Topic: Swingarm lube on a 400

[tmht]

OK... I'm confused. My Clymer shows a grease recepticle at the end of the pivot bolt. except... my pivot bolt doesn't have a grease recepticle there. There is a fitting on the bottom of the swingarm however the way that the 400 swingarm is constructed leaves me a bit curious as to how grease insterted there gets from between the swingarm and the pivot shaft to between the pivot shaft and the pivot bolt. Any help a newbie out? Thanks!

[supersport_CB400F]

The grease point is shown in the diagram

[Jugghead]

What is the best kind of grease to squeeze in there? Any old lithium grease? Something special?

[tmht]

I kind of figured the Clymer was not so accurate... I am still curious as to how grease travels from between the swingarm and pivot shaft where the fitting is to between the bolt and pivot shaft, the parts that actually move.

[Bodi]

Grease fills the space between the pivot shaft and the swingarm tube and eventually gets squeezed out through the bushing/shaft clearance.

[tmht]

Thanks!

[Bodi]

I just looked at mine, there's about 1/16" clearance between the inner pivot tube and the swingarm tube. So there isn't a huge amount of grease in there. You just pump until you see a bit of grease coming out under the end caps which have a lip seal inside against the outside of the swingarm tube.

[aptech77]

A good auto grease works fine.

[Kevin400F]

tmht......just to make sure you're clear on how the assembly works ........Once the bolt is tightened up, the pivot shaft is supposed to be rigid in the frame and DOES NOT move relative to the bolt.  As such, it doesn't matter if grease gets between the bolt and pivot shaft.  The movement is supposed to take place between the bushing (now bronze in your case) and the pivot shaft.  I get the impression that your pivot shaft is very tight in the bushings, making you think the shaft is supposed to move relative to the bolt.  If this is the case, you should pull the assembly back out, press the pivot shaft out of the swingarm bushings and free things up.  If you have any questions, you can e-mail me direct at kthunter01@sbcglobal.net.