I just picked up my front wheel from the dealer after having a new tire mounted and balanced. I noticed the last brake caliper went on tight but was able to loosen up the axle nut and install it, leaving the caliper bolts loose. Then I tightened the axle nut and then the caliper bolts and the brakes were rubbing. That's when I noticed the dealer had put the axle spacer collars on backwards. I have since loosened everything up but I stopped there.
What damage have I done? Bent brake disk? Bent forks?
Oh, and I mistakenly squeezed the brake lever with one caliper off and now the lever goes down to the handlebars. Do I need to bleed the brakes now? The manual says I need bleeder apparatus to do that. Can I just use a piece of rubber tubing over the bleeder fitting running into a little container of brake fluid like on car brakes?
I doubt anything is damaged. It is not hard to mount a wheel. If you have the service manual, follow it. You aren't the first person to have the spacers wrong on a bike.
As far as the brakes, If you pulled the lever with the caliper off, you need to push the piston(s) back before installing the caliper. Really no different from a car. Unless you pushed the piston all the way out and thus lost fluid, you shouldn't need to bleed the brakes, but you can do it anyway.
My bike does not have ABS and bleeding is easy and you can do it just like you said in the last sentence of your post. Do not let the reservoir run low. There is a HOW-TO on this IIRC.
This was a lesson I learned quite a while ago.
Whenever I pull off a wheel I make note of the way the spacers are inserted and double check that they are right way round when I put the wheel back on
So far (knock on wood) I've only ever had to remove a wheel for a new tire. Locally, the dealers want the spacers out when you bring it in so they don't have to contend with them when they balance the wheel.
If they're left in it's up to you to make sure they are fitted correctly when you get it back.
Heck, if we didn't make some mistakes we would never learn anything
As popgun said, I doubt very much if you have done any damage.
Rocky, that's interesting about the dealer not wanting the spacers. When I took my wheels in for a tire change at the dealer, the mech. said he needed the spacers. I had them with me. And made sure I got them back
(05-23-2017, 12:43 AM)Lord Popgun_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Rocky, that's interesting about the dealer not wanting the spacers. When I took my wheels in for a tire change at the dealer, the mech. said he needed the spacers. I had them with me. And made sure I got them back
I think this may have something to do with the type of wheel balancing machine they're using and need/want to use their own adapters/spacers.
So far everyone, including the Service Manager at the Honda Dealer, said I probably did no damage and just to switch the spacers and reinstall the front wheel.
I decided to contact Honda Powersports customer service via the website to ask them to verify that the bike will be undamaged and safe to ride. I just hit 2000 miles so I consider it a new bike. Probably will be a little black mark for the dealer but the service manager never offered to check out the bike for me. I gave him the opportunity.
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