07' Vmax Front Caliper Rebuild

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HeckticHaze

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So I am still working on my issue with my rear brake pad drag but I wanted to also get started on the front caliper rebuild.

My 1st question for you folks is what is the safest and most stable way to lift the front wheel off the ground to check the operation of the front brake calipers to the rotors? I also need to remove the front wheel to get a new tire mounted.

The exhaust system is below the frame of the bike so my side entry hydraulic lifting system will not work. I can't see a cross bar on the lower front of the frame to get on to lift it with the radiator. A friend of mine suggested lifting it from the handle bars which did not sound good and I am also hesitant using a cross beam in my garage to lift this kind of weight. I do have another lift I use on my Harley Sportster. The lift slides in between the bikes exhaust pipes. It has two upward mounts that can be adjusted side to side to fit under each outer frame section. The upward mounts have some height adjustment so you clear the exhaust pipes. It works ok as long as you are not putting any real side force on the bike while your working. I'm not sure if I can use it with the Vmax center stand in place or if the bike would be stable enough on it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Assuming we're spaking of the Gen 1... put it on the centerstand and then use a floor jack under the front of the engine. I usually put a piece of 2x4 cribbing between the jack and the bike, it doesn't take much to lift it so the weight transfers to a point where the rear tire touches the pavement. Then, have at-it.
 
Thanks again Fire-medic for the reply. It is a Gen1. When I did my first oil change I was looking at the underside of the engine to see if there was a flat enough spot to get a jack on it. I just was not sure if I should be applying force on the engine casing in that area.
 
Thanks again Fire-medic for the reply. It is a Gen1. When I did my first oil change I was looking at the underside of the engine to see if there was a flat enough spot to get a jack on it. I just was not sure if I should be applying force on the engine casing in that area.

Spread the load via the 2x4 cribbing. The bulk of the weight is borne by the centerstand, you're just using a light-duty floor jack to change the weight distribution to allow access to an unweighted front end to do a tire change, or to work on the calipers. You could even remove the triple trees and the entire front end in this fashion.

I use cribbing or a jackstand once I get the height to where it needs to-be, I don't rely solely upon a hydraulic cylinder for support.
 
I use the centerstand and put jack stands under the frame sliders.
 

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When I clean my bike, I do exactly as everyone here states, I center stand the bike, 2x4, floor jack and pump till its lifted slightly. This allows me to rotate the wheel for cleaning. No adverse affects and its been lifted about 12-16 times in a year this way.
 
Guys thank you for your input. I like the setup mabdcmb has. I use something similar on my old Seca except the Jack's are setup under the highway bars. I have forward foot pegs on the Vmax but they fold upward and there is not much to set on the stands.

Fire-medic or Pighuntingpuppy, are you coming in from the side of the bike or from the front under the radiator with the floor jack?

Dannymax, are you connecting the rachet strap to the rear hand-hold bar?

There seems to be a couple of different ways to skin the cat here. I'll give it a shot this weekend.
 
Just saw a photo of that set up once but I always used 2 x 4's under the crash bars.
But would think you could hook the ratchet strap anywhere it wouldn't leave scratches.
Putting cribbing under the crashbars is a good idea, once it's jacked-up or if you have a jackstand pair positioned under the jackstands which allows you to set the front end off the ground as he said. As to the winch-down of the rear end from the plywood eyelet, a soft-tie loop would give you a purchase w/o a hook being used on the passenger grab bar. Some tie-downs come w/those built-in, or buy a pair at your local shop, or online.
 
So I took a piece of 2x6 lengthwise and installed it down along the bottom of the engine. It is all finned and offset along the bottom of the engine. I was able to get my jack more toward the front of the 2x6. Started lifting the bike. I was concerned I was to far back on the engine and was going to just lift the whole bike up. Luckily that did not happen and the front of the bike came up enough I was able to get jack stands under my highway pegs.

Removed the front calipers and removed the front wheel. Took the wheel to the shop for a new tire. Had original 06 tires on it. Rebuilt the calipers. Not that bad inside the grooves for the seals. Put the wheel back on th he bike. What a pain getting wheel back on. Between the speedo sending unit on one side and the spacer on the other side it was tricky getting the the wheel in place. Tighten everything up and of course the rotors are scraping the pads when you spin the tire. No issue before I took the wheel off. Going to try and old Seca trick where you get everything back down on the ground. Loosen the axial nut and pinch bolt. Bounce the front end a little and to tighten everything up again. This kind of settles the forks in place. Just tighten the hardware and check for alignment again.
 
For all youze guys, I saw a guy do this on Youtube and designed and had a guy weld it up for me (a skill I never acquired, oddly). I tie the bike down with a ratchet strap across the engine. Just redid the forks, calipers, and brakes. Works like a champ. Of course, you have to have the car lift first, but they are surprisingly affordable and you can install them on a 4" floor. I did this because I didn't have room for another floor tool in my shop and I'm a little too tore up to get down on the floor and back up easily. I can send my drawings for this if anyone is interested. Yours will be a little different depending on your bike.
 

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