Greasing the swing arm bearings

[99rtRon]

My 99 has about 35k and I am thinking of taking the final drive assy off during the winter and regreasing/checking all the bearings in the swingarm and final drive pivots. I didnt see a recent post on this topic so if I missed it dont flame me! For those who have done the job what did you find? I am showing no symptoms of wobble, vibration or any other untoward behavior. Replies will be appreciated.

 

99rt

59Panhead

03 FZ1

[Stan Walker]

Waste of time if you don't have any symptoms. By the way, you should check these pivot bearings with the bike on the center stand. Grasp the rear wheel top and bottom and try to wiggle. Any play is bad.

 

If you just feel ambitious, go for lubing the clutch (and other) splines, replacing the clutch disc if needed, and checking the four pivot bearings as part of the bigger job.

 

Stan

[Barglowski]

There are two versions of the "wiggle test" -- Vertical and horizontal. One checks your swingarm bearing looseness, which is not as critical as the other direction, which is your rear wheel bearing.

 

I don't remember which was which, so I won't say wrongly

 

At 72k my R1100RT had a bit a play in the swingarm, and nothing in the rear bearing. Removing the bearings is a PITA, with 5min of heat gun, huge allen key bolts, and they're likely to fall apart when freed. They're $24 EACH (that's four, total for front and rear) and they don't go back together all that well if they do fall apart...

 

Just do the "wiggle test"...

 

Later,

jan

[Sean]

At 35k miles there's a fairly good chance that your swingarm pivot bearings are shot. 30k-40k seems to be fairly typical for these. Here's the kicker though--if you don't disassemble the swingarm, they'll continue to funtion reasonably well for quite some time, but the moment you disassemble the swingarm, the bearings will just fall apart all over the floor and you'll have to replace them. The bearings are not difficult at all to replace though. Once you've removed the swingarm, all you need is a heat gun, and an appropriately sized socket and socket extension (to thread through the opposite side of the swingarm), and a hammer to extract the old bearing. Then toss the new bearings in the freezer overnight, heat the bearing cavity in the swingarm, apply some light 3-in-1 oil to the bearing's outer suface (optional, to make it drop in easier) and drop the bearing in. If you did it right, you'll hear a nice sizzling sound and the bearing will just drop right into place in its cavity. Otherwise, get out your hammer, a socket, and extension to tap the bearing the rest of the way in, quickly before the swingarm cools. If you really want to get fancy, Lisle tools sells a multipurpose drift set for about $10 at your local auto parts store that is real handy for this job.

 

I'd suggest packing the bearing with a good synthetic NLGI #2 grease. And the bearings are only expensive if you buy them at the dealership. Go to your local bearing shop and you'll find the same (or better) bearings for about half the dealership's price.

[hootowl]

There are two versions of the "wiggle test" -- Vertical and horizontal. One checks your swingarm bearing looseness, which is not as critical as the other direction, which is your rear wheel bearing.

jan

 

Here's the wiggle test (comprehensive):

Slop in the final drive pivot bearings or swingarm bearings is an annoyance that will eventually result in sloppy handling and should be replaced when it's convenient.

 

Slop (or noise) in wheel bearings is a dangerous phenomenon that can lead (and has led) to catastrophic, at-speed failure. Fix this immediately.

 

To locate the slop, put the bike on the centerstand and then:

 

Grab the swingarm just forward of the final drive and vigorously wiggle it side-to side.

 

If you DO hear/feel slop, the problem is the bearings at the front of the swingarm.

 

If you DO NOT, then

 

Grab the final drive unit and vigorously wiggle side-to-side and then up/down.

 

If you DO hear/feel slop, the problem is the pivot bearings at the front of the final drive unit.

 

If you DO NOT, then

 

Grab the wheel and vigorously wiggle side-to-side and up/down with gearbox in neutral. Try not to rotate the wheel while you do this; you're looking for wheel bearing slop, so you don't want to generate driveline noise that might result in a misdiagnosis. If you feel slop when you do this - or hear/feel vibrations from the final drive, drain the oil out of it and check for chunks of metal in the oil and on the drain plug. If you've got chunks, it's time to go shopping for a new final drive unit (or visit your shop for warranty replacement).

 

I don't remember where/who I copied this from so I can't give credit where its due.

 

Richard

[flars]

The pivot bearings on the 1100 don't seem to be available anywhere except thru the dealer. I went to four bearing shops and no one could find the FAG bearing or an equivalent. If anyone has actually found a replacement, it would be nice to hear from them.

[Barglowski]

Just remembered a trick I used to install my new ones:

 

When your bearings fall apart (my rear two did) save the outer ring. Using *one* layer of electrical tape, tape the ring to the OUTSIDE of the new bearing. Now you have a surface to tap on with the hammer that won't mar the new bearing's outer ring (which would make it not fit!). As the new bearing drop into place, the tape peels off. I used the top of a 3lb sledge to distribute the force, and tapped very lightly. Between the heating/cooling and a bit of grease (oil would do fine, like above message) my bearings went in perfectly in a dozen or so taps.

 

Two other points: 1) someone has sold *bushings* to replace the bearings. The only rotation is within a few degrees, and the bearings tend to wear out only there. Bushings work better for that application. Which brings up 2) Some people have reported simply rotating the bearing 90 degrees and reinstalling them, if they didn't fall apart. That should give you another 30k or so in the new position

 

I did this as part of my spline lube, which is why I reported it being a PITA. It was just another little detail in the whole, very long day ;-) It's not really that bad by itself...

 

Later,

jan

[Sean]

Yep, definitely rotating the bearings will extend their life. Like you said Jan, they only move a couple degrees back and forth which is harder on them than if they made regular full rotations like a wheel bearing. I'd suggest rotating them well before they're reaching their end of life though, maybe rotate them every 20k miles.

 

If you have difficulty finding bearings locally, you might give this shop a try. This is where I got mine. They've been able to dig up about any obscure bearing I ask for.

 

Orange County Bearing

(714) 532-6518

1257 N Batavia St

Orange, CA 92867

[Ken H.]

someone has sold *bushings* to replace the bearings. The only rotation is within a few degrees, and the bearings tend to wear out only there. Bushings work better for that application.

You know that seems like an excellent point.

 

Anyone else have any input on this I wonder?

[mikewarax]

I believe my friend Tom made these bushings and has them available at Rubber Chicken Racing Garage

An email to him would answer any questions you may have.

 

Mike

[bmwmick]

someone has sold *bushings* to replace the bearings. The only rotation is within a few degrees, and the bearings tend to wear out only there. Bushings work better for that application.

You know that seems like an excellent point.

 

Anyone else have any input on this I wonder?

 

Ken,

You might have missed it in the thread http://tinyurl.com/e3ory from last July but here it is again:

 

 

Here is some data on the paralever pivot BUSHINGS that Tom Cutter is now making available:

 

What are JL Paralever Bushings???

 

 

A guy in the midwest came up with a redesign of the crummy Paralever bearings from BMW. In his words:

"Thank you for your interest in my Final Drive Pivot Bushings for the BMW Paralever Swingarm. I developed these after purchasing a '93 R100GSPD and hearing stories about Drive Shaft failures. I decided to inspect the Drive Shaft

every 2500 miles. The one recurring failure I found was the Final Drive Pivot Bearings, anything from rough bearings to one set actually seized up from shattered rollers. All lubing and preload was per BMW specs.. I will say the

bike is not stock and goes where I point it. To my knowledge a roller bearing is designed to roll not rock back and forth, wearing a groove in the race and a flat on the roller. My Bushings are a direct replacement made from 660

Oilite Bronze that is oil impregnated and self lubricating, matched to a Timken Bearing race. They provide a Much Larger contact surface than the rollers since the Full Face of the Bushing contacts the race. I have developed and tested these for three years in my GS with great success, the present set has 15k miles with no measurable wear. If any wear does occur it will be negated when adjusting preload. I have also installed a set in my ' 94 K1100LT. These Bushings fit ALL Paralever Final Drive Pivots ' 87 to present. I am confident these Bushings are a one time investment and you will be happy with there performance. "

I have made arrangements to begin selling these bearings after a lengthy test on my own motorcycle and two others locally. The best feature about them

besides the reliability, is the ease of refitting the paralever assembly after any servicing. On the road this could prevent a trip-stopping failure of the OEM tapered needle bearings.

 

A complete bearing replacement kit is US $119.00. Orders may be placed through my website.

 

Thanks for the inquiry. I really believe that we BMW riders need this product.

 

Tom Cutter

Yardley, PA

Rubber Chicken Racing Garage

Your source for Wilbers Suspension, JL Paralever Bushings

Full Transmission and Engine Rebuilding services

 

http://www.RubberChickenRacingGarage.com

 

Mick