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Repacking the Swing Arm Bearings


Freebird

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Thanks to Vincent, AKA: Playboy, for this EXCELLENT tech article.

 

Packing Swing Arm Bearings

 

1. Remove the rear wheel as you normally do and your halfway there.

 

2. Drain the final drive and remove the speed sensor wire and four acorn nuts and simply pull out final drive and drive shaft. This is a great time to catch up on a lot of those little maintenance items.

 

. http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga1.jpg

 

3. Un clip the speed sensor wire from the swing arm and remove the clamps from the brake line. So you don’t have to hunt for them later re insert the clamp bolts back into the swing arm finger tight. Just allow the caliper to hang over out of the way. Be sure and check pads for even wear.

 

4. Now its time to remove the shock and the dog bones or leveling links. Before removing top bolt from shock remove seat and right side cover.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga2.jpg

 

5. Un clip the shocks vent line located beside battery on right side. Then remove round black plastic cover where you add air to rear shock ( it just pops out )

 

http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga3.jpg

 

6. Remove the nut from the valve stem.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga4.jpg

 

7. Now just work the vent line and air line down from top and pull out top bolt from shock.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga5.jpg

 

8. To remove Y pipes you will need to remove left side cover also. Under the lower section of the Y pipe loosen clamp closest to the rear.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga6.jpg

 

For the section attached to rear cylinders you can loosen that clamp as well or remove the two nuts on the flange going into head

 

. http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga7.jpg

 

Remove the bolt where the mufflers slide on

 

. http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga8.jpg

 

9. Now you can just work the Y pipe out and to the rear.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga9.jpg

 

10. Next pop off the chrome covers on both sides.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga10.jpg

 

you will notice a bolt head on the left side. 30mm I think remove this bolt from the left side

 

. http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga11.jpg

 

This bolt requires 72 ft/lbs on re installation.

 

11. On the right side you will notice a Allen head bolt with locknut loosen or remove nut then remove bolt

 

. http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga12.jpg

This bolt only needs 5.1 FT/lbs of torque. Locknut requires the 72 ft/lbs. Don’t worry about the swing arm falling out when you remove the bolts. Now you can work the swing arm out from under the bike with just a wiggle.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga13.jpg

 

The rubber boot protecting U joint should come out with it

 

. http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga14.jpg

 

12. Place the swing arm in a vice with drive shaft side down. Pull of the rubber boot so you can see the back side of the right side bearing. Insert the left side bolt from the inside.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga15.jpg

 

Using a wooden dowel rod tap out the bearing and seal. This will allow minimum distortion to seal so you can re use it

 

. http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga16.jpg

 

13. I used a seal puller on the right side seal because I had one but working carefully with a screw driver or very small pry-bar you can get that seal out with out much distortion.

 

14. Inspect bearings and races for pitting or wear marks I doubt you will find any unless this has been neglected for a very long time. My bike was @ 30k and had some grease still on bearings Probably just what the factory put on them.

 

15. Re-pack your bearings with a good quality grease. Insert the right bearing and reinstall seal flip over the swing arm and repeat for left side.

 

16. Reattach the rubber boot and work the swing arm back up into the bike. Don’t worry about the trying to get the boot back on just yet. Just get it in there where the swing arm bolts will be close to lining up. Lift the swing arm up and slide something under it to support it.

 

. http://www.venturerider.org/Swing%20Arm/swinga17.jpg

 

17. Reinstall both bolts just enough to get the threads started good and then work the rubber boot back over the U joint. Long handle needle nose pliers and a monkey hook are real handy here.

 

18. Tighten both swing arm bolts. The left bolt must be tightened first. Remember right side is only 5.1 ft/lbs and locknut is 72 ft/lbs.

 

19. Everything else goes back in reverse order. Don’t forget to lube those pivot points on the shock while your there.

 

Something that works well for me when it comes to reinstalling final drive and drive shaft is that I pull the driveshaft off the final drive, put the bike in gear, I then insert a large Allen wrench into the hole of the driveshaft where the spring fits for a handle and install the driveshaft into the U joint. You can turn the gear on the end of shaft to determine that your in the U joint and not beside it.

 

Hope this helps because it is not the dreaded job I thought it would be. Could have done it in a afternoon but it was a 100 degree day and trying to take pics on all the steps took some time.

 

Vincent aka PLAYBOY

Edited by Freebird
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