I finally got around to replacing the chain and sprockets yesterday but what a job that was. The front sprocket nut was practically welded on, I actually have a slightly curved breaker bar as a result of my failed efforts, I had to resort to asking for the help of my missus and stepson to give me a hand to get the bigger undone, with a a length of steel tubing on my breaker bar while I stood in the rear brake, not ideal I know but it finally loosened with a distinctly audible crack. Whoever had tightened that up previously must’ve been somewhat mechanically unsympathetic. What a beast of a job
I have also found the front sprocket nut sometimes takes a lot of effort to remove. It can be more difficult than the single sided swingarm rear wheel nut even though it requires less torque at 132Nm (rear wheel nut is 146Nm). And it lets go suddenly so best to wear some heavy gloves to avoid grazed knuckles if you are using a breaker bar. Well done for persevering.
Yes, the rear nut on the sprocket side let go more easily but was still a team effort for me and the missus but the steel tube wasn’t needed. I’m now awaiting delivery of new rear sprocket bolts as some of the originals stripped their threads at 22 lb/ft so I don’t know what sort of cheese they were made from ? Incidentally the tab washer for the front sprocket had been folded up all round the nut absolutely flat, took a while to prise that out. As I’ve worked on the bike since taking ownership of it I’ve found all sorts of signs of bodging which I’ve put right. I enjoy working on my bikes, it’s kind of therapeutic but today, I can feel aches and pains from yesterday’s battle.
Milwaukee 18v impact driver, makes light work of anything on the bike and bolts on the SUV at 400+nm. Not as cheap as a piece of tubing though! Last time I changed the front sprocket on the ZZR, which was TIGHT, I positioned the bike with the brake lever directly over the ground anchor and ratchet strapped it down enough to lock the wheel and leave both hands free to tackle the nut.
Every time I remove the rear wheel on a Panigale 1299s, it takes a bit of effort, the torque is 230nm. I always use an impact gun to remove anything over 150nm, but never ever use it to re-torque them. It sounds like that sprocket nut has either been vastly overtightened, or locktight was used. Glad you got it removed ok with no damage.
Instead of using the back brake to stop the wheel rotating why not shove a goodly sized piece of timber through the back wheel, perhaps not with traditional spoked wheels though. A rattle gun is the best way to go. @Iceman 230Nm that is incredible, you must have a very special torque wrench. My old Norbar only goes up to about 150Nm
There wasn’t any sign of thread lock having been used, they just wound it up with an extreme lack of mechanical sympathy. All retorqued correctly now.
That’s incredible, it must have a fairly long handle. Don’t think I’ve got sufficient muscle to handle a beast like that.
This is a picture of the retaining nut with a 230nm torque on the Ducati 1299s Panigale. The battery-powered impact gun does not have enough torque to remove it, the air impact gun has it removed in seconds. Having the right Ducati tools for removing wheels is essential, especially for the front wheel spindle.
It’s easier than you might think. My 3/4” drive goes up to 395nm and is, near as damm it, 3ft long which obviously makes applying big torque numbers easier, plus axle nuts are, usually, dead easy to get to so you can use body weight to your advantage. The Milwaukee has 950nm available so it’s not even trying with anything on the bikes.
