2002+ Swingarm Adjustment

[Steppenwulf]

Well this afternoon the replacement swingarm, wheel, axle, brake caliper etc. I ordered from the States finally arrived this afternoon, whoo!



I think I've got all the bits to put it all back together, fingers crossed that the wheel spacing will be the same as on my 2000!

Just wondering what's the correct way of adjusting the belt with the new cam adjusters on the rear axle?

[robbiemac]

Hi, the book says loads of bumf about removing luggage and shifting pipes out of the way but the meat of it is:
Remove the big circlip from the axle nut (Cone Nut), loosen and re torque to 15-20 ft Lbs.
Then using the nut on the other side of the axle adjust it so the belt has 5/16-3/8" deflection with 10Lbs of force applied (middle of lower run), bike on the ground no rider sitting on it.

Retightening the Cone Nut is this.
Hold the adjusting nut still and tighten the cone nut to 95-105 Ft Lbs. Refit the circlip.
This torque figure is fairly high so you need to ensure the adjuster nut stays still or you will have to readjust the belt tension again.
Hope this is of use.

[Steppenwulf]

Originally Posted by robbiemac

Hope this is of use.

Cheers Rob, that was exactly the info I wanted.
Ta muchly

[grbrown]

Check the number of teeth on the 'new' pulley, just to be sure your current belt is OK for length!

[Steppenwulf]

I won't be using the new pulley just yet,
it's of the new design for use with the narrower belt.

That upgrade can wait until I need to replace the belt.

[grbrown]

Originally Posted by Steppenwulf

I won't be using the new pulley just yet,
it's of the new design for use with the narrower belt.

That upgrade can wait until I need to replace the belt.

I'm obviously behind the times!

[grbrown]

Steppenwulf,

I am warming to the idea of following in your footsteps, of retro-fitting a post-2002 swinging arm and rear wheel on my 1990 FLHS.

Hopefully you are riding your bike now in its upgraded form. Any comments you can add? I assume you were able to fit your old rear wheel pulley, to continue running your old belt?

[Steppenwulf]

8k+ and very happy with it all. Old pulley fitted onto the new cast wheel an slotted in just fine, a straight forward swop over. I used Stabo bushings to take account of the fact that 2002+ swingarms use a thicker pivot shaft- didn't fancy drilling out the tansmission mount. All together the cast wheel, 1" axle, heavier swingarms and delrin bushings have really stiffened up the rear end. Can't attribute the improvement to any one single part because it was all done at the same time.

All I can say is that the redesigned swingarms is a hell of a lot heavier and of a much meatier design. A very good upgrade IMHO.

[grbrown]

Many thanks for that, great to know everything is running OK. I have come across these people, who do two articles on this upgrade, also a wide variety of other interesting information: Motorcycle Metal.

For the ultimate upgrade, they are working on a carbon-fibre dresser swinging arm and wheels! Worth a browse of their website for further ideas!

I have a True-Track kit on my bike at present and reckon on modifying the bronze bushes to fit the later swinging arm. If for any reason that doesn't work out Sta-bo are the fall back!

[grbrown]

My swinging arm assembly has just arrived, so I am taking stock of what I am letting myself in for. The wheel is travelling separately and has yet to get here. When it arrives I will post a pic ala Steppenwulf's. The swinging arm is VERY substantial, compared with my current one, more so than I anticipated.

The 4-pot calliper looks very swish! By the time it is fitted I will be able to bring no fewer than 16 pistons to bear, when striving to arrest our progress....

My understanding is that 2007 bikes, one of which this calliper came off, use DOT4 fluid. Is that so? My 'old lady' uses DOT5, which I intend to continue to use (same as front brakes), so I am hoping I will not have any problems.

Steppenwulf, did you have a brake fluid issue to deal with when you did your upgrade?