I’ve recently started noticing what feels like a wobble from the rear wheel on my motorcycle—almost like the rear axle is loose. My first thought was low tire pressure, but I had checked it a couple of weeks ago and everything was right where it should be.

A few days ago on a ride, I noticed a friend’s rear tire was down to the wear bars (and pointed it out to him), which made me take a closer look at mine. Sure enough, my rear tire was also below the wear bars—still some tread left, but definitely worn. I initially chalked the wobble up to that, although I’ve run worn tires before and never experienced this kind of feeling.

Yesterday, I pulled the rear wheel and found something unusual. There’s a wear line around the outer surface of the rear sprocket, along with wear on both the inside and outside coils of the rear shocks. It looks like the outer coil may have been contacting the rear pulley, and the shock rod may have been rubbing against the inside of the coils—which doesn’t seem right at all.

With the wheel off, I could also feel noticeable play in the rear swingarm when pushing it side to side.

For reference, I replaced the rear fork rubber mounts at 165,686 miles, and the bike is now at 258,000 miles.

At this point, I’m thinking it could be worn swingarm bearings or possibly the rear fork shaft. Has anyone run into something similar or have any suggestions on where to look next?

 

Can you grab the sprocket and move it? As in , there are a set of bearings in the sprocket that may have failed, along with cush drive insulator. Probably best to get *** end up off the ground and see what is moving around.

 

I have the bike up on a motorcycle jack as I just removed the rear tire last night. The rear fork has play/movement when I push/pull it sideways. I'll investigate further today.
I replaced the rear sprocket & bearing assembly, 68 teeth, black (40217-09) at 165,686 miles and the rubber isolator (40278-09) at 107,558 miles.

 

I removed the rear fork today. While taking off the debris deflector, one of the bolts snapped—I’ll try to drill it out tomorrow. I also found quite a bit of water inside the rear fork. Harley has a tech tip on this issue (TT413), and I had previously drilled a drain hole in the debris deflector, but it looks like it may have become clogged.

I’m planning to replace the following:

• (2) rear fork bearings – HD Part #9208
• (2) rear fork rubber mounts – HD Part #47584-09

Is there anything else I should consider replacing while I have everything apart (spacers, rear shaft, etc.)?

 

it i is probably going to be a good idea to check your vehicle alignment after you do the work you have planned,,,,search it out, pots of good info out there on it.
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