Swingarm Oil -- single or multigrade?

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MEHAVEY

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Aug 28, 2009
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Nominally supposed to be 140wt gear oil -- can 85-140 multigrade work in a pinch?
 
I've been using 90W hypoid gear oil (GL-4) in there for a while. Seems to work okay. Would welcome confirmation or denial from others.
 
I have 85w140 Valvoline gear lube in mine this season. Works fine. The only issue would be it's thinner so could leak out easier, but I'm not having that issue.
 
Penrite Semi Liquid Grease. Creeps out gradually not dribble out in 2 days like other stuff.

Mick
 
I use 90W gear oil like Brian and it seems fine. Can't imagine why a thinner oil would be a problem other than it might leak out faster. The real challenge seems to be to keep the oil in there!!
 
Thanks, guys.

`Went w/ the 85-140 Valvoline and just injected it under pressure from the side plate after removing the bogus/useless zerk fitting. Given it's getting cool now come Fall, and swingarms don't get real hot from the little movement they go through, I'll cross my fingers and let y`all know if it leaks out anytime soon.

REMAINING QUESTION: Anyone know if there's any reasonable way to access that darned overflow/bolt on top of the pivot tube ? Otherwise I'm just gonna wing it w/ gear lube filled to zerk fitting height and call it a day.
 
I use a regular grease gun filled with 90W gear oil to inject the lube through the zerk. Works great.

That fixing bolt on top is, IMHO, a total biotch. I don't go near that if I don't have to.
 
I don't think it is an overflow hole bolt.
I believe the bolt tightens down on a slotted area on the top of the spindle inside and thus is supposed to hold it in place.
I seem to remember this from my 75, but I don't know if prior years had this "feature"?
With patience, I have been able to bet that top bolt off, sometimes by removing the rear fender to get to it.
I used to put the oil in there, but nowadays I take off the right side end cap with the bike on the sidestand so it is tilted to the left,
then shoot a load of oil in there with a syringe and put the end cap on fast.
Aren't the bushings supposed to be impregnated with oil anyway, I suppose the oil is to slowly seep over and around the spindle to help lubricate
it against the bushings.
 
I do what highdesert does, only I don't take the sideplate off, I just remove the nipple and use the syringe slowly. Works well with the bike on the side stand. I don't think I'll bother with an oil gun.
 
The oil is to "refill" the impregnated ("oilite") bushing so it doesn't "dry out."
 
Well there you go, you learn something new every day. I'd never even thought about it before. Well done Brian.
 
My MKII has the MKIIA swingarm - Welch plugs, felt wicks and no zirk fitting. I have to use the top fixing bolt to add oil, with a syringe or a pump can. 85-140W has worked for me, for 35 years.

I'm glad the thing has those felt wicks, because whenever I add oil it leaks out past those silly rubber seals very quickly. I took it all apart a year ago to renew bushings "just because" and it all looked like new. I guess it works.
 
I think I'd slask my wrists if I only had that top bolt as a fill point. [shudder]

`Any reason not to drill/tap a fill port in the top of the side plate and put a blanking screw in there to seal it after filling things w/ an oil gun/syringe?
 
That should work Mehavey. But why not drill, tap, and screw in a zerk? Really works quite well. But to each his own.
 
I've been using STP in mine for years and it seems to work great. Luckily, I have a grease fitting on the right cap, so I only have to loosen the center bolt on the swingarm and pump in the oil with a grease gun.
 
maylar said:
I'm glad the thing has those felt wicks, because whenever I add oil it leaks out past those silly rubber seals very quickly. I took it all apart a year ago to renew bushings "just because" and it all looked like new. I guess it works.
Click to expand...


Many owners appear to be under the impression that the pivot bushes/bushings need to be kept constantly "wet" with oil? This simply isn't necessary! As the Commando S/Arm bushes are made from Oilite (sintered bronze) and are (more or less) self lubricating!

Oilite is porous, so readily absorbs oil if it is dry (I've watched this, and it happened quite quickly, one 'drip' of oil placed on a spare S/arm bush vanished into it without leaving any trace on its surface in less than 3 minutes!) so any oil that leaks out of the pivot after oiling is just EXCESS OIL!

I have never touched my MkIII's 'sealed for life' S/arm pivot assembly since I bought the bike over 10 years ago (and I've no idea when the pivot was serviced before then?) and there's still not the slightest trace of play in the pivot!
I'd say that each Oilite bush probably needs maybe one or two drops of oil per year?

For some time, I've had the opinion that the 'seals' are there primarily to keep dirt and water out rather than to keep oil in?
 
I didn't know that the swingarm in my bike was of a later design until I got it apart. Now that I've seen how the felt wicks work, I only add a few drops a year to keep them saturated.
 
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