Going Darkside on my Shadow

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Hi, I have decided to Jump, I ordered c/t, today a Dunlop Le Mans LM702. 195/65/15. I paid $125.00 thats $110.00.USD. I have decided to fit myself as I`m getting some resistance from tire fitters to fitting a c/t on a bike. Not sure how I`m going to remove the wheel yet, having only a side stand, any tips on that is welcome. Thanks Jonno

The first times I lifted my bike, I just used a decent sized floor jack. I think it's a 3 1/2 ton jack (do you use the metric system in australia?). I just placed the jack under the front of the swingarm and lifted up the rear of the bike. It's definitely pretty precarious doing it that way, but it worked for me numerous times.

Doing it that way, it was impossible to get the bike high enough for my tire to come out without removing the fender. That adds a bit of work to the process, but it looks like you won't have that problem with your rear fender.

One annoyance you're going to run into is that exhaust. I'm pretty sure you'll have to remove the pipe from the rear cylinder, in order to get the axle out.

Oh yeah, whatever you do, don't take off the final drive assembly. The wheel and tire can come out with the final drive installed, so don't make things more complicated by taking it off. Don't ask how I know about that

That being said, you'll really be happy doing the job yourself. There might be a few sticking points along the way, but there are plenty of people on this forum that can help walk you through them.

We've always used a harbor freight bike jack.

How do you like those progressive shocks?

Steve-O wrote:We've always used a harbor freight bike jack.

How do you like those progressive shocks?

A bike jack would be good, but I`m cheap, so I might just hang it from a tree.
Yea the shocks are real good, mine lower the bike about 1", when I get the tire fitted it should make for a more comfortable ride, later I want to get progressives for the front end too.
Jonno.

Hoisting it up with a tree will work fine if you've got a solid branch to use. My friend just changed truck cabs using a come along and a tree branch. You might have to get a little creative to find a good way to bolt some chains or something on there without sratching anything.

Nowadays I use a chain hoist to raise the rear of my bike, but I've got a nice steel T with chains coming off the ends, that I bolt to the rear of the frame. Definitely a time saver for tire changes.