Swing Arm problems 89 VR

[BJB]

I am trying to remove the swingarm assembly to change bushing etc. However, please refer to attached pic, I cannot remove item #25 (where the pointer is). This is a "T" shaped bolt that goes through the lower shock mounting. The other side has a bolt (#26) also and a clamp that holds a drain hose. I have tried just about everything I can think of. I used penetrating fluid, tried heating it up with propane torch and hitting or using penetrating fluid. I cannot move this one. I have screwed the bolt back in from the other side and tried hitting it....managed to damage head of this bolt. Removed it again and put in a narrow punch to bottom out in the threaded area. Hit this quite hard but cannot shake this loose. Is there a trick here? Or am I going about this the wrong way? If I can't get it out, I will have to put bike on a lift of some sort, and then remove the center stand to get the #14 area to swing down to replace bushings etc. I will not be able to put in grease zerks unless I can get it off the bike. Thanks all.

[Guest ssparks905]

BJ,

I put grease zerks on mine, but I wasn't able to remove that part either. I tried all of the things you mentioned (except the torch). In my case, I had the engine out waiting for parts so I decided to pull the suspension linkage and install the zerks. I had the bike up on the center stand and easy access to the top of the shock, so I dropped the whole assembly including the shock. The shock pivoted easily on the shaft so I installed zerks everywhere else. Here are some pictures.

 

I don't know if the top shock mount is accessible with the engine in the frame.

[BJB]

Thanks sparks. I really don't want to remove the whole shock assembly so I plan to try and get zerks in while still on the bike. Aluminum is not hard to drill so hopefully I can do it with a hand drill. Did you put more than 3 zerks in? Pics don't show if you put more in the area where it attaches to shaft and frame at rear.

[Guest ssparks905]

I think there were 5 zerks total. The rear linkage also has zerks where it attaches to the swing arm. I'm on a different computer tonight and the photos are on the other one.

If you are installing the zerks with the linkage still on the bike, be careful when tapping the holes. You will want to blow out any metal particles thoroughly before reassembly.

[BJB]

ssparks905

After reading your post, I decided to remove the whole rear shock assembly from the bike. A little bit difficult, but the best solution in the end. I took it to a machine shop buddy and finally got the assembly apart. Let me tell you...there is no way in heck I would have ever gotten it apart on the bike using the techniques I was using. We put the shock and lower arms in a hydraulic press and used a longer bolt screwed into the opposite side. We had to apply heat using a torch and 1300 lbs to get it to move. Without heat, we went up to 2000 lbs without budging it...just managed to bent soft bolts! After all that, there is no damage to the aluminum parts. I plan to use 'Never Seize' when reinstalling that particular bolt and also 5 zerks on the other parts. Should be good to go by afternoon and be able to change the shock in the future if it ever becomes necessary. Thanks for your help.

[Dano]

Glad you're finally getting this beast tamed!!

 

Dan

[friesman]

if you ever feel you are forgetting how that was done just drop me a line and I would be happy to let you refresh your memory on my 85!

 

 

 

Brian:cool10:

[BJB]

Thanks for the offer Brian! Latest problem is Flatout motorcycles did not send all the parts (even though I was charged for them). So here I sit with the bike all apart and waiting another 6-10 days.

Interesting fact here. I thought I had read somewhere on this site that flatout had free shipping in US if you told them you were a member of venturerider.org. When I tried that, they said 'oh no, we don't do that....and surely not on international orders'. Well, they charged me $46 for shipping north of the 49th, but the attached postage bill on the pack said only $29 shipping costs. When I mentioned it I got some sort of run around. I will have to think on ordering from them again, but will reserve judgement until my parts arrive!