Swingarm issue??

[AustinXL]

Last week when riding to work some dummy locked his brakes in front of me and I went a little overboard grabbing mine - rear wheel had a slight lockup so I released it everything was fine, noticed later that the pulley had rubbed either against the swingarm or the belt guard, not sure which. No biggie.

Today I noticed that the swingarm may actually be moving. The reason I noticed this is that I recently lost a swingarm pivot bolt cover on the road somewhere so the one on there now I just put on recently. That gap you see in the picture below between the swingarm and the pivot bolt wasnt there before, they were flush.




Does the swingarm move side to side that much normally?? I am at work and just noticed it, dont have my service manual with me so just looking to brainstorm and hear what people think. Thanks in advance!

[Screw Loose Dan]

There was a thread somewhat recently that Nytster posted a similar issue when his motor mounts were shot. I'm on my phone at the moment so bit hard to search. But might get you pointed in the right direction.

[AustinXL]

Thanks Dan - I found Nytstr's thread ( http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/s....php?t=1313091 ) - what has me wondering is this picture:



(Thanks to Cosmo Kramer for that image from the previously mentioned thread...) There doesnt seem to be the gap in that picture that I am experiencing... I'm at work so I dont wanna start pulling it apart here, guess it'll have to wait until i get home.

[Screw Loose Dan]

Figured that thread might help show what's going on. Until I took my engine out recently I had no clue what held it in.

Something does look amiss with yours. At least check the bolts before riding home.

[AustinXL]

Yeah, I'm trying to find some tools, its a 40 mile ride home and i dont want it coming apart...

[Cosmo Kramer]

Originally Posted by AustinXL

There doesnt seem to be the gap in that picture that I am experiencing.

Careful!....those parts are just losely shown in place to give people a general idea of how everything goes together.

I have a similiar gap on my belt side swingarm as you showed in your picture. Not saying my motormounts aren't shot too....but just wanted to warn about using the picture more than just a visual of what goes where in the assembly.

[AustinXL]

Originally Posted by Cosmo Kramer

Careful!....those parts are just losely shown in place to give people a general idea of how everything goes together.

I have a similiar gap on my belt side swingarm as you showed in your picture. Not saying my motormounts aren't shot too....but just wanted to warn about using the picture more than just a visual of what goes where in the assembly.

Thanks Cosmo - the gap itself doesnt scare me as much as the seperation of the pivot bolt cover, I KNOW that was flush when I put it on less than 3 weeks ago.

[Cosmo Kramer]

Ahh....I see. Unless it is loose enough to move by hand you are probably thinking it took some lateral force to move that out and how the heck did that happen!

[AustinXL]

Originally Posted by Cosmo Kramer

Ahh....I see. Unless it is loose enough to move by hand you are probably thinking it took some lateral force to move that out and how the heck did that happen!

You got it, everything is tight - just the swingarm pivot bolt seems to have shifted... That combined with the scraped pulley makes me nervous, something either isnt aligned or is moving... I've never worked on that area of the bike, frankly I couldnt tell you how that whole setup is put together from memory - I'll start checking with manual in hand tonight.

[Screw Loose Dan]

When you say scraped pulley, you mean the one bolted to the rear wheel, right? The rear wheel is bolted to the swingarm - hopefully solidly. Even if the swingarm moves, the wheel should follow it, unless there is an issue with the wheel bearings (or it's not bolted solidly). I'm not sure I would understand how the pulley would get scrapped if the swingarm had lateral movement.