Triple swing arm

Paul Marx

Paul Marx

Hero member
Location
France
It might seem a silly question: how the hell do you get a triple swing arm back in the frame?
I've done it once before but remember that it was a pain.
Thanks.
Paul
 
Exmoor beast said:
Loosen engine bolts.
Click to expand...
Got a real problem if that works... :rolleyes:

The swingarm needs to fit snugly with the engine done up tight. The frame cross members behind the engine should keep the swingarm mounts at the correct spacing. The triple has its engine mounts seperate from the swingarm mounts, depending on how abused engine lugs are on a twin, loosening the engine may offer a tad more clearance. Again, big problem in that case.

Feed the swingarm at an angle through the frame rails, twist it to horizontal and raise/lower it betwen the mounts, should slide in easily. Frame freshly coated/painted? Remove all coatings from the mounts before atempting to fit the swinger. There are only about 0.3mm clearance all around, if you have more than that in paint or powder coating on all the stuff, you're going to need a fucking big hammer. Coatings should also be removed from all contact (and fastener) surfaces to the engine cases, not only for electrical contact.

piet
 
Engine bolts are hanging around on the floor somewhere.
Engine is in the spare room upstairs.
There's powder coating inside the swing arm mounts.
Out comes the little grinding wheel.
Paul
 
I've ground off the powder coat on the frame.
I noticed that one of the needle rollers was just a bit proud of the end of the swing arm. So that was walloped in all the way.
I'll try to fit again when I find the time.
Paul
 
Paul Marx said:
I've ground off the powder coat on the frame.
I noticed that one of the needle rollers was just a bit proud of the end of the swing arm. So that was walloped in all the way.
I'll try to fit again when I find the time.
Paul
Click to expand...
Why wasn't it pressed in all the way? Bearings are not to be walloped!

I assume there's also powder coating on the swingarm pivot ends. With the plastic thrust washers fitted, the swingarm will jam. Check that before you spend another hour wrestling with it.

There's usually more than 2 ways to do things, the correct way, and a multitude of incorrect ways... :rolleyes:

Carry on.

piet
 
sfcpiet said:
Why wasn't it pressed in all the way? Bearings are not to be walloped!

I assume there's also powder coating on the swingarm pivot ends. With the plastic thrust washers fitted, the swingarm will jam. Check that before you spend another hour wrestling with it.

There's usually more than 2 ways to do things, the correct way, and a multitude of incorrect ways... :rolleyes:

Carry on.

piet
Click to expand...
There's no powder coating on the swingarm ends. They were protected with a bit of alloy plate either end held on with a piece of threaded rod through the arm.
The needle bearings were pressed in by myself. I don't have a press, so it's out of the freezer, into the greased swing arm and tapped in using the old bearing as a drift. There was maybe 1/2 proud on one, hardly noticeable, so a bit of heavy stainless plate over it and a few smart taps with a hammer. And Bob's your Uncle.
The correct way can be disguised, after all, it's carnival time.
Paul
 
Put the big hammer away.

Use a sanding block on the swing arm ends and sand down the powder coat while watching Days of our Lives..

My freshly powder coated frame needed the coating removed from the inside of the pivot plates, and I wasn't comfortable with using an angle grinder with a flap wheel.

I turned down a nut (M12 I think), so it fitted nicely into the pivot hole, found a suitable OD flat washer, lathered one side of it with superglue and sprinkled it with bead blasting medium.

Turned down the threaded end of a M12 bolt to about 10mm.

Next day (allowing the glue to dry), fitted the washer to the bolt (grit side away from the head) and screwed on the round nut.
Tightened the nut, held in a vice.

Then put the bolt through the spindle hole, from the inside. Put the turned down end into a drill chuck and ran the battery drill slowly anti-clockwise (so the nut didn't come loose) and pulled it toward me until the powder coat was gone. Repeat on the other side.

A ten minute job to make the tool, three minutes a side to sand the powder coat away.

I can't take the credit for it, my son came up with the idea after seeing me sitting in the garage, mulling over the issue over a few beers.
 
sfcpiet said:
Why wasn't it pressed in all the way? Bearings are not to be walloped!

I assume there's also powder coating on the swingarm pivot ends. With the plastic thrust washers fitted, the swingarm will jam. Check that before you spend another hour wrestling with it.

There's usually more than 2 ways to do things, the correct way, and a multitude of incorrect ways... :rolleyes:

Carry on.

piet
Click to expand...
Very true! just replaced bearings on my swing arm and had the same PITA experience.
The thrust washers kept slipping off while moving the swing arm at an angle in the limited frame space.
Eventually went in, but next time I'll figure out how to secure the thrust washers.
Gerald
 
What is the toque figure for the swingarm, I recently backed it off for a grease. Hope I haven't over-tightened it.
 
I don't own a toque wrench. My uncalibrated wrist probably went well over that, I have never replaced those bearings but I don't detect any play and over the years have been diligent with grease application. Not even sure whether there are bushings or needle rollers. Would overtightening produce drag affecting rear suspension operation? BTW I just replaced the grease cartridge in my grease gun for the second time with the boat yeard waterproof trailer grease I like and made the same balls up I did last time. You're supposed to pull the spring-loaded plunger back and lock it off before inserting it into the gun. I forgot again and ended up with grease everywhere, it's been 10 years since the first time and I forgot how bad this was if you do it wrong, kind of stupid as I must have used 10s of thousands of similar silicon tubes, but in my defence there not spring loaded. Overtoquing upsidedown fork tripal tree bolts can have a huge effect on fork action so how bad is over-torquing those swingarm nuts?
 
How do you check valve clearance and change shims without a torque wrench Vince? It's an important part of the Laverda maintenance toolbox.
Besides the cam clocks and swing arm there are many more applications for a torque wrench on a Laverda
 
Well the swing arm is a classic example why you should own a torque wrench even if you leave the technical stuff to the experts.
Triple clamps are another important item to use a torque wrench.
But anyway, each to their own.
 
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