hard to back up

hey guys, i have just bought an 81' 650 midnight maxim but ive had a lot of electrical problems with it but this is the only really mechanical issue if you can call it that. its extremely hard to back up. is there a way to grease the axels or the shaft or something to that effect to help it because it just seems real stiff. my dad has a 1200 harley and it weighs twice as much and i can back that up no problem but i am havin trouble with this bike. any ideas?

 

Is this in gear with the clutch pulled, or neutral?
Are any of your brakes binding? (Check rear drum for de-lamination)

 

Block the bike up off the ground & spin the wheels, see what is binding.

 

i have a hard time backing up my seca, but i think that's mainly due to my 30" inseam.

 

the guy i bought it from said he just replaced the brakes but who knows maybe he lied. ill have to check them but do you have to grease the shaft every so often? this is both in gear with the clutch in and in neutral by the way. it could partialy be because of my 30 inch inseam and this bike sits about an inch or so higher than my dads harley but that cant be it completely.

 

is it only hard to back up? or is it also hard to push forward? seems like anything mechanical would be equally hard in either direction.

i can honestly say, for me, it's my short legs (although i think the seca is taller than the maxim). cuz it's pretty easy to move my bike around if i'm standing next to it with one hand on the handlebar and one hand on the back of the seat (well, whatever that thing is called that's not really a sissybar, but is handy for attaching bungee cords to.) but if i'm sitting on it - i can just barely flat foot and just can't get much leverage to pull it backwards.

 

yea its hard to push forward also but usually when i wanna go forward i just give it a lil more gas but its difficult to move either way in gear holdin the clutch or in neutral

 

then i'd def. take wizards advice - mine was hard to move like that when the front brakes were dragging.

 

I bought my 750 with front brake drag. I rebuilt the calipers, new parts, polish the bores, and it works fine. It shouldn't be your driveshaft, and you def. need to find the problem.

 

i put it up on the centerstand and found out the jackass i bought it from had the brakes adjusted way to tight on the rear so i loosened it and the rear wheel spins freely but the front tire is still a little tight not much though and its squeeking and it sounds like its coming from the axel. how would i go about greasing it if thats my best option

 

midnight, make sure the caliper is not making contact with the rotor.
Recently when I replaced my front brakes I had the fork tubes about 1/16" to close together. This caused the caliper to drag on the rotor making a squeek sound. Loosened the pinch bolts on the axle, pulled the fork tubes apart 1/16" and all was well.

 

Something as simple as Tire Pressures will make it hard to push the Bike around.

 

If it's squeaking around the axle, I'd be looking at the wheel bearings. They're worth changing every now and then anyways, as they're cheap and it's a pretty easy job.