Swing arm pivot and steering stem bearings

[VulcanD]

The manual says lube the swing arm pivot and steering stem bearings every 15000 miles. The show that does my regular maintenance quoted a very high price for this (particularly the swing arm), which caused me to consider whether it's really necessary. He told me that for the swing arm alone, it's a 4-5 hour job to take it apart, lube the bearings, and put it back together.

I ride a lot and have 16,500 miles after a year and a quarter. Is it really necessary to "take the entire bike apart" (shop's words) and lube the swing arm at this point? Maybe at 30K instead?

Thoughts?

[Snake Ranch]

Originally Posted by VulcanD

The manual says lube the swing arm pivot and steering stem bearings every 15000 miles. The show that does my regular maintenance quoted a very high price for this (particularly the swing arm), which caused me to consider whether it's really necessary. He told me that for the swing arm alone, it's a 4-5 hour job to take it apart, lube the bearings, and put it back together.

I ride a lot and have 16,500 miles after a year and a quarter. Is it really necessary to "take the entire bike apart" (shop's words) and lube the swing arm at this point? Maybe at 30K instead?

Thoughts?

I'm not going to comment on the time interval for lubing the swing arm, But when you have it apart drill and tap a hole for a grease fitting then you will never need to take it apart for that service again.

[Iamriding]

There are a lot of threads that share how when taken apart there wasn't much grease in there from the factory.

If you ride a lot, then consider getting it done when you get your rear tire replaced. Then there is a lot of the disassembly that should be part of the tire replacement cost and not the swing arm service. That is what I did and it helped bring the price down.

If it hasn't been done since you got your ride, I would consider getting it done.

[ringadingh]

If its never been done yet, I would definitely take it apart and clean and grease it.Some bikes come from the factory almost dry of grease. Once you know it has sufficient grease you could leave it for 3-4 seasons or more. Ive done mine about three or four times since 2002 and there has always been plenty of grease left inside the swingarm.

[gv550]

On a 1700, swingarm lube really is quite a bit of work. Have to remove the saddlebags, exhaust headers and mufflers, rear wheel, rear brake hose, and the pivot shaft to get at the bearings. It would be a good idea to get it done at least once so you know there is lots of grease in there, however the bearings and seals in a 1700 are significantly better (bigger) than previous 1500/1600 bikes and they will go a long time with minimal service. I used to break the needle bearings in my 1600 on a regular basis even tho I lubed them regularly, my 1700 has original bearings and seals without issue. After the initial lube service I grease mine every 100,000 miles.
Steering head should be done more frequently, those delicate little ball bearings are highly loaded.

[H8BUGZ]

I thought the swingarm was too much work for the first 40K miles. When I got to it, I cut a socket down and welded a piece of flat stock to it. I was then able too remove the swingarm nut without all the exhaust removal headache. Yep -was nearly dry and damaged the shaft and bearings. Now has a grease zerk!

[cactusjack]

Removing the swingarm isn't hard, but it is fairly time consuming. When I took mine apart, the bushings were dry. It's not something that has to be done with great frequency, but I would at least do it once because there typically is not a lot of grease from the factory.

[warrbucks222]

Bummer. 26000 miles in 4 years & many miles left on Michelins. Looks like I'll spend some time in the garage soon regreasing.

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[rozie]

where exactly on the swingarm would you drill and tap for a grease fitting?

[H8BUGZ]

Originally Posted by rozie

where exactly on the swingarm would you drill and tap for a grease fitting?

zerk.jpg Bottom of tube facing slightly rearward for gun access. Grease will be pushed through needle bearings and into roller bearing cavity on LH side. Don't over do it as the RH seal can be dislodged from too much pressure. If I had to do it again, I would get a non-OEM seal without the rubber outside diameter coating to fit tighter.