rear wheel removal 1200 Aspencade

[Milesofsmiles]

I recently removed my rear wheel to get a new tire installed and was reminded again of what an onerous, laborious, and over-complicated process Honda made this to be. I think it might be less work if one had a bike jack and could get the bike up off the floor a few feet but then I'm not sure how you would manage lifting and lowering the swing arm to get the various components apart. One thing I have found helpful is to put the bike on about 2 inch blocks under the center stand which gives a little extra room to get the wheel off - but remember to do this before you pull the axle. I also found letting the air out of the tire gives a tiny bit of breathing room for wheel removal.
One thing I would also advise is to start a longer trip with a fresh tire because if you take your bike to a bike shop in a city or town en-route, there may very well be no one there who knows how to remove the rear wheel off these older bikes. It's not very reassuring when you see your bike mechanic googling how to repair your bike.
Another conclusion I've come to is that if you are changing the back tire, buy the very best, longest lasting tire you can afford.

Another option which, as I get older, may be the best, is to find a good mechanic that knows these bikes and let them do the work. My knees just don't weather the concrete floor (even with knee pads) quite like they used to.

Happy and safe riding to everyone this summer

[neoracer]

its definitely not one a shop likes to do,but u will pay dearly for it too

[SIR tricky]

The best way is the way the bike shops do it.
They use a bike lift with a section of the platform that drops down, allowing the wheel to drop down.

Myself always did the grunt and swear style, do it often enough and you can have the luggage off and the wheel out in about 20 minutes.

Mind you now at age 77 not sure I am agile enough to do it that fast, but I can still do the swearing part