rear swing arm install ??
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Joined: Aug 2008
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From: eastern oklahoma
this might sound silly, but had you considered that the powdercoating might be thicker than the paint that was on your swingarm originally? this may be causing the interference which prevents it from fitting in there like before you got it powdercoated.
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From: Bedford UK
The swingarm paintwork is not close enough to anything to cause a problem. I've had mine out twice now and the swingarm moved smoothly, but not freely. It is essentially clamped in a sandwich between the outer rubber mounts, also either side of the transmission case, so there will be some 'stiction'. I can't see how it could move freely with the design Harley uses. The sandwich I mentioned is all that keeps the swingarm in line with the rest of the bike, as Harley omitted to install a rear stabilizer link!
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Ya it moves freely as far as no binding grinding or kinks it just seems stiff it doesn't seem like a very good design to me. With the swing arm mounted to the tranny and rear wheel you create a fight between the tranny which is supposed to be a fixed position part and the rear wheel which is a constant moving part. Poor old swing arm never had a chance for high speed stability haha. Why wouldn't they mount the swing arm to the frame and have scrubber rear mount for the tranny like softails?
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From: Bedford UK
Ya it moves freely as far as no binding grinding or kinks it just seems stiff it doesn't seem like a very good design to me. With the swing arm mounted to the tranny and rear wheel you create a fight between the tranny which is supposed to be a fixed position part and the rear wheel which is a constant moving part. Poor old swing arm never had a chance for high speed stability haha. Why wouldn't they mount the swing arm to the frame and have scrubber rear mount for the tranny like softails?
Harley did much the same as Norton did with their Commando. Engines with big cylinders create big vibrations, so they both installed the engine in rubber mounts. That helps us riders enjoy a better riding experience and also reduces the stresses and strains on other parts of the bike. So rubber mounts also improve reliability.
To keep the chain or belt in line, the swingarm and rear wheel have to be mounted off the trans, so there is no sideways movement between the rear and trans sprockets/pulleys. That in turn means the engine/trans/swingarm/wheel are mounted as an assembly in the frame, via those rubber mounts. From an engineering point of view it is the only way to go.
Harley's system is actually very good, on all the Buells and the rubber-mount Sportsters. They all have lateral stabilizer links, to support the front and rear rubber mounts. For some perverse reason Harley never installed a rear link on any of the touring range, which is why there are so many after-market stabilizer kits. Frankly some of them are just jumping on the bandwagon, but a few are well worth fitting IMHO.
Does that help?!
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From: Bedford UK
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I love some of the crazy concepts in buells. The frame is the gas tank. The gas tank is the air box. The rear swing arm is the oil tank.
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