imported post
I put a new reartire on my 1500 but I chickened out and had a shop mount the front tire. The job is easier if you have a bike jack but it can be done on the center stand. I think pulling the rear wheel on the 1200 is pretty much the same as the 1500. On the 1500 you need to take the saddlebags off, remove the bolt holding the muffler, loosen the muffler clamp, twist and rotate the muffler enough to clear the axle. Take the caliper off and hang it with some wire to the frame. Put a piece of wood between the pads so the pistons don't come out and to make it easier to put it back on. Remove the axle and caliper bracket, You may have to remove both lower shock bolts.Pull the wheel out of the final drive. You may have to take the back part of the rear fender off and/or let the air out of the tire to get it out from under the bike. I used a bench vise and some pieces of wood padding to break the bead on the old tire but you can do it with a couple tire irons and a rubber mallet. Get a rim protector or use some scrap between the irons and the rim to avoid scratching. Good idea to replace the valve stem too. Be careful of the brake disk, I removed mine so I wouldn't warp or bend it while wrestling with it. Most new tires have a mark to show the lightest part of the tire that goes next to the valve stem. Also make sure you have the arrow on the sidewall pointing in the direction of rotation. I balanced my wheel and tire, do a search and there's a post on the subject. It's not hard, the front tire defeated me, the Dunlop EIII has very stiff sidewalls and I was afraid I'd damage my rim so I had it done. I took both brake disks off first because all it takes is for a propped up wheel to fall over and you could have a bent disk.