New Swing Arm Bushings ?

Has anyone tried these Graphite lubricated swing arm bushings?
They look interesting indeed........

JD

http://quakercitymotorworks.com/norton- ... arm-bushes
http://quakercitymotorworks.com/norton-swing-arm-bush/

It says that they are sold out?

jeffdavison said:

Has anyone tried these Graphite lubricated swing arm bushings?
They look interesting indeed........

JD

http://quakercitymotorworks.com/norton- ... arm-bushes
http://quakercitymotorworks.com/norton-swing-arm-bush/

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I think there a fantastic idea... Your still even able to pack with oil and maintain the obligatory drip of oil on the swing arm. :wink: :wink: :wink:
$50 (US $?) is not a bad price especially with the impregnations of graphite IMO...

It would certainly be a "lifetime" fix.............

so how would this be any better than an bronze bushing with the 140 wt oil inside like stock? Are you saying it would last longer because you would not run the risk of the bushing running unlubricated if the oil ran out?

I don't see how anything on that swingarm design could be lifetime.

Another issue with running dry is corrosion on the steel pin which then wears the bush bore and also seizes in the rear cradle. So if you plan on not using oil a suitable from of plating or suitable type of stainless steel pin may be necessary.
It would appear the graphite is in the form of small dots on the thrust face that works against the cradle so bore lubrication and wear may still be an issue over time. It is possible to have phozer bronze coated with modern low fiction ceramic compounds but the coating is very brittle an very easily cracked if the bush flexes or is deformed in assembly (hitting it in with hammer) or use (oval bush bores or leverage of swinging arm pin).
On balance i would (an have) just live with standard set up an keep on top of maintaining it.

I contacted Quaker City Motors and they are out of stock and they have manufacturing issues so they don't know when or if they will be available.

I looked into these a while back and decided to wait until someone has put some serious miles on them. It was an access norton member that came up with them and had a small quantity made. Quaker City was just selling them.

I deleted the info when I flushed all my PMs!

toppy said:

Another issue with running dry is corrosion on the steel pin which then wears the bush bore and also seizes in the rear cradle.

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How true that statement is! My 1974 Norton Commando has the "lubed for life" swingarm. When I removed my swingarm spindle it was badly corroded due to water getting inside the assembly. It was only 19 years old at that time. That is one of the reasons why I modified my swingarm so that it can be serviced like the earlier swingarm assemblies.

+1
Oil is needed not only for lubrication, but also to keep the water that WILL creep in from rusting the steel parts.

At risk of more hobot hog wash flack in face of real facts of the matter...
I've had 2 Combat completely dry and rusted inside to definitely know and bulnty state -the oil has NO lube-friction purpose here- Only Rust Prevention, as the road/rider loads very easy over come any-all friction but the spindle's hardened surface can rust off into grinding compound and also swells up to wear down faster yet so if a SS to Titanium or chromed spindle used with brooze bushes, sintered or not the different alloys would move smoothly w/o bind/galling dry as a bone. The only reason to keep some anti-rust fluid on spindle is to allow unworn spindle removal which can get to be impossible if asymmetric lips ground into spindle so no matter how its turned > one or more lips snag bushes. Both these Combat spindles were worn loose and useless but not the bushes very much. If lube was the real function in swing arm then the bushes should of been ground down more than the spindle.

Wes's '71 spindle has never been lubed over 60-70,000 miles so has developed 1/4" side slack but moves easy up/dn yet he is hell on wheels that scares me even on Peel or my SVee to keep up with when he's in a hurry through twistes. I've ridden his to test the effects of so much dry slack to only notice a mild instant twitch then steady as she goes when zig zaging through turns trying to upset it but could not. He has to work as hard as I do on non-tammed-linked isolastic to hold the hinging down - same as any all Cdos not properly stabilized form reboundings.

I goofed on placing DS grease zerk in Peel so when chain gets too slack off road suspension compression and chain flap jerked it out, so now that its on Trixie with lesions learned, I just use a smear of grease every few years and has stayed pristine atleast 15,000 miles on the 2 Combat hard use loaded to the gills and running Trixie just short of too much effort to resist the hinging form escalating. Peel and Trixie both do water crossings and get power washed but the grease keeps it dry and polished close surfaces.

A follow up on the swingarm bushings. I designed them for my bikes and have fitted them to my 1972 and 1970 commando's which I ride. I am a design engineer by trade. I had to buy a small lot of bearings from the manufacturer the extras which some adventurous people purchased from Quaker City. I can get more however the manufacturer increased price significantly so I need to be sure people want them as not to get stuck with a pile of $ bearings.

The bearings are compatible with grease for those inclined to grease everything but I am running them dry with graphite powder lubricant because of the o-ring seals are already there.

I have one extra set left. PM if interested or comment.

George (Baldy)

PM sent Geroge

Thanks

JD

baldy said:

A follow up on the swingarm bushings. I designed them for my bikes and have fitted them to my 1972 and 1970 commando's which I ride. I am a design engineer by trade. I had to buy a small lot of bearings from the manufacturer the extras which some adventurous people purchased from Quaker City. I can get more however the manufacturer increased price significantly so I need to be sure people want them as not to get stuck with a pile of $ bearings.

The bearings are compatible with grease for those inclined to grease everything but I am running them dry with graphite powder lubricant because of the o-ring seals are already there.

I have one extra set left. PM if interested or comment.

George (Baldy)

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I got these plugged bushes mostly as a talisman of the crafty thought and attention that went into them and of course for UFO part looks. I'm a greaser from the '50's so just can't resist using graphited grease here. Pencil lead graphene dust is called a dry or solid lubricant, relatively speaking as not really dry and a fair spreading fluid.

Graphite is best suited for lubrication in air. Water vapor is a necessary component for graphite lubrication. The adsorption of water reduces the bonding energy between the hexagonal planes of the graphite to a lower level than the adhesion energy between a substrate and the graphite. Because water vapor is a requirement for lubrication, graphite is not effective in vacuum.[2] Because it is electrically conductive, graphite can promote galvanic corrosion.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_lubricant

Water crossing and power washing is fun but some metals such as aluminum, magnesium, zinc, and cadmium may experience galvanic corrosion when exposed to graphite lubricant. Since galvanic corrosion requires an electrolyte, should be okay if metal components are seal dry inside and not in a wet area.

I'm looking for a smaller size of this sort of lazy man's grease.
http://products.lelubricants.com/item/a ... oCSqjw_wcB

From experience graphite does give seizure problems with bushes. But hey! if it works great.

Dave

I am leaning towards PEEK for dry run bushs. PTFE filled PEEK may be also be good ?

Try it and get back as there's some mysterious reason we don't hear of composite bush upgrade kits, so far.