Been having ongoing discussions with Steptoe regarding tyres / wheels / forks etc and he was still puzzled by my apparent reluctance to actually want to remove the front wheel. I'd tried explaining to him the differences and showing him the bits involved, so I've finally bit the bullet and removed the front wheel to get a new tyre fitted. here's some pics as to why it's so much harder to get the front one off compared to the rear.
^ The front end prior to removal of both calipers, fork brace bridge, mudguard and speedo cable. That's what has to come off to start removing the front wheel.
^ The reason behind this.... The large caliper mount castings on the sliders......
^ That actually wrap around inside the disc.
^ Bit of a closer shot.
^ Through the wheel view
^ The really critical bit. Only measures 80mm between caliper lug castings
^ In order to get the wheel out, the sliders have to be turned in towards each other to give enough clearance.
^ The vacant gap after removal. Note, I only have the stock sized 100/90 - 19 front tyre fitted. Any larger would make things even worse.
^ Final shot showing how far the lugs stick out in their normal position. Not sure why the casting is required on the back side of the disc, but I know it makes life difficult for Special owners.
The lugs don't look too imposing when you look at them on the bike. It's just when it's apart that you can see how different they are to either the Standard or RH variants of the Xs11's
