Removing/installing the front wheel on the VTX 1800c

Preface
This is a basic walk-through for removing/installing the front wheel on the VTX 1800C. This is a pretty simple job which requires a few basic tools and a torque wrench if you have a decent walk-through - I hope to remedy that last part with this. As always undertake this project at your own risk, but with a little common sense this isn't very hard to do at all.

Preparation/supplies

Motorcycle lift

Small flat screwdriver

Torque wrench capable of 16 to 67 ft/lbs of torque

Deadblow hammer or hammer and block of wood

Red loctite

6mm, 17mm allen socket

12mm, 7/8" OR 22mm socket

Removal
Raise the bike on the lift and block the back wheel with something so the bike won't rock too bad when the front wheel comes off.
Remove the brake calipers from both sides using a 12mm socket:

Note for Retro guys: The Retro models have bigger fenders, so in order to remove the brake calipers very carefully remove the rear fender bolts and loosen the front fender bolts. With this done you can pivot the fender forward on the front bolts enough to remove the caliper. If you're a little clumsy you may want to tape off the fender near the caliper so you don't damage any paint. Once the calipers are off loosely reinstall the rear fender bolts to keep the fender from pivoting too far and getting damaged.

With both calipers off the bike you need to do something with them other than let them hang from the hoses. I use a bungee cord hooked to the handlebars to hang them and take the pressure off the brake lines.
Now take the small screwdriver and carefully (so you don't damage them) remove the 4 pinch bolt "chrome" caps from both sides of the fork legs.

With all 4 caps off use a 6mm allen socket to break loose the pinch bolts on the RIGHT side only.

With those pinch bolts broken loose you can use the 7/8" or 22mm socket to loosen and remove the axle bolt.
With the right side taken care of break the left side pinch bolts loose and remove the axle altogether. You may need a rod or broomstick of some sort to drive the axle out with.

With the axle out the wheel will fall out so be ready!!!

With the wheel out remove and inspect the spacers, take note that they are different sizes (left bigger than right). I usually put my axle and the spacers back together so nothing gets lost while I swap tires, etc.

While everything is broken down do some inspection to make sure you're riding safe - check the axle, bearings, dust seals, bolts, etc. If anything seems worn or faulty then replace it - is your life/safety really worth a $.50 bolt or a $15 bearing?

Intermission...
Now is the portion of the write-up when you do whatever you were removing the wheel for in the first place...

Install
This is pretty much the reverse of what we just did to remove the wheel. If for any reason the rotors needed to be removed (some shops will remove them to swap tires) make sure that they are reinstalled with red loctite and torqued to 14 ft/lbs. The manual doesn't mention loctite on these bolts because they "require" replacement and new bolts come with the loctite on them. If your bolts look fine then they should be ok to re-use (with loctite). If you don't feel comfortable re-using then replace them, they are metric bolts available from HOP.
Now put your wheel spacers back on properly (left bigger than right) and lift the wheel into place. Get the axle started through and use a deadblow hammer or a hammer and block of wood to drive it all the way through until it's flush with the fork leg (see pic below).

It is important to pay attention because sometimes the fork legs are slightly different lengths (this is due to slight misassembly of the fork inners) so you may need to use something to compress one fork to line up with the other before you can drive the axle through. Now put the axle bolt back in on the right side and torque it to 67 ft/lbs. With the axle in place and torqued down you can tighten the pinch bolts on the right side to 16 ft/lbs.

Do NOT tighten the left side pinch bolts yet.

Reinstall the brake calipers on each side using a 12mm socket. You may need to use a screwdriver or C-clamp to compress the pistons in the calipers enough to give you space to get them back on.

Note for Retro guys: Just reverse your steps from earlier to get the calipers back on. Remove the rear fender bolt, pivot the fender on the front bolt and carefully reinstall the caliper onto the rotor. Once both calipers are back on you can reinstall and snug down all of your fender bolts.

Closely inspect these bolts, if they look damaged replace them (OEM# 90101-MZ8-000 - 8x32 metric bolt). If they look fine then clean the old loctite off of them and use red loctite when reinstalling them to 22 ft/lbs

Now we'll step away from the service manual and use a procedure recommended by Showtime56 of the VTXOA.
There are problems associated with brake rotor drag, specifically on the left of the bike. These problems arise from improper spacing when installing the axle and tightening the axle pinch bolts - specifically on the left side. Using original OEM parts the right side dimensions are set and cannot be adjusted, so the right side brake clearance is not an issue. With this said, let's look at this groove in the left side of the axle:

That groove is our "guide" for how far the axle should be seated in the fork. The pictures below are of the axle installed without the rim/tire - this is done strictly for the purposes of this write-up so we can easily see what we're dealing with. The installed axle in the below pic is incorrect, but it lets you see where the groove is in relation to the fork. It is incorrectly installed because the axle is pushed too far in - it would also be wrong if it were too far out so you couldn't see the groove at all.

This is a pic of what the axle should approximately look like when installed. The groove should be just against the inside of the fork leg. The exact location of this groove will vary slightly from bike to bike.

What you want to do is spin the wheel and lightly tap the left fork leg in or out to make minor adjustments. It doesn't take much as you'll find that a slight variation to one side of the groove or the other results in a lot of brake dragging. Continue to spin and adjust in tiny increments until you get several rotations of the wheel with one good spin. Once you have yours "dialed in" to your sweet spot make a mental note of the location for next time around and tighten the left side pinch bolts to 16 ft/lbs and reinstall all the "chrome" bolt covers.

Using this procedure you shouldn't have any clearance issues, but always visually inspect your clearance between the brake disc and the caliper mounting bracket on each side to make sure that you're not rubbing. Your clearance should be at least .7mm (.03"), but I've never had a problem with clearance when using this procedure.

That's it, you're done!

Afterthoughts
This is a fairly easy job for most riders to do and it can cut your tire changing costs in half. More money in your pocket is always a good thing!