Swingarm help!!
Thread Starter
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Stage II
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Minnesota
Swingarm help!!
Hello All! I'm new to the forum and need some help from the brain trust. Here is the deal...
2000 FLHT
38000 MILES
LOWERED 2"
NEW TIRES
I have had this bike for a couple of years and have put on roughly 18k miles without a single problem. Rode great, ran great.
This season I needed to replace tires and I did. My lady and I picked it up and put on about 150 miles that evening and it rode better than ever (Love the Michelin Commander II's). The next morning I hopped on and headed for work. Half way there, I had to stop because if felt as if the rear wheel was loose or something. It wasn't. I assume what I was feeling is the dreaded bagger wobble and have read up on it extensively. I tried a couple of things... new front motor mount, Progressive touring link, Rivera Primo bushing... Nothing has done anything but increase vibration. I quadruple checked the tires, all is fine.
So finally I said eff it and went to pull off the swing arm for inspection of cracks, cleve blocks etc... The thing is, When I pulled off the left hard bag, I saw that the shock had been rubbing on it pretty bad. I had been paying attention to this because I had heard of some issues with the lowering kit and rubbing. I had not had a problem for 18k miles, so it seemed strange to me that it would be starting now.
Standing behind the bike, I can see that the shock is kicked out on the left side a bit. More than I had ever noticed before. So, I checked finger clearance between the tire and fender on top. About an 1 1/4" on the right and maybe 1/2" on the left...? This seems off to me. I even pulled the swing arm and flipped it over to make sure it wasn't bent or something dumb
My assumption is, the motor/trans needs to be aligned. The question is, how did it get so far off...? As stated, this thing was flawless for quite a while.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this??
2000 FLHT
38000 MILES
LOWERED 2"
NEW TIRES
I have had this bike for a couple of years and have put on roughly 18k miles without a single problem. Rode great, ran great.
This season I needed to replace tires and I did. My lady and I picked it up and put on about 150 miles that evening and it rode better than ever (Love the Michelin Commander II's). The next morning I hopped on and headed for work. Half way there, I had to stop because if felt as if the rear wheel was loose or something. It wasn't. I assume what I was feeling is the dreaded bagger wobble and have read up on it extensively. I tried a couple of things... new front motor mount, Progressive touring link, Rivera Primo bushing... Nothing has done anything but increase vibration. I quadruple checked the tires, all is fine.
So finally I said eff it and went to pull off the swing arm for inspection of cracks, cleve blocks etc... The thing is, When I pulled off the left hard bag, I saw that the shock had been rubbing on it pretty bad. I had been paying attention to this because I had heard of some issues with the lowering kit and rubbing. I had not had a problem for 18k miles, so it seemed strange to me that it would be starting now.
Standing behind the bike, I can see that the shock is kicked out on the left side a bit. More than I had ever noticed before. So, I checked finger clearance between the tire and fender on top. About an 1 1/4" on the right and maybe 1/2" on the left...? This seems off to me. I even pulled the swing arm and flipped it over to make sure it wasn't bent or something dumb
My assumption is, the motor/trans needs to be aligned. The question is, how did it get so far off...? As stated, this thing was flawless for quite a while.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this??
Advanced
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 91
Likes: 14
It is rare that a bagger has same clearance on both sides of fender to tire.
Check lowering brackets, but probably the cleave blocks at the pivot are shot.
Pretty much have to jack up bike and try to move wheel side to side.
You may notice the rubber swingarm mounts are shot also. These bikes also
crack the swingarm at the axle area especially with lowering blocks.
Check lowering brackets, but probably the cleave blocks at the pivot are shot.
Pretty much have to jack up bike and try to move wheel side to side.
You may notice the rubber swingarm mounts are shot also. These bikes also
crack the swingarm at the axle area especially with lowering blocks.
Thread Starter
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Stage II
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Minnesota
Thanks for the input, gentlemen. Swing arm is clean, no cracks. I can't feel any lateral movement in it when bolted up. I Thu have a feeling you may be right on the bushings being bad... Keep em coming!
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