Inexperienced question....

[250sxer]

I have taken the front axle off of my SX and 350X by undoing the 4 little nuts on the clamp, then unscrewing the axle.....Is this the right way to do it?
I was just wondering if I should unscrew the axle first....don't know, but it seems that when I undo the clamp, the wheel turns and it is hell to put back on....like I said, I am not very experienced in removing the front axle...lol

[patblkwell]

Hey Matt, I took my front axle off the other day...I think it's done the same way on all bikes. You loosen those 4 little nuts on the clamp first, but not all the way so that the clamp is still keeping the axle on the fork. Make sure the bike is in gear or braked so it won't move when you unscrew the axle. Once you have the axle loosened some, you can put something under the bike to lift the front end off the ground to take the wheel off and all. I'll be doing this to the big red friday again...can't wait lol.

[bigredhead]

you are doing it right.

loosen 4 screws.. unscrew axle.

[250sxer]

Ok, that's sounds good....just one thing...when I unscrewed my axles, it didn't matter if the trike is in gear or not.....the axle should spin freely in the front bearings....if not something is wrong with your bearings....lol
Just picking on your RED, because I dont HAVE ONE LIKE IT>>>>

[patblkwell]

Oh yeah, once it is loosened up it should spin freely...the bike may move at first when you try undoing it. Haha the bearings on my bike are in decent shape I think, I'll prob. clean them when I take apart the front end friday.

[straight pipe]

well i tried a month or two ago to remove the axle cause my bearings blew out. and the axle was siezed in the brake baking plate and when i tried to reove it i destroyed the axle,damaged the brake plate and broke the thread part of the shock apart.then i installed a 200x front. ****if you manage to get everything apart run the axle on a steel wire brush and remove any rust build up on the spacers,bushings etc... and lube it all with anti sieze. and i would strongly suggest tearing apart the front end in this manner as a yearly maintenace****especially if you do alot of wet riding like swampin and such.

[bigredhead]

I HIGHLY advise against using a wire wheel on that axle.

a high grit sandpaper or scotch brite pad would do fine.. don't scar it up !

But however. DO grease the hell out of it .. !!!
Might even be time for new shoes too !!! :D

[straight pipe]

whatever the method just get it clean. and ya i did run a scotch brite on it before i coated the axle with antisieze, just forgot to include that.fore sure the nicer you polish it the less prone to rusting.

[Richyrich]

After you pull the axle, use a 6-8" buffing wheel with red rouge on it. If you don't have one, there is a little starter kit on ebay here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=25264&item=3880672436&rd=1 all you will need is a bench grinder but check your arbor first. If you have never used it before you install the wheel on your grinder, turn it on and hit the wheel with the compound. With the wheel being cloth you can run all over the threads and not have to chase them when you are done. The red rouge will take rust off scary fast without damaging the metal. Just be sure to remove the residue (grease) when you are done or the compound will clot with the axle grease and that will not be fun. I usually use engine degreaser from the dollar store and then a final wipe with alcohol.

[bigredhead]

scotch brite pad + WD40 + 2 minutes + grease = one clean and ready to use axle ! :D