I suppose doing all that stuff will do the trick, but it's an awful lot of work compared to just installing a grease fitting at the center of the arm.
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Installing Bronze Swingarm Bushings and Setting Sideplay
- Thread starter YamadudeXS650C
- Start date
Yup, your grease zerk mod solves it all at once. Grease enters the middle, immediately finds its way into the exposed swirl grooves of the bushings, and excess oozes out the sides...
Well technically, it's not "my" mod. I'm sure guys have been doing it for decades. You have to do something when installing the bronze bushings to insure they get greased adequately. I do think you should still give the stock grease fittings an occasional shot of grease to keep some between the bolt and pivot sleeve. Those parts can (and do) seize together without it.
I elected to cut the grease grooves in the bronze bushings.
About 0.010" deep should do.
And, that's enuff for now.
Fingers are numb and frozen...
About 0.010" deep should do.
And, that's enuff for now.
Fingers are numb and frozen...
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The ones I have been watching on ebay look to have them. Must be a newer version with the grease grooves in them.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/251476934561
**edit** i now got it you grooved the center to line up with the hole in the sleeve...sorry.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/251476934561
**edit** i now got it you grooved the center to line up with the hole in the sleeve...sorry.
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Good catch, Superjet.
Edited the above pic, added arrows pointing to the grooves...
Edited the above pic, added arrows pointing to the grooves...
Grinding the grease grooves in the bushing sleeve.
The sleeve ID is 16mm (5/8").
The dremel collet nut OD is 12mm (just under 1/2").
Trimmed down a thick cutting wheel to 14mm (9/16").
Inserting the cutting disc, you can just see it thru the grease hole.
Grease groove cut.
About 0.010"-0.015" (0.25mm-0.4mm) deep should do...
The sleeve ID is 16mm (5/8").
The dremel collet nut OD is 12mm (just under 1/2").
Trimmed down a thick cutting wheel to 14mm (9/16").
Inserting the cutting disc, you can just see it thru the grease hole.
Grease groove cut.
About 0.010"-0.015" (0.25mm-0.4mm) deep should do...
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Trivia info on the old 3-piece bushing system.
Pics are of 1971 XS1B swingarm parts.
The plastic bushings are smooth-walled, no internal grooves.
The outboard sleeves have an internal groove, plus external spiral grooves.
The interconnecting hole emerges into the spiral groove.
The early 3-piece sleeve group is about 1mm wider than the 1-piece sleeve.
The end pieces, grease seal caps, against which the sleeves bear, are 1mm thick.
The 3-piece sleeve, plus (2) 1mm end pieces, makes a width of 200.25mm.
The 1-piece sleeve, plus (2) 1mm end pieces, makes a width of 199.10mm.
The frame width of my XS1B is 200.4mm.
Fully assembled XS1B swingarm, with 3-piece system, is a close slide fit into the frame.
Fully assembled XS1B swingarm, with 1-piece system, measures out to 199.4mm.
Fitting into a 200.4mm frame opening, that's a gap of 1.0mm.
I found that it takes about 3/4 turn, and 10 ft-lbs torque on the swingarm thru-bolt nut to collapse the frame by 1mm. Decided that this is negligible, and tolerable, and bypassed fitting any additional shim washers in there...
Pics are of 1971 XS1B swingarm parts.
The plastic bushings are smooth-walled, no internal grooves.
The outboard sleeves have an internal groove, plus external spiral grooves.
The interconnecting hole emerges into the spiral groove.
The early 3-piece sleeve group is about 1mm wider than the 1-piece sleeve.
The end pieces, grease seal caps, against which the sleeves bear, are 1mm thick.
The 3-piece sleeve, plus (2) 1mm end pieces, makes a width of 200.25mm.
The 1-piece sleeve, plus (2) 1mm end pieces, makes a width of 199.10mm.
The frame width of my XS1B is 200.4mm.
Fully assembled XS1B swingarm, with 3-piece system, is a close slide fit into the frame.
Fully assembled XS1B swingarm, with 1-piece system, measures out to 199.4mm.
Fitting into a 200.4mm frame opening, that's a gap of 1.0mm.
I found that it takes about 3/4 turn, and 10 ft-lbs torque on the swingarm thru-bolt nut to collapse the frame by 1mm. Decided that this is negligible, and tolerable, and bypassed fitting any additional shim washers in there...
stinky78
XS650 Addict
hi all, can anyone tell me how thick the shims are that go under the dust covers? I have about .035 of spacer sticking out of the bronze bushes and want to know how many I’ll need to order, mine didn’t have any when I pulled it apart.
Read this whole thread. It will provide the answer.
Stinky78, the parts manuals show those shims as 0.3mm (0.012") thick.
Looks like you'll need at least 2...
One thing I'm not particularly happy about.
The excessive chamfering on the ends of the bushing sleeve.
That chamfering leaves a narrow ring, which can crush the endcap sealing washer.
You can see how that crushing can reduce swingarm sideplay.
And, over time, lead to a loosening of the throughbolt tension.
I had half-a-mind to weld up the sleeve ends, and remachine them.
Just a mild chamfering of a couple thou would do...
The excessive chamfering on the ends of the bushing sleeve.
That chamfering leaves a narrow ring, which can crush the endcap sealing washer.
You can see how that crushing can reduce swingarm sideplay.
And, over time, lead to a loosening of the throughbolt tension.
I had half-a-mind to weld up the sleeve ends, and remachine them.
Just a mild chamfering of a couple thou would do...
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stinky78
XS650 Addict
Hi Twomany, thanks for that, I don't have a parts list, have been using partzilla to find part numbers etc, it's a shame Yamaha don't include the size of shims in the part number like they do with screws and bolts.
Hi,
If the designer who dreamed up the XS650 swingarm pivot had worked for me he pretty soon wouldn't have but WTF we're stuck with it.
I posted this upgrade a long while back and it bears repeating.
Replace the pinch sleeve & through-bolt with a length of solid stock tapped M16 both ends.
Grind the through-bolt stop block off the left side frame.
Drill the right side frame through at 16mm diameter.
Install mid swing arm grease fitting.
Assemble with an M16 socket head capscrew both sides.
Reef 'em up until you break wind.
If the designer who dreamed up the XS650 swingarm pivot had worked for me he pretty soon wouldn't have but WTF we're stuck with it.
I posted this upgrade a long while back and it bears repeating.
Replace the pinch sleeve & through-bolt with a length of solid stock tapped M16 both ends.
Grind the through-bolt stop block off the left side frame.
Drill the right side frame through at 16mm diameter.
Install mid swing arm grease fitting.
Assemble with an M16 socket head capscrew both sides.
Reef 'em up until you break wind.
stinky78
XS650 Addict
Hi Yamadude, I just read through the whole thread yet again and you were right! I did find the answer.
Swingarm throughbolt grease zerks.
These things have been bugging me like, forever.
Non-SAE shaped, soft brass.
Removed with an 8mm wrench.
The leftside zerk has a bit of damage. After injecting grease, it'll ooze a tiny wormlike stream of grease all day long.
These zerks are metric thread, M6-1.0.
At Napa, $4 will get you a box of 5 hardened steel, SAE-tipped M6-1.0 grease fittings.
Installed with a 7mm (9/32") wrench.
Much better, my grease guns like these.
Installed 1 zerk, injected grease until it flowed out the opposite side, then installed the 2nd zerk...
These things have been bugging me like, forever.
Non-SAE shaped, soft brass.
Removed with an 8mm wrench.
The leftside zerk has a bit of damage. After injecting grease, it'll ooze a tiny wormlike stream of grease all day long.
These zerks are metric thread, M6-1.0.
At Napa, $4 will get you a box of 5 hardened steel, SAE-tipped M6-1.0 grease fittings.
Installed with a 7mm (9/32") wrench.
Much better, my grease guns like these.
Installed 1 zerk, injected grease until it flowed out the opposite side, then installed the 2nd zerk...
hogtyed
Paul
Well crap. Since I’m replacing tires, I decided to put the brass bushings in that I’ve had for some time. Now it seems I gotsta do some damned machining, too. Maybe I’ll opt out for buying a tap and a 90 deg zerk.
I’m afraid to see what everyone says needs to be done when I install the new steering head bearings.
I’m afraid to see what everyone says needs to be done when I install the new steering head bearings.
Best idea for those bearings is to install a TEE into the oil line that goes up the front of the engine so they are lubed by engine oil.
OH Sorry for got to check the calendar, it's 4/3/19 already, never mind!
Hey 2M don't be a Zerk!
Hi Paul,
It's a simple job and the search button will tell you how but there's one caveat that's real important:-
Remove the upper ring of bearing balls the instant they are accessible.
If you leave 'em in place as the lower 'tree & steering stem are lowered there's a good chance that one or more balls will
drop down between the stem and the frame tube and jam the stem to turn a simple removal into a serious BFH moment.
And good that you bought the tap. Buy a straight Zerk to put in the frame tube so you can re-lube the head races without
having to do that annoying front end teardown.
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