Swingarm removal

FastFred · Aug 8, 2010

Some doughnut has 'improved' my Mk2 850 such that the central thin threaded rod that goes thro the swing arm tube is fixed to the left hand side with the nut on the right. A stroke of genius as there was no oil nipple in the right hand side either; because the nut for the spindle and oil nipple interfere. I am fairly certain there is no lube in there. I have some ep140 on order but can guess that it is going to drip straight out without further mods. Can I extract the spindle from the left hand side or do I have to strip the primary drive off It looks to be in line with the primary..

Madnorton · Aug 8, 2010

Hi,
Mine is the same on my MKIII, as I have had the timken taper bearing conversion fitted. If yours is the same you'll need to strip the primary drive side and pull it out from that side, unless you can stop the big flat piece it's screwed into from turning - a real pain I know.
Personally I think this mod was a solution looking for a problem, as I have heard little of swing arms being a problem to remove.

Hope this helps.

DogT · Aug 8, 2010

I thought the 850's had the "permanent" oil seals and you had to pry off a cap to get to it and re-wick the felts? I thought only the earlier ones had the thin spindle with the nut? I have been known to be wrong. But the nut is threaded into the other side so if your nut is on the left, you will most likely have to pull the chaincase to get it out unless you want to cut it and replace it.

Dave
69S

FastFred · Aug 8, 2010

Personally I think this mod was a solution looking for a problem, as I have heard little of swing arms being a problem to remove.

Do you mean the timken mod or just the nut being on the right?

I thought the 850's had the "permanent" oil seals and you had to pry off a cap to get to it and re-wick the felts? I thought only the earlier ones had the thin spindle with the nut? I have been known to be wrong. But the nut is threaded into the other side so if your nut is on the left, you will most likely have to pull the chaincase to get it out unless you want to cut it and replace it.

No my nut is on the right but if there are no seals in there and I have to strip it I will have to withraw the spindle from the left I guess, hence primary stripdown. My part manual doesn't show any felts, where do they go?

swooshdave · Aug 8, 2010

DogT said:
I thought the 850's had the "permanent" oil seals and you had to pry off a cap to get to it and re-wick the felts?

Dave
69S

MkIII, not all 850s.

DogT · Aug 8, 2010

FFred,

That nut is actually part of the narrow spindle and is brazed on, at least mine is. When I remove the "nut" it comes out with the spindle to the right side and the plate on the left side just falls off because the shaft is threaded into it. Try it, you may be surprised and all is OK. The plate on the right with the nipple has a hole the spindle goes through and the nut holds it on. Unless I'm reading your situation wrong?

Dave
69S

Flo · Aug 8, 2010

Why can't you remove the middle location bolt & fill up from there?

DogT · Aug 8, 2010

Flo said:
Why can't you remove the middle location bolt & fill up from there?

Very true, some even put a plastic pipe into a bolt with a hole in it to keep it lubed.

Dave
69S

Hobot · Aug 8, 2010

If like in 750's yeah twist off the plate with the zerk so rod just unscrews from that end and can push LH plate out and unscrew it, or visa versa the rod turns with the RH zert plate and far side plate drops off.

I've done the big plastic tube tapped to feed through the center 'clamp' fill bolt and found its just extends the time of leak down mess with same end result as factory, clinging oil only. Thickest oil will only slightly delay the drainage but will add effort to clean up.

Don't be fooled by remark, swing arms aren't much to remove, HA, can be impossible in some case if run dry too long. Wears lips in spindle and then locks up further by swollen rust binding. Pistons are easy to remove too unless head off out in the yard for a few decades. If you don't do real greaser conversion I'd say a plastic tube up to oil tank level would allow syringing oil in routine check area.

hobot

FastFred · Aug 9, 2010

No, the nut is definately on the right hand side, I have taken it off. Good idea re central fill hole. Will take swingarm out in winter (and primary drive..).

maylar · Aug 9, 2010

swooshdave said:
DogT said:

I thought the 850's had the "permanent" oil seals and you had to pry off a cap to get to it and re-wick the felts?

Dave
69S

Click to expand...

MkIII, not all 850s.

And some MKII's with the MKIIA swing arm. Mine is like that.

MexicoMike · Aug 9, 2010

The only problem with lubing through the top fixing bolt is that IF you are doing this for the first time on your bike and don't know if the PO incorrectly used grease for this purpose. If he did, the tiny holes in the spindle will be clogged with grease and won't allow the oil through. Unfortunately, the best way is to pull/dissasemble/clean the setup and perhaps install new bushings. Then lubricate with 140 oil. I used 80 oil for a couple of years when I couldn't find 140. Works fine but is more prone to seeping.

swooshdave · Aug 9, 2010

maylar said:
swooshdave said:

MkIII, not all 850s.

Click to expand...

And some MKII's with the MKIIA swing arm. Mine is like that.

I was going to say MkIIA but then I would have had to explain WTF a MkIIA is. :mrgreen:

Madnorton · Aug 15, 2010

With the timken conversion, it seems to have worked well for 15 years I have owned the MKIII, only being stripped and lubed 3 years ago. The nut and lock nut is on the righthand side - this sets the end float on the bearings. Looked at putting it on the left and there is no room. Luckily it does not need to come apart often, and needs adjusting rarely.

swooshdave · Aug 15, 2010

Madnorton said:
With the timken conversion, it seems to have worked well for 15 years I have owned the MKIII, only being stripped and lubed 3 years ago. The nut and lock nut is on the righthand side - this sets the end float on the bearings. Looked at putting it on the left and there is no room. Luckily it does not need to come apart often, and needs adjusting rarely.

Any more details or pictures of this conversion.

britbike220 · Aug 15, 2010

I would also like more info on this. I am going to prbably have to rebuild the swing arm on the older bike this winter and if there is a better way , I'm game.

Swingarm removal

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