Front wheel removal

Quick question for you:

1999 VFR800

Do I have to remove the fender and brake caliper/s to remove the front wheel?

It looks like there should be clearance to drop the wheel straight down without doing any of that, but the Honda service manual says to remove the fender and remove the right brake caliper.

 

You don't need to remove the fender.

 

Thank you!

 

You don't really need to take the fender off but do need to take either brake caliper off. I take off the left side brake and fender because it allows for an easy front wheel removal. In theory you can take the wheel off without taking the fender/brake off but it's really hard and you're liable to start cursing. It's not that hard anyway to take the brake and fender off anyway, it takes maybe 5 minutes tops.

 

Even if you could drop it straight down, the wheel won't clear the calipers, they are too far inboard. I pull both of them, it's only two bolts each and a couple minutes. Less if you've got a cordless impact. Just remember to hang the calipers from something other than the brake lines.

 

Even if you could drop it straight down, the wheel won't clear the calipers, they are too far inboard. I pull both of them, it's only two bolts each and a couple minutes. Less if you've got a cordless impact. Just remember to hang the calipers from something other than the brake lines.

And if you remove both calipers you stand less chance of scratching the paint on the wheels.

 

All done. I left the fender on and took the right caliper off. Plenty of clearance from the other caliper. I was doing this to change a brake rotor. I could not pull the wheel all the way out because it would not fit between the ground and the front of the fender. However, I was able to pull it forward enough to change the brake rotor without moving the fender. The job was very quick, so the fender and other caliper probably would have nearly doubled the short amount of time it all took. Thanks, VFRWorld!