Hello all. Quick question on swing arm. Recently purchased a ‘71 750 in need of some sorting. While inspecting the bike I noticed the rhs swingarm cap is loose and can be slid over to expose grease (and dirt). There is no play in the swing arm, so I was contemplating trying to clean out the grease, replace the o-ring seals and fill with recommended 140 wt according to some other posts on the site here. Is it possible to replace the o-rings without removing the swing arm, particularly the lhs which is a very tight fit. Can’t see it or get fingers in behind the z plate. Thanks!
Swing Arm Question
- Thread starter Big Red
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Sounds similar to the 72 that I am working on.
You have pretty much answered your own question. You need to remove the LH Z-plate and complete primary to gain access. I did this and with the end cap removed, the grease can be removed. After this you can fit new end caps and o-rings and refill with 140 oil.
You have pretty much answered your own question. You need to remove the LH Z-plate and complete primary to gain access. I did this and with the end cap removed, the grease can be removed. After this you can fit new end caps and o-rings and refill with 140 oil.
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As grease has been used its possible the sintered bushes pores are contaminated, best if they are taken out and either preplaced or washed out with thinners to remove the grease. The pores are to retain the oil which then comes out over time to keep the spindle journal lubricated. If these pores are full of grease then the spindle rapidly wears.
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Hi Big Red! if you are just at that point I would highly recommend to do a swing arm overhaul. I did on my `72 Commando in spring this year. I also made some modifications that are worth every cent and a handling improvement. I put on some Kegler clamps, put seals from a MK3 (part #06.5227.....they are way better!) in and i put a oil nipple on top of the swingarm tube. so winter is coming...best time for an overhaul. in the pictures below you can see the MK3 seals, Kegler clamps and the new grease nipple. This nipple is a vent nipple, no grease nipple with ball inside!.......with the clear tube on the nipple you can see when its time to top up swingarm-oil and you got some extra-oil-reservoir:
baz
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What would you use for the pin ?
concours
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Baz beat me to it. Unless you use stainless for the turcite to ride on, rust will gobble up the plastic.
acadian
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Exactly, and just what I have in my bike for 4 seasons now. No issues
Norton Swingarm Pivot Spindle STAINLESS Commando 750 850 06-0453
Brand new production, better than anything else on the market. Stainless steel, brilliant. Norton part number is 06-0453, to suit just about all Commando until 1974. NOTE: This is modeled after the latest Andover spindle, with both the 1/4"-28 bolt hole and MK3-style wedge pin slots. It will fit...
www.eurojamb.com
when I recently re-engineered the S/A in my A65 I couldn't locate a stainless pin/bolt, so Turcite was not an option, I instead made up oillite bronze top hat bushes to replace the internal bobbins
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concours
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Oil is GOOD. For many reasonsExactly, and just what I have in my bike for 4 seasons now. No issues
Norton Swingarm Pivot Spindle STAINLESS Commando 750 850 06-0453
Brand new production, better than anything else on the market. Stainless steel, brilliant. Norton part number is 06-0453, to suit just about all Commando until 1974. NOTE: This is modeled after the latest Andover spindle, with both the 1/4"-28 bolt hole and MK3-style wedge pin slots. It will fit...
when I recently re-engineered the S/A in my A65 I couldn't locate a stainless pin/bolt, so Turcite was not an option, I instead made up oillite bronze top hat bushes to replace the internal bobbins
marshg246
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It can be done without disturbing the primary. Remove the pivot pin as usual. Once you've done everything needed to the swingarm put the drive side cap and O-ring in place and hold the cap in place with either tape or some RTV (don't get on the O-ring). Once all back together, if you used tape, you can either leave it in place or fish it out. If you used RTV, nothing to be done.
Be careful tightening the long skinny thru bolt - easy to snap.
Be careful tightening the long skinny thru bolt - easy to snap.
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has that been shown to last many miles??
acadian
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As I said, 4 season now with no issues, now that's not a true "long term test" by any means, but when I had the rear wheel off this past spring the S/A movement was still smooth with no lateral play. It's not exactly an original idea
Thanks. Wanted to make sure there wasn’t a clever trick before tearing down.
Thanks for the tip
Thank you, I will add the oiler on the center bolt and look up the mk3 seals. Thanks for the pictures too. Very helpful and appreciated.
Hey that’s interesting. Will take and digest that, but sounds much easier than taking off the primary. Thanks for the tip. I’m not sure what the usual way is but will check the manual and figure it out. Thanks!
