Swingarm question

I decided to fit the needle roller conversion and have had some fun & games. Mine came from All Balls, and had different length pairs of bearings. I didn't notice this until too late ..... The only way I know of to remove them is destructively, and I couldn't have done it at all without the Dremel I recently bought, to grind through the cages and collapse the bloody things out.
So, and all you proper engineers will quite rightly be nodding sagely at this, it's VERY IMPORTANT to measure carefully before wading in. I bought another All Balls kit, and this one had same-length bearings. What the swinging arm doesn't have though is same-depth drillings for each side, so one side is too shallow for the bearings to fit and I've had to source some shorter ones (22YM2816), ironically the same as the different ones in the first kit I bought!
Measure, measure, and measure again. Including how far you've pulled the inner race in, so there's room for the outer race plus the collar.

We live and learn. Steering head next. I will be VERY careful

Nighthog, our paths cross again.
Being locked up indoors I was going to remove the swingarm just for fun. Can you tell me if the bearing kit is any better than a replacement bush kit?
I've done the front caliper rebuilds.New seals, stainless pistons, reprayed looked lovely, then I fitted and managed to spill brake fluid on them, DOH.
Spray paint aint as hard as the original stuff........
Did you sort your seat out?

Hi Eugene, boy oh boy, you must be really bored.
I can't say whether the needle roller setup is better than the bush one, but anything will be better than the original plastic bushes. It's been a while since I did mine, spent lots of time here weighing up the pros and cons of each then took a punt on the bearing kit. I'm happy but watch out for one more thing - I opted to drill and tap the s/a to fit a 6mm grease nipple, but did it in the wrong place so it's really difficult to get a grease gun onto. It looked like the right place when the s/a was on the bench ... I have to undo the shocks and push the wheel up as high as I can, then I can just about get a flexible hose on it. PITA. Don't make the same mistake!
Bad luck with the caliper paint. There's always a chance of a dribble where you don't want it when bIeeding it; doesn't seem to affect the original paint - I dunno what kind of paint it is, but maybe somebody here does? I also rebuilt my front caliper (didn't paint it though) and added a braided stainless hose and a smaller bore (11mm) m/c. Made a big difference to braking performance. Mine was from a Triumph Adventurer, sourced on eBay from Lithuania of all places! Who cares where from, anyway?
Any yes, seat sorted, thanks. I acquired a MikesXS one that I found in the classifieds on this site. Lots of very helpful people in our membership, and I for one am very grateful.

Hang on in there, Eugene, and stay sane! I find beer helps

Yes, best spot for the added grease fitting is on the bottom of the arm in the center. Make sure you put it through the gusset plate. The additional thickness is needed so the fitting doesn't stick through the arm and rub on the pivot tube .....



I use a 45° angled fitting and point it towards the rear. This seems to provide easiest access .....

That's the way to do it. And use a steel grease nipple - brass ones have a habit of shearing off when you try to remove the grease gun .... Trust me on that one .....

Thats great, thanks everyone.

Eugene said:

Nighthog, our paths cross again.
Being locked up indoors I was going to remove the swingarm just for fun. Can you tell me if the bearing kit is any better than a replacement bush kit?
I've done the front caliper rebuilds.New seals, stainless pistons, reprayed looked lovely, then I fitted and managed to spill brake fluid on them, DOH.
Spray paint aint as hard as the original stuff........
Did you sort your seat out?

Click to expand...

Hi Eugene,
in the case of low speed, high load partial rotation bearings; plain bushings work BETTER than rolling element bearings.
Designers only use rolling element swingarm bearings because it's easier than re-educating the paying customers.
DOT5A brake fluid don't strip paint which is why Harley-Davidsons use it.
Couple of problems using it though.
1) It don't mix with DOT3/4 so the brakes' innards need a total clean-up when you swap.
2) The counter hand may mistake you for a Harley rider.

I just had a thought. With the swing arm out, test fit the pivot tube and seals in the frame. Toque the pivot bolt to spec. See if you can turn the pivot tube.
It should lock in so the tuber can't turn.
If you can turn it, loosen the pivot bolt and using a feeler gauge measure the end gap between the tube/seals and frame. You may need to add shims to get a tighter fit.
Once you get this figured out then you can do some checking on the tube to swing arm clearance.
Install the pivot tube seal and any shims in the swing arm. The stock pivot bolt may be too ,long for this check so you can add some extra spacers to make up for the frame or use a shorter bolt. With it all together torque the bolt to spec. Try to slide the bolt and tube in/out of the bushings. You may feel a tiny bit out movement. Add shims as mentioned earlier in this thread to get this side play down so you don't feel any side play but the pivot tube spins I the bushings with just a bit of resistance.
Now when you assemble all the parts and install in the frame you should be able to get the proper torque on the pivot bolt to hold the pivot tube in place with no to very little side play.
This can all be done on the bike but working up on a bench is easier on the back.
Leo