The trickle-in continues. Swingarm bearings arrived today. Duke decided to curl up next to them.
Installation is going to be interesting. They want you to press in one side, wait two hours for the locktite (CCE was nice enough to include a little tube of 262) to set up, then press in the other side. Then, before the locktite on the second side sets up, you do a test install. They want the bearings to be a snug fit against the transmission bore, so depending on how lucky you get, that second bearing's position will either snug up during the install, or if it's too tight, you have to tap it back out a smidge to get some clearance. Problem is, I don't have a press, so I'll be doing that part at Mark's next door. That means I'll have to drive home (20 minutes or so) and get the second bearing's position adjusted while the locktite is on the clock.
Can't you make a puller with a stud some nuts and a couple of plates and a pipe nipple (1 1/4" or 1 1'2" OD to fit the outer race of the bearing) to pull the bearing into position?
The trickle-in continues. Swingarm bearings arrived today. Duke decided to curl up next to them.
Installation is going to be interesting. They want you to press in one side, wait two hours for the locktite (CCE was nice enough to include a little tube of 262) to set up, then press in the other side. Then, before the locktite on the second side sets up, you do a test install. They want the bearings to be a snug fit against the transmission bore, so depending on how lucky you get, that second bearing's position will either snug up during the install, or if it's too tight, you have to tap it back out a smidge to get some clearance. Problem is, I don't have a press, so I'll be doing that part at Mark's next door. That means I'll have to drive home (20 minutes or so) and get the second bearing's position adjusted while the locktite is on the clock.
Should work, but makes me a little nervous.
I've always had better luck using a 4# sledge instead of a press.
I've always had better luck using a 4# sledge instead of a press.
You gave me a thought there. Decided to try beating the stock cleve blocks out with a sledge. Turns out the right combination of sockets and extensions and elbow grease and they popped right out.
Hotrod, your idea got me thinking. Ended up calling and talking with Tim at CCE. He was very, very helpful.
Here's his version of how to do this: It all goes back to the fact that the original swingarms are just a welded together piece. The section that the cleve blocks go into is not a machined piece. It's just a piece of tubing that the MoCo bought. CCE guy described how they see a wide assortment of sizes on that. Some are way tighter than others. Some are downright loose.
The trick is you want to press in the bearings and have them be snug, but not so snug that they bind up.
Which gets to where I got stuck tonight. After getting the stock blocks out, I decided to try my luck and tap in one of the bearings. Cleaned out the swingarm, gave everything a good schmear of locktite, and started tapping it in with a deadblow mallet and the press block supplied by CCE. Got it in maybe half an inch and checked, and yep: The bearing was jammed up.
Tapped it back out. Tim's procedure from here is to take a flap wheel and a die grinder and hone out the area on the swingarm a bit. The key is to get the swing arm to where the bearings don't jam up, but still have an easy interference fit. Problem at the moment is I don't have a flap wheel, so I'll have to try tracking one down tomorrow.
From there, it's right to your idea: Tim said to get one side installed, then use some nuts on some allthread to pull in the other side up flush with the transmission mount. With the swingarm honed out correctly, it shouldn't take a whole lot of force to draw the bearing in. Seems simple enough.
You gave me a thought there. Decided to try beating the stock cleve blocks out with a sledge. Turns out the right combination of sockets and extensions and elbow grease and they popped right out.
Hotrod, your idea got me thinking. Ended up calling and talking with Tim at CCE. He was very, very helpful.
Here's his version of how to do this: It all goes back to the fact that the original swingarms are just a welded together piece. The section that the cleve blocks go into is not a machined piece. It's just a piece of tubing that the MoCo bought. CCE guy described how they see a wide assortment of sizes on that. Some are way tighter than others. Some are downright loose.
The trick is you want to press in the bearings and have them be snug, but not so snug that they bind up.
Which gets to where I got stuck tonight. After getting the stock blocks out, I decided to try my luck and tap in one of the bearings. Cleaned out the swingarm, gave everything a good schmear of locktite, and started tapping it in with a deadblow mallet and the press block supplied by CCE. Got it in maybe half an inch and checked, and yep: The bearing was jammed up.
Tapped it back out. Tim's procedure from here is to take a flap wheel and a die grinder and hone out the area on the swingarm a bit. The key is to get the swing arm to where the bearings don't jam up, but still have an easy interference fit. Problem at the moment is I don't have a flap wheel, so I'll have to try tracking one down tomorrow.
From there, it's right to your idea: Tim said to get one side installed, then use some nuts on some allthread to pull in the other side up flush with the transmission mount. With the swingarm honed out correctly, it shouldn't take a whole lot of force to draw the bearing in. Seems simple enough.
Thanks guys, I'm watching this thread with great intrest. I'm working on a 90 FXR project bike I picked up a few months back and this CCE swingarm kit is one of the improvements I have planned. Be interested how it turns out.
My initial impression is they seem pretty decent for $200. They are unpainted. The surface seems pretty smooth, although there's a little bit of minor box rash in a couple of spots. I hope they pack their pre-painted version better than they packed these. The real test will be to see how the hinge/latch mechanism works after it's all put together.
On the swingarm, I picked up a flap wheel. One quick pass through the swingarm was all it took. Went from "so tight the bearing locks up" to "easy to tap it in by hand" just that quick. Loaded up one side with locktite and set it in place. I'll do the other side tomorrow after the locktite is good and cured.
Good news / bad news on the bags.
The good news is based on a test fit on the left side, it looks like they will go on pretty easy.
It's just sitting on the bottom rail in that pic. There are a few minor (and expected) issues: The mounting holes don't line up, and it looks like I'll need to shim behind the mounts by a half inch or so to keep it from hitting the shock. In general, though, the overall geometry looks like it will work.
The bad news, such as it is, is that the assembly on these looks like it's going to take some massage. The clamp/lock/hinge mechanism is pretty goofy, and at first try, not everything fits the way you'd want it to. I got it together enough to get the hinge operating to verify clearance on the bike, but I'm going to need to go back in and tweak some stuff. If nothing else, there are a bunch of locations where they just have threaded holes in some fairly thin (and cheap) sheet metal. I'll probably end up drilling those holes out and using proper nuts and bolts.
More (expected) bad news on the passenger handrail. It's going to have to be re-worked or removed entirely. I'm leaning toward just cutting it off, but I'm interested in opinions. Functionally, I don't think a passenger would miss it. Mainly, I'm worried that it also serves to reinforce the platform that holds the tourpak. That platform already broke once on me. Don't want to leave it unsupported.
On the handrail front, when I did my bag change I discretely heated and bent both handles up a little (well my brother did - he's much more handy at such stuff, where a lot of heat is involved!).
On the handrail front, when I did my bag change I discretely heated and bent both handles up a little (well my brother did - he's much more handy at such stuff, where a lot of heat is involved!).
Do you think removing it entirely would introduce any structural issues?
On another front, this guy just showed up. Damn! I knew it would be small, but it looks absolutely tiny! Amazing world we live in.
12-03-2018, 03:20 PM
