Swingarm bearing?

[kamelman]

I was wondering if I should change my swingarm bearings as a prevenative measure, since I have it off the bike anyway. I don't really know what to look for if they do need to be replaced. When I stuck my finger down inside, the grease was pretty dried up.
Also the manual says not to do this yourself and bring it to a Suzuki service tech. Any special reason why?

Thanks

[bonanzadave]

They can be a bitch with out Drivers, Drifts or Pullers and Presses. I did mine and used the center shaft between the bearings and a punch to get the old ones out and after a night in the freezer the new bearings slid right in.

[kamelman]

Thanks bonanzadave.
I'll probably go ahead and order them anyways. Worse case i'll pop over to a mechanic and get them to pop em out for me.

[simon kuether]

If you have it apart,change them and force plenty of grease into the rollers.One more thing you wont have to worry about later.Cheers,Simon.

[gbw]

I did mine when I had the swing arm off. It was a pain. you can see some pics in the link on my signature and here is a link to the description I posted after completion:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=123927

I think I came out better doing it myself...knowing it was done right and learning something in the process. Still, it took longer than I thought and it was somewhat nerve racking

Good luck!

[kamelman]

Thanks for the link, good tips

[Matchless]

If you have a shaft drive it even becomes a little more interesting as you can then exclude the method of knocking out the old bearing shells. The easiest way is to cut them with a small Dremel cutting wheel.
The proper bearing shell remover will obviously work or your friendly mechanic who has one.

[psyguy]

if it's a shafty you can leave the races in and change just the bearings
easy

[Suzuki mad]

If you change the bearing then you should change the spacers that go on the bearing also.

Check the spacers taht have come out (not the big middle one) If you see any signs of wear or marking on the spacer then it will need to be replaced.
Suzuki mechanic did my swingarm bearings in about 3 minutes. Just took the swingarm in with the bearings, job done.

Suzuki mad