Removing swing arm

[Admin Jaap]

I am planning to remove the swing arm and check/grease/replace the bearings. What's the procedure? Do I have to take the pork chops off or is it enough to remove the bolts on both sides?

[Paul Minnaert]

I am planning to remove the swing arm and check/grease/replace the bearings. What's the procedure? Do I have to take the pork chops off or is it enough to remove the bolts on both sides?

 

 

Just the big bolts. Get the shaft of the bike before greasing, that way, you can feel if the joints are nice moving. And gives you the chance to clean nice.

[Admin Jaap]

Thanks!

[raz]

Give the swingarm bearings some conditioning (that is, just rotate them!) and do not replace them unless you are sure it is needed! They are the very hardest parts to remove on the whole bike. At least on my bike, the bearing seats was not masked from painting. They must have used a humongous press to fit the poor bearings. I regretted having started but I ruined them so I had to finish. I ended up cutting them out with a dremel. And that is not easy, without doing damage to the seats.

[richard100t]

Give the swingarm bearings some conditioning (that is, just rotate them!) and do not replace them unless you are sure it is needed! They are the very hardest parts to remove on the whole bike. At least on my bike, the bearing seats was not masked from painting. They must have used a humongous press to fit the poor bearings. I regretted having started but I ruined them so I had to finish. I ended up cutting them out with a dremel. And that is not easy, without doing damage to the seats.

Its surprising what you can make fit with a large enough arbor press. That sounds like a job that requires one to do it properly (or at least easily).

[Baldini]

And Jaap, remember to note alignment of the shaft - marked w yellow paint if it's like mine. KB

[docc]

And before completely disassembling, note the height of the locating pins which "center' the swingarm. A vernier caliper works well in its 'depth' mode.

 

Otherwise, you must recenter the swingarm with the laser method. (Notably, that may get the alignment much better than Luigi originally could take the time for).

 

Not every one feels the same about opening the seal on "sealed" bearings to clean and add some good grease, but I think I've helped some of these bearings by doing so.

[Kiwi_Roy]

I just did my driveshaft today.

Remove the two large bolts and the swing arm moves out of the way quite easily,

there's no spring load on it and no need to disconnect the shock.

When you replace the driveshaft be very careful lining up the pinch bolt holes with

the reduced portion on the spline. If it doesn't line up properly the threads will catch

on the splines. A couple of the bolts on my bike have been stripped that way.

(you have to remove the bolts before you can pull off the universal joint)

When replacing the swing arm pivots it's quite difficult to get the thread started

without crossing it. I found if you run the nut up next to the pork chop it's quite

easy to see if its straight. Put both pivot bolts loosely in place first, this lines up the

swingarm. I ran the pivots up to where they just pinched the bearings, you can slide

the swing arm from side to side before it pinches.

In hindsight it should be possible to grease the front universal without removing the

shaft, I tried this using a flexible hose up over the swing arm but couldn't get the

end to snap on the the nipple. When I finally got the shaft out I had to file a couple

of flats on the nozzle to get it to fit between the 2 halves of the

universal. (even with it out I had to do that)

Don't forget to line up the two marks if you pull the shaft apart.

Good luck

Roy

[docc]

I just did my driveshaft today.

Remove the two large bolts and the swing arm moves out of the way quite easily,

there's no spring load on it and no need to disconnect the shock.

When you replace the driveshaft be very careful lining up the pinch bolt holes with

the reduced portion on the spline. If it doesn't line up properly the threads will catch

on the splines. A couple of the bolts on my bike have been stripped that way.

(you have to remove the bolts before you can pull off the universal joint)

When replacing the swing arm pivots it's quite difficult to get the thread started

without crossing it. I found if you run the nut up next to the pork chop it's quite

easy to see if its straight. Put both pivot bolts loosely in place first, this lines up the

swingarm. I ran the pivots up to where they just pinched the bearings, you can slide

the swing arm from side to side before it pinches.

In hindsight it should be possible to grease the front universal without removing the

shaft, I tried this using a flexible hose up over the swing arm but couldn't get the

end to snap on the the nipple. When I finally got the shaft out I had to file a couple

of flats on the nozzle to get it to fit between the 2 halves of the

universal. (even with it out I had to do that)

Don't forget to line up the two marks if you pull the shaft apart.

Good luck

Roy

 

Hey, just a reminder, the swingarm has to center the rear tire behind the front. There are several methods to do this including using fluorescent glass tubes or a laser. Otherwise, the manual instructs to take off the lock nuts and measure how far each of the threaded pins sticks out from each side. They are not likely the same from side to side.

 

Precise centering enhances stability and turn in feel.

[gstallons]

Amen !

make sure you do this. It is easier than you think. I use 6" flourescent bulbs along with a helper to do this. You want equal clearances between the front wheel and bulbs.

[Bogwopit]

for the stupid amongst us (ok,me.)how exactly do you line up front and rear wheels using a 6" bulb? I'm afraid I can't picture how,

 

Andy Roo.

[gstallons]

HOLD ON ! I meant 8'(foot) bulbs. Don't know what size you use? 2m perhaps?

Have a buddy hold each bulb against each side of the rear tire with the longer portion(s) toward the front. These bulbs will give you an actual line to see any offset.

Then (holding the front wheel straight ahead) measure the clearance on each side of the front wheel. This will vary with tire sizes so I will not give you any dimensions.

You can decide how much you need to move the swingarm left of right to gain proper clearance.

I hope this helps.

Gene

[docc]

Oh, durn . . trapped in the old six-inch trap are we?

 

No, no, really, I meant eight feet . . same thing . . . no . . . really

 

 

 

[Bogwopit]

Oh, durn . . trapped in the old six-inch trap are we?

 

No, no, really, I meant eight feet . . same thing . . . no . . . really

 

 

 

yeah,I thought you meant something like that,but you Yanks are a strange breed so I was keeping an open mind.

 

And whats all this 2 metre crap? This is good old Blighty and the European Union hasn't made it illegal to use or think in imperial measurements. Well, not yet anyway, but if they thought they could get away with it they would.

 

We have some really hardened criminals over here now-would you believe it some hardline shopkeepers and market traders have had the audacity to sell vegetables,groceries e.t.c. in IMPERIAL measurements!! My goodness I hear you say,but don't worry,the good old E.U. has saved us all by taking them to court, fining them and giving them criminal records.

 

We can now sleep safely in our beds now.

 

We,ve been forced for a number of years to buy our petrol in litres and it's only a matter of time before we,ll be forced to convert miles to kilometers. The irish did that when they embraced the E.U. dictatorship a few years ago.

It won't be long before motorcycles are fitted with childrens stabiliser wheels-obviously for ours and everyone elses good.The current phase of legislation is aimed at restricting power output of motorcycles in all subjugate (sorry, MEMBER) states to 100bhp.

Mind you,that isn't going to worry mahy Guzzi owners, now, is it?

 

Sorry all, got a headache this morning and just felt like having a bitch about something.

 

I think I'll go and have a blast on the bike. Thats sure to cheer me up, in fact I feel better already.

 

see you all'

 

Andy Roo.

[Kiwi_Roy]

Hey, just a reminder, the swingarm has to center the rear tire behind the front. There are several methods to do this including using fluorescent glass tubes or a laser. Otherwise, the manual instructs to take off the lock nuts and measure how far each of the threaded pins sticks out from each side. They are not likely the same from side to side.

 

Precise centering enhances stability and turn in feel.

When I put mine back I just set it with the same number of threads on both sides, Even then there's no threads projecting from the nut.

Can it really be that important to line front and back to the nearest mm?

I don't like the sound of those 8 ft flouro tubes, sounds like bit dangerous. A 2 x 4 would be safer, flip it over and average the reading.

 

Roy