| Rear Wheel Removal
You'll need a six-point 46 mm (1-13/16-inch) socket and a torque wrench with a handle extension. Most sockets this size are 3/4-inch drives so you also may need a 3/4-to-1/2-inch drive adapter.
Check your socket construction. You may need to machine down the hex end of the socket if it has recessed flats. Otherwise, you'll only get partial engagement of the socket flats on the comparatively thin nut. There's high torque involved here so you'll want to anticipate slipping and damaging the nut.
The rear wheel is held on with a 46 mm nut cross-drilled to accept a safety retaining clip that is installed as a safety precaution to prevent the loss of the nut. If the nut was not torqued correctly when last installed, the nut may have loosened a bit and captured the pin. This will prevent the socket from being placed over the nut, so you may have to cut off or pry the pin out.
You can expect that the rear wheel retaining nut will be VERY difficult to remove, usually requiring the use of an impact driver (or a long handle extension) to get it off. Over time it seems to get tighter.
The best way to keep the wheel from turning while removing the nut is to have a helper apply the rear brake lever with a normal amount of force. Be careful, too much force on the lever can break the rear master cylinder bracket which is the pivot point for the rear brake pedal.
Rear Wheel Installation
A Ducati tech bulletin and their web site specifies 176 Nm ± 5% torque requirement for the rear wheel retaining nut (normal thread direction). This converts to 124-137 lb-ft.
Applying an anti-seize lube to the threads will help to assure an accurate torque reading and make it easier to get the nut off later. The manual calls for Shell Retinax HDX2, an automotive grease.
When reinstalling, first make sure that the wheel is seated properly. Mount the wheel and tighten the nut to about 50 lb-ft. Then rotate the wheel and pound the side of the tire with the heel of your hand in several places around the circumference to seat it. Then tighten to about 80 lb-ft and repeat, applying the rear brake lever to keep the wheel from turning. Finally, tighten the nut to 124 lb-ft and check the retaining pin hole alignment. Torque again as high as 137 lb-ft to line-up the holes and insert the retaining pin.
If the nut is under-torqued it will allow the nut to loosen, allowing the wheel to rotate in its mount and be damaged by repeated acceleration/braking impact loads that will ovalize the four locating pins holes on the backside of the wheel. Damage to the axle spindle can also occur. Also a loose nut will back-off till it's stopped by the retaining pin, then bend the pin and deform the nut. It's a good idea to mark the nut position with a marking pen, so that you can quickly see if the wheel has moved after a ride.
During installation, you should never loosen the nut to insert the pin. The range of correct torque values for the nut is 124-137 lb-ft so the correct procedure is to torque to the lower value, check for hole alignment and torque up to the higher value if necessary to align the holes.
Note that if you are installing aftermarket wheels, a small variation in wheel/paint thickness may make it more difficult to apply both the correct torque and also get the correct hole alignment.  |