I know this has been covered before but it can't hurt to bring it up again. If you feel the need to be a jackass and start ripping on the thread just move on. It might help someone avoid an injury.

I had read the threads about cracked swingarms here in the past and forgotten about them. My buddy has been having a stability issue with his bike for the last year. We talked about what it could be - tires, neck bearings, pivot shaft bushings. He had it to a couple shops, one replaced the neck bearings but the wiggle/wallow issue was still there. On the way back from Sturgis it got really bad. He took it to the dealer when he got home and they found the swingarm was cracked at the axle.

The repairs were more than his budget allows, so he brought it over here and I tore it apart last night. Long story short, when I removed the axle the right side of the swing was completely seperated. The only thing holding the right side in place was the shock and belt. There was a layer of dirty, oily sludge coating the swingarm and I suspect the crack was not visible or it might have been seen earlier.

Anyway take a look at these photos and check your swingarm if you are having any stability issues.

 

Appears to be a touring model, what year bike are we looking at?

 

Daayyuuummm!!!!.......... Is this a tour'n model? what year?(nephew has an 09 SG) He's very lucky this thing stay'd, and did'nt fly all ta hell @ hwy speed.....damn'st thing i've ever seen.....so there are other's that have had this happen? As bad as this 1??

 

How bout some more info on the bike.

 

dayum! your friend is some lucky dude to have been riding that for a year and not kissed the pavement.

 

It surprises me to see that the swing arm is not a solid piece of steel...looks like it is tube steel. I suppose this is to cut down on weight.

Paul in Colorado

 

The scoot is a '96 FLHT with 80K on the clock. The swingarm is tube steel. This does happen more times than I'd like to think it does...

Here's another link I saw about the same thing in the touring section tonight

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...swing-arm.html

 

Correctly sized, a tubular piece is stiffer than a solid piece.

 

I think if mine broke, I would fish plate it & weld it. If you bought a new one, You should still fish plate it.
Does this scoot have a lowering kit on it? If it does, take it off & re set to factory so this won't happen again.

 

It's hard to tell because of all the dirt, but is the axle block missing? The axle block fits inside the swingarm and the axle passes through it. It helps to keep the swingarm from distorting (crushing) when the axle nut is torqued to spec. It looks like it is either missing in the second and third pic, or possibly an improvised part may have been in there?

Tech23