Wheel Axle Tool

Most modern motorcycle front wheel axles are threaded into one of the lower fork tubes with the other end of the axle being secured by a pinch bolt in the other fork tube. Removing the axle requires one to loosen the pinch bolt and unscrew the axle with a large hex head tool, often a socket. The size of this hex head is large enough (or obscure enough) that:

• You have to buy some tool from the manufacturer at a ridiculous price,
• You have to purchase a tool that some aftermarket company sells for $25,
• You're lucky enough that a hex head socket of appropriate size can be located and purchased for a reasonable price, or
• You're a DIY kind of guy that builds your own tool with a bolt and two nuts that you picked up at a local hardware store for $2.

2009 BMW R1200RT

An axle tool an be made using following components:

• 1, 9/16"-18 x 2 bolt
• 2, 9/16"-18 nuts

The nuts fit perfectly inside the axle of the motorcycle. Jam tighten the nuts together, or if you have a welder, burn both nuts and bolt together.

Presto! You can then use a 13/16" socket and ratchet to remove the axle, or a wrench, or an adjustable wrench, or a pair of Vice-grips, whatever.