Grease gun vs swingarm fitting...Gun wins!

Be careful with a grease gun on the swingarm lube fitting! I was putting 140 oil into the fitting - had the swingarm screw on top loose. I pumped oil in, as I have done before, and after several trigger pulls of the small one-handed gun the handle got extremely stiff. Not seeing any oil coming out of the screw, I figured it was something with the gun itself so I just pulled the trigger harder...and the pressure in the swingarm tube/spindle snapped the little through-bolt at the head, blowing off the end cap. Don't you just hate the smell of gear oil on your clothes?

I was trying to figure out what to do in the interim to make a temp repair when I discovered that what looks like the head of the bolt is actually a small cap nut and the threads at that end had just stripped out of the nut so I just reconnected it and soldered it together. Seems fine for a temp fix - heck probably last as long as the bike does.

But be careful with the grease gun!


Actually, after I finished cursing, it was kind of funny!

Hey Mike, Wouldnt it have been a good idia to put a sticker or stamped oil only on that end cap ? Or danger LOL Phil

I was pumping in the factory-recommended 140wt oil as I always have, not grease. But it didn't start seeping from the top hole. Usually I remove the bolt completely when doing this but this time I decided that just loosening it a few threads would be sufficient for the oil to bleed out. Nope!

I take out the oil/grease nipple & pump the oil in from an oil squirty can, doesn't pressurize anything. You can always use a cocktail stick for a dipstick. Never used 140, always used 90 gear oil. I am doing it now.

I've been using a little grease gun, filled with 140 gear oil for several years now. My mistake was not removing the bolt at the top as I usually do. Normally I pump in oil until it runs out the bolt hole and then screw the bolt back in. I don't know why I decided that just loosening the bolt would allow 140wt oil to flow out... Your method is, of course essentially foolproof and I can't think of any reason to totally fill up the spindle anyway. I just liked seeing the oil come out of that bolt hole, knowing it was full.

I use 90W in a grease gun and leave the fixing bolt in place. When mine's full, a bit will seep out under pressure from around the end cap. Time to stop!