Front Wheel Removal Without Center Stand

Not bad for $500 initial investment from orig owner who did her wrong
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/and about $1500 in parts and about 200 hrs work. She is what I take out to wrinkle the pavement and soil my underooos. I take the 650 out for a nice spirited ride and the Trident is a time machine. I think I'm pretty lucky I got to own my dream scoots. And some other pretty nice ones along the way too! Thanks for the compliments!

I agree Big Red is beautiful. I like Sunny Side up to though...maybe because she's a 650 or because of her..provenance? Resurrection? Can I hear it again?

I use a centre stand just in the garage, problem is if you have a puncture out and about.

As someone has said its easy to lay the bike down on a grass verge or bank, removing the tank and side panel takes no time, but do also remember to take the battery off or you will not be pleased to see your frame covered in acid!

Had to do this yesterday to take both wheels off for a tire change. I remembered reading this post and thought I would offer up my own version of improvising when no centerstand was available. I used 3 4"X4" pieces of wood and a 1" X 6" board on each side. I started by positioning one stack on the right side so that they would be directly below the right side of the engine when the bike was fully tipped up. Then I positioned the same on the left side between the kickstand and the left side of the engine.
All I had to do was lean the bike up to horizontal(standing on the left side) with only a small amount of effort for the last inch and then slide the stack under the left side with my foot.
It's a little bit of a juggling act, but not dangerous.
Just make sure you are lining up your piles to get as much support to the bottom of the engine as possible and not the side covers.
Then I put several bricks on the bottom/back side of the engine so that the bike wouldn't lean back when the rear wheel was taken off.
I'll take a pic tonight.
Note: It helps to have a buddy for all this, but the front wheel removal especially. It was a bitch to lift up the front forks to slide out the axle from in between the studs.

Ok, just had to add my 2-cents When I had to remove my front wheel I used an engine hoist and cargo strap to the handlebars to hold the front up. For the rear tire I used the cargo strap on the rear part of the frame under the seat. And then just to see if it would work I tied the cargo strap to the handle bars and rear frame and lifted the entire bike off the ground! :blink: :woohoo:

Sometimes there are things I just HAVE to do!







For some strange unknown reason I didn't get a picture of the entire bike in the air!:ohmy: The next time I do that I will definately take pictures!

Years ago (before my bike lift) I used a 4"x4" nailed to a clever assortment of pieces of wood. I would need someone to hold the bike upright then use the 4x4 as a giant lever and pull the bike up on the attached pieces of wood that made contact with bike frame. Never had any trouble with it. But now I use my bike stand as I don't need any help to raise my bikes.

Here is my current jack, probably overkill and too expensive, but it is what it is...

www.motorcyclejacks.com/MAL-2.shtml