Swingarm pivot bearing spacers?

[Guest]

I just removed the needle bearings from my swingarm. They were in terrible shape, frozen with rust. The bushings (called swingarm bearing pivot spacers on the fiche, part #5) that form the inner races are also worn, with a few slight longitudinal grooves where some of the needles dug into them.

I'm guessing that being so worn, these have to be replaced with new ones, and cannot be merely cleaned up and polished. Is that correct?

Thanks.

[JEEPRUSTY]

My spacers are exactly twice the width of the bearings. Is this true of you set up?
I got new bearings and just cleaned up my spacers but flipped them so their undamaged halves became the bearing surface.

[Big T]

Bob,

The left side bushing tales a beating over time

You can see if they wiggle in the bearings (they shouldn't)

They will probably need to be replaced from what you describe

[JEEPRUSTY]

The parts in the fiche look identical to mine.
I think you could do the swap left for right and in reversing the tubes have a clean bearing surface. I did it with no problems

[hjfisk]

I just bought a set on E-bay for $18. for my 1000, and sourced bearings locally.$34. for everything cheap enough

[FiremanBob]

Thanks, guys. The damaged area is not limited to one-half of the length, so I'm going to buy new ones. Boulevard Suzuki shows them at $9.53 each. I already bought the needle bearings from Z1 but they didn't have the inner sleeves.

Seems like swingarm removal and repacking these bearings will become part of the annual maintenance schedule.

[mrbill5491]

Seems like swing arm removal and repacking these bearings will become part of the annual maintenance schedule.

Maybe not every year, a lot depends where you are located too and if you use a high pressure washer on your bike. I would service mine every 3-4 years. I still have the stock (even though I won't be using the stock swing arm any longer) spacers and bearings in my swing arm and they show little or no wear. Good cleaning, grease and maintenance is the key.

[FiremanBob]

I suspect that mine hadn't been touched since the bike was manufactured.

[mrbill5491]

I suspect that mine hadn't been touched since the bike was manufactured.

Probably the most ignored part on a bike it seems like.

[hjfisk]

Probably the most ignored part on a bike it seems like.

Yea swingarm and steering head bearings most people don't relize they are there till the bike wont turn or stands up in a corner, or some other handling problem. But by the time they cause a problem it is to late generally by then they are junk.