Motorcycle Repair: 1981 Yamaha Exciter 250 front wheel removal, drum brake, shop manual

Question
I own the bike mentioned in the subject line; just got it.  It has been garaged its entire life.  I need to replace the front tire.  The front wheel is equipped with drum brakes.  How do I remove it?  I have removed the cotter pin and the nut, and the axle will easily drive out, but what do I have to do relative to the brakes?

Answer
Information on removing your wheel & brake should be in your shop manual. If you don't have a shop manual you should get one - your bike is an antique and you will have a hard time finding a shop that will work on it. The sad fact is that a lot of the mechanics working now are too young to remember bikes this old and aren't interested in learning about them so that they can do a proper job. This means that you will have to do most of your own work, and working on a bike without a good shop manual is just not worth the headaches. (My bikes are from the same era - that's why I fix them myself.)

I recommend that you get two manuals - a Factory Shop Manual and a Haynes or Clymer. That way when you don't understand the explanation in one you will probably figure it out when you have read the other too. If you spend some time on Google you might even find a factory manual available for free download.

If your bike is like the drum brake machines I have seen, when you remove the axle the wheel and brake assembly will come out together and the brake will lift out easily. Be careful not to kink or otherwise damage the brake cable. It would probably be a good idea to have a box or something next to the bike to sit the brake on so that it doesn't hang on the cable.

NOTE: The dust inside a brake is dangerous so be careful not to breathe it in.

While you have it apart, wipe the drum out and have a good look at the brake assembly. Make sure the shoes are in good condition and have lots of friction material left. I like to disassemble the brake assembly and clean & re-lube all of the pivots, cams &c whenever I change a tire on a drum brake wheel.