I need to change my front sprocket for the first time but I CAN'T get it loose. I've opened up the washer bend, had my wife sit on the bike with the rear brake on, used a long breaker bar but it won't give.

My Bonneville was not near as tight.

Should I buy an impact wrench, and if so, to what ft lbs to get it loose? Lowes has a Kobalt 500 ft lb air impact wrench for $70 and it has good reviews.

How is everyone else getting it loose?

I haven't done my Versys, but i did change my front sprocket on my Gixxer. You just need more Cow-bell. Hop down on the breaker bar and it will come loose (as long as the Mrs. is putting max force on the rear brake).

I've heard people say it was hard to get off, but most managed with a pry bar. I put my "Earthquake" 625 ft lb impact wrench from Harbor Freight on it...pulled the trigger in two short blasts just to see what it would do and the nut fell off before I realized it. So if you do some mechanic work and have ever considered an impact wrench, now would probably be as good a time as any.

Thank you. I think it's impact wrench time.

Torque is a very un-exact science in the real world. A nut torqued on a flange even with a very good torque wrench could vary by +/-50% and your regular bolt or screw is +/-25%. So I think I got one on the higher scale of things.

Here's a good study on torque:
http://www.surebolt.com/surebolt.htm

You can get a good 3/4" impact wrench from Harbor Freight tools for $59.00. I wouldn't waste my time with a 1/2". It won't have the power to do the job.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=32871

The one I have is a 1/2" :

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2623

IMHO, I would buy based on the rated torque rather than drive size...this 1/2" one is rated 625 ft lbs, while the above 3/4" is rated at only 350.

The one I have is a 1/2" :

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2623

IMHO, I would buy based on the rated torque rather than drive size...this 1/2" one is rated 625 ft lbs, while the above 3/4" is rated at only 350.

I also have th 1/2" model but for some reason it will not break loose a lot of nuts I have encountered. For some reason the 3/4" seems to have more "umph" and I've yet to run across anything it won't break loose. The 3/4" I have is rated at 500 ft lbs.

Go figure.

Well I wimped out. I have so many things to do that I just had the shop change it.

Still, I will look at this issue more. I hate being dependent on others when I could just do a job myself.

I've read that a breaker bar is much easier on nuts and that you should never tighten a nut with a impact wrench like tire places do. It should always be done with a torque wrench.

Have any of you found that nuts get worn from impact wrenches?

When you use an impact wrench for the front sprocket, do you have to have someone sit on the bike and put pressure on the front brake?

Does the socket have to be rated for an impact wrench?

I've read that a breaker bar is much easier on nuts and that you should never tighten a nut with a impact wrench like tire places do. It should always be done with a torque wrench.

I've probably snaggled more nuts with a breaker bar...there is always some twisting component with the breaker bar...by that, I mean a force at a right angle to the applied torque. This is exaggerated with deep well sockets, or if you have to use an extension. But an impact wrench is true torque.

I wouldn't tighten a nut with an impact gun...you have no idea how much torque it's really putting out. I suppose if you have adjustable setting on the impact wrench to limit the torque (mine has 6 levels) and you start the thread by hand so you're sure it's not cross threaded - then it should be OK to run the nut down with the impact and use a torque wrench for final tightening.


Have any of you found that nuts get worn from impact wrenches?

Seems just the opposite. Nuts come out in good shape with the impact and get boogered up using the breaker bar. Now sockets on the other hand...so far, I 've had one Wal-mart socket split down the side after 7 years of home garage work.


When you use an impact wrench for the front sprocket, do you have to have someone sit on the bike and put pressure on the front brake?

I didn't...with an impact, the torque is high, but the duration is so short that it doesn't transfer much overall torque to the wheel...plus, the nut busted loose so fast I don't think the wheel even had a chance to turn.

But impact wrenches work the same for things like flywheels, harmonic balancers, etc. Things you would have to block up to keep from spinning while using a breaker bar, you can just pull the trigger on the impact wrench and let the high impact force do the work.

Does the socket have to be rated for an impact wrench?

That would be ideal although even seemingly cheap tools (wal mart) have lifetime warranties now. If you do use a "regular" socket, there is always a chance of it splitting or breaking...sometimes with flying pieces. So if you don't feel like investing in a complete set of impact sockets, it may at least be good to get a pair of safety glasses.

Corey, U-da-man!! You should be an impact wrench salesman because you've got me sold. Really, thanks for the great answers.

I see what Dallasdon is saying about the 3/4" but I've read great things about HF Earthquake 1/2". Not the cheapest but certainly reasonable. It will be in my tool box soon.

You guys are great.

Harbor Freight has them on sale and then there is a 15% off one item coupon in the ad too.

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/tabviewer/startBrowseBook.do?bookid=214&preview=&type=RET&simple=

Looks like I'll be there this morning.

my 1/2 inch electric impact is low power at best and it got the job done. in gear no rear brake.

Harbor Freight has them on sale and then there is a 15% off one item coupon in the ad too.

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/tabviewer/startBrowseBook.do?bookid=214&preview=&type=RET&simple=

Looks like I'll be there this morning.

Don't know which wrench that link is pointing to, but I'd highly recommend sticking with something in the "Earthquake" series These are all double hammer designs and have 2-3x the torque and nearly double the freewheeling RPM as most other wrenches they have.

Got the 1/2 drive Earthquake for about $70 with all the discounts. I tried it on the rear wheel nut, which is darn tight, and it took it off in a jiffy. Amazing with the IW you don't have to support the opposite nut to prevent spinning.

Should have bought an impact wrench years ago.

buster123 my 1/2 inch electric impact is low power at best and it got the job done. in gear no rear brake.

Buster, I thought it was bad for the engine to leave it in gear when loosening that nut.

I'd rather do it as specified in repair manual using a 1/2" breaker bar to avoid hammering the transmission gears and distorting some shafts. If you insist on the impact wrench, leave it in neutral to isolate engine components. It's torqued to 92 ft-lbs. The rear brake is not quite strong enough, so I blocked the rear wheel with a lenght of 2" X 3" wood in the swingarm, towel wrapped and carefully positioned to avoid denting the swingarm's thin aluminum... I also lean on the deep socket's driving end while pulling on the breaker bar to limit twisting torque, as mentioned by corey873.

If it is torqued to 92 lbs, and studies prove that could be off by 25% (more with a flange included), if you have a nut at the higher end of the scale, one could hurt themself getting that kind of leverage to loosen it.

For me, next time, I will leave it in neutral as I always do and then use an impact wrench like my Kawasaki dealer does. They don't mess with breaker bars and those that wrote the manual won't pay my medical bills from an injury using a breaker bar at such a high torque to get loose.

No way would I do it in first gear for reasons you mentioned.

Don't be silly. There's nothing to fear with the breaker bar, atgatt. It's made for it. If you feel confident handling an impact wrench, you'd be fine with a 1/2" breaker bar. With the rear wheel well secured, the nut is VERY easy to loosen.
The highly powerful rotational impact force delivered by the impact wrench easily loosens the nut, and also excessively over-torqus the nut back on. Expect to need a larger, stronger impact wrench next time you need to loosen the nut. Distorting the countershaft will also be more likely, even if left in neutral... Locking the rear wheel to use a breaker bar allows you to re-torque the nut to specified 92 FT-LBS with a proper torque wrench.

atgatt, I'm a big fan of Harborfreight and impact sockets et al. I was trying to get the front brake caliper off yesterday and was rounding off the bolts with my crap chrome sockets.

Went to HF and got a set of metric 6 sided impact sockets of $8.50, came back and the bolts came straight off.

When alvis and I put the 16tooth on, we had to crank up his large impact wrench to get it to shift, but it makes life sooo easy.

Machog

invader, why was it not VERY easy for me? How do you know for sure what the nut was torqued to when they can vary by so much? I agree with you not to use the impact wrench to tighten the nut but I can't see the harm to loosen it when the bike is in neutral. Let tools do the work.

And yes, I have pulled muscles before when a breaker bar let loose on a very tight nut.

Machog, interesting input. I ordered a complete set of HF impact wrenches.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=34683

atgatt this is the set I got from HF;

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=3655

I already had some of the bigger ones, plus the one I wanted for my brake caliper bolts is a 12mm, the only one your set doesn't come with!

Don't why its taken me so long to get good sockets, I love tools and HF is so reasonable.

Plus I also picked up a laser thermometer-no I don't need one, but its a great toy. Tire temps, checking if both cylinder heads are the same, exhaust, radiator temp etc, cost all of $19.99 so couldn't resist.

Machog

Machog, at least I got that 27mm socket in it for front sprocket and rear wheel nut, but darn, no 12mm for brakes. The good news is I can find that one 12mm sold by itself at Sears.

Regarding thermometers, I have about 4 of them. My left cylinder is always about 10 degrees hotter when comparing in exact spots. It does not matter if I rode a long way on a very hot day or cool day, the temps all read the same.

The left cylinder at its hottest spot is never above about 215 and yet my previous Triumph Bonneville, a 790cc twin, often got over 250 on hot days.

The V is a "cool" bike in more ways than one.

mine is harder than hell to get off, i gave up, ill just wait to get a dampend one i guess!

It's way easier to change the rear sprocket to a 46t.

Whats up with this front sprocket. I'm taking a 3 day trip on the versys this weekend. But when I get back ,I am trying this one more time. I have tried every tric I know and nuttin . Its not like I have never done this. I have changed sprockets on my other 4 bikes, some of them several times. I have done everything short of driving the car over the 3 foot cheater bar I'm using. Hey.......

Whats up with this front sprocket. I'm taking a 3 day trip on the versys this weekend. But when I get back ,I am trying this one more time. I have tried every tric I know and nuttin . Its not like I have never done this. I have changed sprockets on my other 4 bikes, some of them several times. I have done everything short of driving the car over the 3 foot cheater bar I'm using. Hey.......

Two words of advice: impact wrench

Golfmuch, atgatt is on it. The only way we could get our (alvis & Machog) front sprocket off was with alvis's impact wrench and as importantly a 6 sided heavy duty impact socket. Even then we had to crank up the power on the compressor to get it to shift.

Buy the socket and borrow the wrench. If you are in the US my favorite store www.Harborfreight.com has a number of low cost options for both. They have a $21.99 emergency impact wrench good to 150lbs.

Torqued value of the sprocket nut is supposed to be 92lbs/125Nms, ours was well over that, but once its off you can re-torque to the correct value and it will be easy to get off. Don't forget to get a new lock washer when you replace sprocket.

Machog

Two words of advice: impact wrench

+1

I used to be a professional mechanic and not only know many tricks but also have a very good set of tools. I have an electric impact wrench but not a compressed-air one. I tried everything with my tools and gave up. Took it to a shop and two blips of an impact wrench had it off.

A lever applies torque in one direction: An impact wrench will apply nearly the same torque while applying multiple hits at a 90-degree angle, helping to coax the threads loose. A few forumites have gotten the nut loose with levers, but most of us have resorted to impact wrenches. My guess is that Kawasaki put some sort of thread lock on during production (I could not find any, though), maybe they assembled it with heat or excess torque, but suffice to say that holding the rear brake while the bike is on the ground and then having someone else blip it off is the way to go. I had my buddy re-tighten the nut so I could ride home. I had no problem taking it back off.

us country boys just get a 3ft. piece of pipe slip it over a pull handle......just step on it....it's off..........kudzoo

I had a heck of a time getting my sprocket off at first. Then I just used "the country boy" tool (good to see another one here) and it was off in under a minute. I must admit that when it first cracked, it sounded like the socket broke and gave me a good scare. I now have the 16 toother and good to go.

Two words of advice: impact wrench

I have tried the impact. I have a professional grade snapon 1/2 " drive. I'm going for the 3 foot cheater bar with a 2 and 1/2 gainer off the hood of the ford Escape this afternoon.

gulfmuch, Wow, the Snap-On didn't do it. Don't shoot me, but I read in a car forum that the Snap-On did NOT work as good as the HF Earthquake. Go figure.

Don't shoot me again, but...does your compressor put out the amount of air needed for the wrench at 90 psi? Or you using impact sockets? How old is the Snap-On and do you keep it oiled and the clutch lubed? If you use the cheater, can you pad the floor real well just in case your 2 and 1/2 gainer only makes it to 2 and 1/4?

Why on earth is Kawasaki going nuts with their torques?

I don't see what the big deal is. Impact it off. The breaker bar is a much worse technique for something that moves. Now, if you were breaking a crankbolt on a car loose, or any bolt attached to something really heavy, sure the breaker bar would work. But in this case, your energy will travel all the way through to the rear wheel. That is quite a bit of lost energy, meaning you have to provide that much more to the breaker bar, all while keeping the bike upright. Hit it with an impact and you're done. Take it to a car or bike garage and ask if they will do it or let you do it with their impact wrench. Just don't go pulling a muscle or knocking your bike down to get this thing off.

I had a Jeep once that had a tight harmonic balancer bolt. Even with a breaker bar on the bolt and the jeep in gear, I could roll the jeep forward by turing that bolt. Finally I put the breaker bar on the bolt and lined it up against the ground. One crank of the key had the bolt loose. Not that I am recommending this on the bike. It doesn't have a reverse gear.

I'm sure an IW would be a lot easier than a breaker bar, but I don't have one, or a compressor even. So my options were to bring it to a garage or use the bar. And once I got the extension pipe onto the bar it came loose in a jiffy. I'd love a shop full of cool tools, but that isn't in the forecast with two kids in college.

Breaker bars and pipes for me.

Yes sir. Good to see I'm not the only good ol' handy country boy around here. The sprocket nut can oxidize and stick a bit over time, but with the rear wheel properly secured with a padded 2" X 3" length of wood in the swingarm, I didn't have to add a pipe to the 1/2" breaker bar for extra leverage. The manual way is not for anyone though, I suppose... Experience, strength, weight and mechanical aptitude makes a significant difference.
Just make sure you leave it in neutral if loosening nut with impact wrench, and use a torque wrench to reinstall.

I had Company come in last night but I will start on the front sproket again tonight. I may rent a 3/4 inch impact if the 3 foot cheater bar dont do it. My compresser is plenty big enough and I had cranked up to 160 PSI.

I My compresser is plenty big enough and I had cranked up to 160 PSI.

I didn't mean as much how high the psi is, but rather what your compressor puts out in SCFMs at 90 psi and what your impact wrench requires.

That is one of the reasons I like the HF Earthquake is that it will work at only 4.7 SCFM at 90 psi when others need a higher SCFM. My 5 gallon Sears compressor just barely puts out that much at 90 so it made the requirement.

I know a little about air compressor's. I spent 21 years as a service manager of a 22 bay tire store in Bham. We had 30 plus 1/2" impacts and 6 3/4" impacts. When a lug nut would freeze up on a stud. Normally there was not enough power to break the stud with a impact. You put a pull bar with cheater bar on it. You can break it every time. There is not a impact made that will out do a 225lb man with 4 foot of leverage. A impact will keep most of the hammering centered where it will do less damage that is for sure. and I still did not get a chance to work on it again. Maybe tomorrow.

OK . I have a question as well on front sproket for the V . Have you guys been going through sprockets pretty fast ? I am pretty light on the throttle in general , especially on take offs . But are these things quick to wear .

Also . Although there is some seriously good advice in here on size of wrenches and the such , but the truth of the overall matter is ..... you can have the biggest impact wrench in the world , but if you don't have enough air volume and flow , you might as well be trying to take it off with your fingers .

I'm admittedly just an armchair impact wrench person just having bought one and did some reading about them. Still, I want to understand situations so they make sense to me.

You have a 225 lb man with a 4 ft cheater bar. If the man stands on the bar that should come out to 900 ft lbs of torque. Many 3/4 IW will do 1200-1400 ft lbs. But, a 225 lb man bouncing on a 4 ft bar is another matter. Still, 1400 lbs from an IW is nothing to sneeze at.

OK . . Have you guys been going through sprockets pretty fast ? .

I had my front one replaced at 27,000 miles but it really didn't show that much wear. The back sprocket shows no wear.

We all read different things and I've read that steel sprockets should last for about every two chain changes.

atgatt ,
Thanks man . I am a maintenance freak and like to keep a close eye on things . Put it this way , I am so freaky about maintaining my bikes that I almost never let them go more than 500 miles between oil changes and I use Rotella T Synthetic . I like to change at 400 miles . LOL

I know , I know , it isa desease . LOL

PO-SLOKE, you're a very sick man. But, to help you, I will gladly take your "used" oil and I'll be buying stock on Rotella.

You are certainly the oil-change king of all time. Never heard of anyone as anal as you about a clean engine. If ever I got very rich, I'd hire you as my bike mechanic.

Please find a bike charity though to give your old oil to.

hummmmmmmm......if a 3ft. cheater an't enough............get a 6ft..........and if a 6ft.......well u know get a..................

atgatt ,

I admit ..... it is a desease . But I get a really odd sense of over enjoyment when I get on after each oil change . LOL

Hey I found the right combo. 27 mm 6 point, 1/2" pull bar, 4' cheater. Drive bike front tire up against block wall, chalk rear tire, pull cheater bar up with preesure and sit cheater bar on rear peg. Then sit on bike, hold rear brake tight with all your weight on the bike pull up on cheater bar untill you hear a 20 guage shotgun go off. That will be the nut. Then it comes right off , only fingers needed.