Hello All,
I just joined the boards the other day, in hopes to find an answer to my question regarding the play I have in my swingarm on my 81 cb650c with about 16k miles. I searched around, hoping that I might be able to find someone else posting with a similar issue, or a good description of what the parts "should" look like in the swingarm.
I had the bike on the stand to replace my fork seals, as well as my steering bearings. When I pushed/pulled on the rear wheel, I noticed that it had developed quite a bit of slop recently (never noticed it before on inspection). I removed the swingarm and determined that the ID of bushings and the OD of the "pivot shaft" are not worn. The play I feel is axial, along the axis of the pivot shaft. This arm had what appear to be steel bushings in it, so it seems slightly surprising that the flange on the bushings would have worn, although I guess it's possible.
Do the end seals/thrust washer normally have any sort of phenolic or plastic piece on the inside that is supposed to take up any side to side motion? Or do the bushings just ride directly on the inner surface of these end caps? If thats the case, is it common for the ends of the bushings to wear and allow this axial play? I didn't want to go out and spend $50 on new bushings just to find out that a plastic thrust washer disintegrated and would have only cost a few cents!
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Don.
