Kegler Clamps Fitment

olympus · Jan 14, 2019

Hi Gents.
With holes drilled in the swing arm tube any oil within & over the centre line could potential leak out around the set screws applying pressure on the pivot... So to the folk who have installed them, did you apply a smear of silicone over the ends the treads to seal them against to tube??

Mark Savage · Jan 14, 2019

I did, yes.

Craig · Jan 14, 2019

I am of the hobot school , no oil , just well greased ....

olympus · Jan 14, 2019

OK ..so has rifling been applied to the bushings, as even with using liquid grease (HGV guys will know what this is) how does this extend to the far ends of the bushings.... or is it only reliant on what is applied during assembly??

jbruney · Jan 14, 2019

Not being one to be ashamed of ignorance, nor wishing to miss out on something new to me, but what are and what is the function of such clamps near the swing arm of a Norton? Please enlighten me. Allow me to walk into the light.

rvich · Jan 14, 2019

The bushings are sintered bronze. New ones should be soaked to permeate them with oil. The discussion about what oil to use is endless. Judging by the average ages here, most of us won't live long enough to find out if we were right! I personally think the felt pads and welch plugs were a big advancement as to holding the oil.

To answer jbruney, side loading on the rear wheel and thus the swingarm causes the swingarm pivot to "wiggle" in the tube containing it which leads to wear and poor handling. The clamps are the common fix to prevent the swingarm pivot from movement.

olympus · Jan 14, 2019

jbruney said:
Not being one to be ashamed of ignorance, nor wishing to miss out on something new to me, but what are and what is the function of such clamps near the swing arm of a Norton? Please enlighten me. Allow me to walk into the light.

Rather than bore you to tears, Type Keglar clamps in the search Forum
Basically there a pair of clams that go around the swing arm tube. the tube is drilled & a bolt which is threaded in the clamp goes through the drilled holed and physically exerts a pressure on the swing arm pivot pin .... They basically improve the handling

L.A.B. · Jan 14, 2019

olympus said:
With holes drilled in the swing arm tube any oil within & over the centre line could potential leak out around the set screws applying pressure on the pivot...

There are no oil drillings in the central area of the swinging arm spindle because it's not a 'bearing'. A smear of silicone would probably be more useful at keeping water out rather than oil in.

olympus said:
OK ..so has rifling been applied to the bushings, as even with using liquid grease (HGV guys will know what this is) how does this extend to the far ends of the bushings.... or is it only reliant on what is applied during assembly??

There's no need to "add rifling" to the standard bushes as they are made of 'Oilite' (sintered bronze) so as long as the oil comes into contact with each bush in one place then it will distribute throughout the porous structure of the bush which is the reason to periodically re-lubricate with OIL and not GREASE.

Stephen Hill · Jan 14, 2019

Here is a nice blurb on using Kegler clamps written by Alan Goldwater.
https://www.inoanorton.com/docs/swingarm.pdf

Stephen Hill

jbruney · Jan 14, 2019

Thank you...They are what is known to my yank self as set collars.

XTINCT · Jan 14, 2019

If you have the swingarm off of the bike, you can also weld 2 nuts to the swingarm and use a small bolt and a stop nut.

eskasteve · Jan 14, 2019

I bought my clamps 3 years ago from Kenny Cummings at NYC Norton as I wanted the alloy ones that he sells plus he's a great asset to the Norton community. After polishing the bejeebers out of them they were installed with a bit of Hylomar on the threads. No leaks and nothing has come loose. Did it help my handling? Hard to say as I no longer push the old beast to the limits as in years past. My goal was that in the event of an emergency maneuver that they may give me that tiny extra bit of control that can make the difference. Peace of mind thing

1up3down · Jan 14, 2019

One fine day around 1997 or so Heinz Kegler called me to ask if I would ride my 850 over to his house here in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Being a featherbed frame man he had long been troubled by the Commando's non rigid mounted swing arm.
He had made up a set of aluminum collars and he fitted them to my bike, they have been in place ever since, the very first set. Thanks Heinz!

baz · Jan 14, 2019

Anyone doing the Kegler conversion don't do what "Mi Ty " does on YouTube
He junks the centre collar clamping bolt,nut and washer and replaces them with a shorter bolt with a washer and no locknut
So as you tighten the bolt against the swing arm pin it will either top out on the washer
Or top out on the pin leaving the washer loose and the bolt able to vibrate loose because it has no locknut
It comes with a longer center bolt for a reason, you tighten the bolt against the swing arm pin
And then you tighten the locknut against the clamp
Hope this makes sense if you watch the video (painful) you will see

olympus · Jan 14, 2019

That not good engineering practise for sure..

Peter R · Jan 14, 2019

XTINCT said:
If you have the swingarm off of the bike, you can also weld 2 nuts to the swingarm and use a small bolt and a stop nut.

Exactly what I did, works well and cost nothing.

DogT · Jan 14, 2019

I sent my swing arm to Nofsinger (or some name like that, it's been 10 years now) in London, CAN I think it was. He re-drilled the hole for a larger SS rod, installed a threaded pin or two into it somehow. It's not like the clamps but I wonder if anyone else did this and if the results were satisfactory. I'd have to look to see exactly how it was done, it's been so long. This was before anyone was talking about the clamps as I remember.

nortonspeed · Jan 14, 2019

XTINCT said:
If you have the swingarm off of the bike, you can also weld 2 nuts to the swingarm and use a small bolt and a stop nut.

Welding two nuts to the cross tube isn’t even close to the all around support you will get from a good tight fitted Kegler clamp. Main support of the spindle is the clamp itself as it will provide a firm all around support. When you first tighten the clamp you will notice the spindle is already secured, then tighten the clamp centre bolt (securing nut isn’t necessary, Loctite will secure that bolt) for additional support.

L.A.B. · Jan 14, 2019

DogT said:
I sent my swing arm to Nofsinger (or some name like that, it's been 10 years now) in London, CAN I think it was. He re-drilled the hole for a larger SS rod, installed a threaded pin or two into it somehow. It's not like the clamps but I wonder if anyone else did this and if the results were satisfactory. I'd have to look to see exactly how it was done, it's been so long. This was before anyone was talking about the clamps as I remember.

https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/swingarm-installation.5622/#post-61766

Torontonian · Jan 14, 2019

Peter R said:
Exactly what I did, works well and cost nothing.

Yes I did the same , drilling 2 holes, welding on 2 nuts ,fitting 2 bolts until very tight against the pin with a bit of Locktight. Worked great, no issues. Oil can still be added to the original pin locator hole.

Kegler Clamps Fitment

olympus

Mark Savage

Craig

olympus

jbruney

rvich

olympus

L.A.B.

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Stephen Hill

jbruney

XTINCT

eskasteve

1up3down

baz

olympus

Peter R

DogT

nortonspeed

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L.A.B.

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Torontonian

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