I'm in the midst of doing the swingarm spindle too. On the idea of plating to oversize the spindle, its possible but there are different grades of plating and thickness. Just any old plating won't do. Theres no assurity of thickness or unoformity unless you go for precision hard chrome and a ground finish. That's not cheap, so may as well go for a 0.005" O/S spindle and line ream the swingarm and cradle. The popular opinion is that the swing arm bushes don't wear much. Its the cradle tube that gets out of round, so plating the spindle doesn't help there either. Tp prevent further cradle tube wear, do the double lock bolt mod or fit the Heinz Kegler clamps.

Mick

I agree with Mick, plating is not the answer. .005 oversize spindles are available, even in SS. That is what I did, had the cradle reamed .005 over, got a new SS spindle and at the same time had the bushings reamed by the same guy. Nithburg in CA did it for me, don't know if they are still doing it, but worth a try. I sent the whole assembly to them and got it all back within several weeks. Nice work too. The spindle had larger holes and they put 2 more bolts in it on the sides to hold it tighter in the cradle.

Dave
69S

The rear iso shims work pretty well but they are a little tight on the OD of the bushing. Dave you might want to take the paint off till after you install the swingarm. It's not as thick as the powdercoat but it is going to wear off pretty quickly under the bushing shoulder and the o-ring and that slack could be the beginning of something bad. I tried packing the o-ring in grease and it worked great to prevent any leaks, till he first time I rode it.

I am not sure where this thread has gone. The original question (I think) was in reference to protecting the spindle from rust and/or corrosion. The idea of plating was not to increase the diameter but to provide that protection. The increase in diameter would be a result, not the intent (As it turns out the increase in diameter would be in 4 to 8 ten-thousandths of an inch, which probably is inside the original specifications anyway). It seems to me that the idea of using 140 weight oil was probably more to do with what was available 40 years ago that would protect, lube and allow you to get it back apart again. There have been so many advances in lubrication in the last 40 years that this topic seems certainly as valid as wondering what kinds of oil to run in an engine or a transmission.

The plating that was referenced above is to provide protection and a friction free surface. It seems to me that both of these things would be a benefit in many areas, not just a spindle. From the Caswell site:

"BN EN is an extremely slick, abrasion resistant, low-friction, high lubricity coating.

Ideal for all types of guns, engine pistons, fry pans, in fact anywhere where dry lubrication and non-stick is an issue. We see interesting potential in lining parts of Paintball Guns to prevent wear of the soft aluminum"

I've got no real reason to beat a dead horse, but I have to admit I find it interesting that with all the esoteric conversations about what kind of washer materials are best to use on isolastics, etc that there is not more interest in the idea of using modern plating techniques on these bikes. I have actually gotten to the point of wondering about plating the entire cradle and front iso mount with something like this.

Admittedly, my bike has not been apart for 20 years, it probably wont be that long until it gets taken apart again and if it is I probalby wont be the guy doing it. So maybe the easiest answer is just to take it apart more often and clean out the tubes. But it has proven worth the effort over the years if I approach every project like I am the guy who is gonna have to fix it. 'Cause usually I am, so making the maintenance as painless as possible certainly has merit.

Russ

rvich wrote:I am not a big fan of using stainless steel to swap everything out, but the idea of plating some of this stuff (like iso bolts) appeals to me.

Russ

Heritic! Ban him!!!

swooshdave wrote: There are numerous stories of beating the spindles out. Since we don't want the spindle to move but also not rust how do you protect the spindle (aside from using a SS spindle)?

Hey man! Don't blame me! This idea is your fault!

rvich wrote:I am not sure where this thread has gone. The original question (I think) was in reference to protecting the spindle from rust and/or corrosion.

Russ

Russ, the short answer is to oil it and disassemble it every ten years. You could sync it with the census.
Actually a smooth and square surface on the cradle helps, along with a spindle that doesn't wobble. But in the end it's a 'total loss' lubrication system.