Thanks again for all who replied to my initial post asking for info and advice about removing my rear wheel to mount a new tire.

I bit the bullet and took it off myself.  Had a shop put on my new Pirelli MT Route 66.  Bought the new tube from them and left there after shelling out approx $51.  I reinstalled the tire this morning.  Just back from a short test ride and everything seems fine.

I would encourage anyone to do this on their own.  I am a 53 year old woman and I didn't find it too difficult at all.

Thanks again to everyone for the help on this and for all the other info I've gleaned from this forum.  I really appreciate your help.

Good on ya!

Phelonius

Gosh, thanks for the kudos.

I'm getting to the point that I think we can do almost anything to these bikes ourselves if we just seek help from the forum.  I bought my 2004 a couple of Aprils ago with less than 300 miles on it.  I've got about 6800 on it now.

I found this forum, bought a Clymer's Manual, Savage Greg's CD and a motorcycle/ATV lift.  By using those I've done my own oil changes, modified the carb a little (that gave me enough chutzpah to pull the carb on the outboard on my boat and give it a good once over!), changed my own front brakes (which gave me the chutzpah to do it on my Blazer) and now the rear wheel removal.   Now that I've removed and reinstalled the rear wheel, I won't think twice about doing the rear brakes myself when the time comes.

 

I just love finding a thread that makes me smile.