Saddlebags & thanks to anonymous

[trosco]

Hi all, just finished 3 year/ 27,580 mile service to back half of bike. Swing arm bearings and shock mount bearing were well greased but we cleaned and re-greased. Universal moves free and smooth but no slop, however shaft splines were dry. Took a little work to get them apart but cleaned them up and greased and went back together well. Swing arm removal required disconnect of line to rear caliper so flushed and bled system, pads still had more than 50% of material so should go 50K.
Put a new Dunlop E-3 160/80x16 on the back which was really the cause for all the work. Was sweet that it required no balance weights. Tire is a bit larger around than OEM 170/70x15 stone and so now speedo shows 72 when doing actual 70 mph vs old error of 76 shown when doing actual 70mph. There is a picture of the Stone that came off with 15,000 miles on it below. I got 12,000 out of first rear stone and would have put a third on but got the Dunlop for $90 (dealer going out of business) which is $50 less than a OEM stone would have cost.
But now for the thanks to someone anonymous. A while back I read a post about someones saddle bag hinge coming loose. That they had then checked both bags found that half their bolts had come loose or were missing. I would not have thought about checking them but while I was cleaning and re-assembling the bike that post popped into my mind. I had the allen wrenches out anyway so I checked them. Only one of the 16 of the little bolts was secure. All 8 that hold the hinge parts together took 1 to 1 1/2 turns to secure. And the 8 that mount the hinges to the bags were worse. It only takes 4 1/2 turns (I checked) to remove the acorn nuts and every one on my bike took at least 2 full turns to secure.
So to who ever posted that thread, thank you very much! At the very least you saved me from having to replace some of those allen screws and it could have been a hinge or two also!
My bikes a 3 year old 2007 model and there was no loctite on any of the bag's allen bolts and the acorn nuts were not self locking so CHECK YOUR SADDLEBAG HINGE BOLTS!

[cactusjack]

Actually, you didn't have to disconnect the brake line. If you slide the brake line up the swingarm, you have enough slack to actually turn the swingarm 90 degrees. But it sounds like you didn't mind doing it, and you flushed the fluid so all's well.

[scott2007nomad]

Noticed my bags were loose too, thanks.

[landman]

thanks for the reminder.