the rear metal plate on the side of the inner master cyclinder side, needs to be replaced from the older pad. There is only one, on the inner side of the master cyclinder.
Now the reverse procedure to get the wheel back on and the adjustments of the sliders to adjust the bolts to tighten up the chain slacks. There are markers on the both side of the swing arm base, so you should be able to align them equally, leaving them unequal will put your wheel out of balance.
Wheel back in, disk replaced
Well, this was all good and fair up until I rode for 200mtrs and I got the ABS light on. I was wondering what happened.
I had a long ride to get back home so I tried stopping, starting, resetting the bike by nothing changed. It would go away for 2-3seconds when I start riding but as soon as the Picked up the speed, it would come after every 100mtrs. Also, when braking hard, I can instantly feel that there was no ABS in the rear, while the front was untouched and works perfectly fine.
So, the fun part begins, need to get the ABS light and the rear ABS to work again. More on this on my next blog here.
Mileage read out is 37500kms at the time of replacement.
FreeBirD 