Yes, I feel some sort of mod is needed to insure proper lubrication for the swirled groove bushings. Most of us don't have a lathe but anybody can drill 2 extra holes in their pivot tube.
I don't know about the newer parts or replacements, but on the 72 the bolt bushing is a 3 piece unit. After reading about drilling more holes, I gave it a try. I stopped after destroying 2 bits. These puppies are hardened. Give it the file test before attempting to drill. I got out my trusty Dremmel and splashed the holes out a little wider. Not sure if a lathe could cut more grooves.
 
I don't know about the newer parts or replacements, but on the 72 the bolt bushing is a 3 piece unit.
For the record, they're all the same design. The swingarm holes are bored smaller in the '70-'73 frames than '74 onward, so the parts aren't all interchangeable.
 
No need for a lathe if you have a drill press. Clamp the inner bushing ("tube") on a long bolt between two washers, chuck the free end of the bolt in the drill press, and cut grooves with a small round file. The grooves don't need to be very deep. The job may take awhile and may not look as pretty as Jim's work, but it will get 'er done.
 
No need for a lathe if you have a drill press. Clamp the inner bushing ("tube") on a long bolt between two washers, chuck the free end of the bolt in the drill press, and cut grooves with a small round file. The grooves don't need to be very deep. The job may take awhile and may not look as pretty as Jim's work, but it will get 'er done.
Yes, you can go even more cave man..
Chuck the tube up in a (soft jaw) vise and just work your way around with a small round or half round file. Like dick says, the grooves don't need to be very deep... .025 to .035" is plenty deep.
 
Doing my bushings now and this thread has been a great help. One question I have is what is the best grease to use with these bushings?
 
Whatever you have in the gun will be fine but I'd use a HD (thick) lithium and or moly grease
 
I use the thickest, highest pressure stuff I've got, which happens to be this Sta-Lube premium red .....

Sta-LubeRed.jpg


HF sells tubes of it .....

https://www.harborfreight.com/14-oz...MIrtnQuqKd_QIVQ8LICh1OOAnsEAQYBiABEgLn5fD_BwE
 
Doing my bushings now and this thread has been a great help. One question I have is what is the best grease to use with these bushings?

Yup - use any thick stuff so that it doesn't run out all over the place and make a mess.

The thing about these bushings is that they do not rotate all the way around 360 degrees like an engine bearing. They only go back and forth through an arc of about....say....20-25 degrees (that is a WAG* by the way) - and there is not a lot of heat involved.

The function of the grease is to keep crap out of the bushings so they do not get ground up and also to keep metal-to-metal contact from occurring.

That is why you need to pump in a couple of squirts of new grease every once in a while: to drive new grease IN and move old grease OUT - and thus, carry any debris out with it.

Pete

* a WAG is a Wild Assed Guess, better known in polite company as an "engineering estimate".
 
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When I saw HD I thought you were going to say Harley Davidson. Glad you inserted (thick). You don't want people running go the nearest HD dealer looking for grease.
Hi cra-z,
The Harley shop will sell you good quality grease that's been re-packaged in Harley colours at only twice the price so you gotta balance the cost of buying the high-priced re-packaged grease while you are checking the Harley store's bargain bin against the extra cost of making a second stop at a different store just to buy grease.
 
Hi cra-z,
The Harley shop will sell you good quality grease that's been re-packaged in Harley colours at only twice the price so you gotta balance the cost of buying the high-priced re-packaged grease while you are checking the Harley store's bargain bin against the extra cost of making a second stop at a different store just to buy grease.
Yes they are brain washed. My friend went in and was checking out the heated gear and the friendly girl helping in the clothing dept insisted that Harley Davidson makes the gear and that it was superior to anything out there. I think at the time Gerbing was supplying their heated gear.
 
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