Broke my swingarm...

[BikerJim44]

Hey Bro, I have a swingarm that is in near new condition. Came off an 01 Road King. Drop me a note if I can be of help. I'll let it go cheap, $50.00 plus shipping. Has the axel too. bikerbojo44 at yahoo dot com. Spidey.

[Hossamania]

The Ridests8ts are $160.00 for axle adjusters! I have to pass.
I thought I saw some adjusters from Jireh on this forum or the old MSN site that were much less. Anybody remember or have the number? I thought they were for a different application but worked for this year.
I have a feeling I will be replacing the swingarm, pulley, tranny pulley, rotor, belt, and shocks in the near future, or at the end of riding season. My rear pulley is pitted, my belt has 60,000 miles (some abusive) on it, and I like my bike and don't want to start over with a new one.
I appreciate the offers from the members offering swingarms for a very fair price. I will be taking advantage of these offers and will be looking for more parts soon.
I"m going to weld this one for now cause now i'm commited and stubborn, but I see the writing on the wall.

Besides parts, if I change to 2002 swingarm, what machining do I need- transmission mount for the swingarm?

[Paniolo]

if you swap over to the '02 later style you will need the poly bushings from either Sta-Bo or Motorcycle Metal. These allow you to use the 5/8 pivot shaft that came with the bike. Some folks try and drill or ream out the tranny hole. Avoid doing that if you can. It's easier to use the poly kits. I bought the Motorcycle Metal bushings off a guy who changed his mind and tried to bore out the tranny hole on his bike. He screwed it up and had to have a machine shop pull the tranny and over bore it and use an oversize pivot bolt.

[cactuscruiser]

Here is that link to the Jireh axle adjusters.

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~Z5Z5Z50000135a~Z5Z5Z5AHBDB~P14.95~~~~S27A160T5K632271116021~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50000123a

Part#    5-130   
Description   REAR AXLE BLOCK ADJUSTER    Rear axle block adjusters for late model swing arms aid in better alignment of rear axle and help prevent swing arm tube collapse due to over tightening.
Year
      
Pkg   PAIR    
Price   $14.95
Click thumbnails below for larger version    
Qty     Add to Cart
         

[truck]

If you compare pictures of the $15.00 and $160.00 adjusters you'll see that there is a lot more contact area with the expensive ones plus they come with larger diameter spacers for still more support.

[Hossamania]

Cactuscruiser- thanks for the part #'s. That's why I love thi site!

Truck- I agree the Ridestr8's are probably a better piece, but for me they're not $145.00 better.

I will soon start collecting parts for an "02 swap. I know someone listed the parts somewhere so I'll do a search and find the thread.

I know I'll need 2 new pulleys- best idea or place to find them? I'll also pick up the sidecar belt-shouldn't break from 1 or 7 wheelies!

Thanks to everyone for the help! I just re-read this whole thread and there is some great info here. Thanks.

[Ultrashovel]

Cactuscruiser- thanks for the part #'s. That's why I love thi site!

Truck- I agree the Ridestr8's are probably a better piece, but for me they're not $145.00 better.

I will soon start collecting parts for an "02 swap. I know someone listed the parts somewhere so I'll do a search and find the thread.

I know I'll need 2 new pulleys- best idea or place to find them? I'll also pick up the sidecar belt-shouldn't break from 1 or 7 wheelies!

Thanks to everyone for the help! I just re-read this whole thread and there is some great info here. Thanks.

The sidecar belts won't fit on the later pulleys AFAIK. They are for the wider (early) pulleys.

[Hossamania]

Regarding the sidecar belt, I think my new plan is to pick up another '01 swingarm and modify it with new 3-sided gussets, top, bottom, and inside, and machine the spacers to make it all work. Makes it easier for me to make everything work and fit. I know the '02 set-up is better, but now I'm on a mission! And my neighbor, the welder, is interested in making it work better also, so now we're fabricators!

Update on the original swingarm repair: Just picked up the bike with the new welds on the swingarm. Everything lined up great and the new welds are definitely stronger than stock. He was very happy with how it turned out, quality-wise. And it really rides a LOT better now that the rear end is square and secure! I think it's been broken quite a while, and I got very lucky!

Thanks to everyone, and I'm sure I'll have some new questions when pulling the primary to change the swingarm and pulleys.

By the way, any ideas on best place to look for replacement pulleys, or just go stock, probably Zannoti's or Jenny?

[PC_Hater]

I have the RideStr8 axle adjusters. I never fitted them.
You have to remove the bottom half of the rear suspension mount where it sticks down into the inside of the swing arm. That needs a dremel or something. Then the axle adjusters are still narrower than the internal width of the swing arm. That means you can still crush the swing arm where the axle goes through.
They are also very very heavy! The aluminium alloy of your choice would do the job nicely. They only have to resist being crushed. Tubes are very good at that!

I will do the late model swap when the time comes.

[Ridetard]

Seeing how this seems to be a common problem, am curious as to why MOCO hasn't issued a recall.  Surely the problem as well as the frequency of the problems warrants such action.

Probably like anything else, a few folks need to get mamed or killed before MOCO stsnds up..or goes to court.

Imagine if this was happened to your Caddie?

Better go check my ride

Good thread, thanks

[Ultrashovel]

Seeing how this seems to be a common problem, am curious as to why MOCO hasn't issued a recall.  Surely the problem as well as the frequency of the problems warrants such action.

Probably like anything else, a few folks need to get mamed or killed before MOCO stsnds up..or goes to court.

Imagine if this was happened to your Caddie?

Better go check my ride

Good thread, thanks

I'm not certain of the number of failures that are required to trigger a recall. I know that some folks had cracked swingarms on the early T.C. bikes. I never heard about it on Evos. Mostly Evos would crack the "Y" pipe on the rear cylinder.

Harley-Davidson did recognize the problem by 2003, however, when they did their update. My 2004 has one beefy swingarm on it, including a larger axle. That's good because I'm running it with a sidecar and I need all the help I can get. LOL.

If I had a pre-2003 bike that I really liked, I would certainly update to the new parts, including the wheel and axle. The best place to get those are the trike builders and installers. They literally have piles of them to sell.

I haven't heard of any injuries due to the cracked swingarms. Apparently they just crack and the bike keeps on going until the owner notices. Welding them would be OK but I would prefer some new parts, especially when you are hurtling down the macadam.

Honda had a similar problem when they redesigned the Goldwing and brought out the 1800 in 2001. They changed from a simple, reliable steel frame to save a few pounds and went to a cast alminum frame that was welded together robotically on the assembly line. They had a number of total frame failures. No one was injured that I heard about but there were lots of damaged bikes and upset owners. Around 2003 or so when the problem began to surface, they did a recall for inspection of all 2001 and later frames in the serial numbers that were considered to have been affected. Many were cracked. If the cracks were considered too bad to weld, Honda installed a new, modified frame for the owner at no charge.

If the cracks were small, there was a welding program with instructions to take the bike to certain specified welding shops in the owner's area and have it welded to specifications provided by Honda. Again, there was no charge to the owner. Too bad HD wouldn't do something like that for their pre-2003 owners. Say what you will about Honda, they handled that problem for their owners rather competently. Not everybody was happy about it but everybody who needed help got their frame repaired or replaced free.

[truck]

1995-2001 are the years with the cracking swingarms.

[Ultrashovel]

1995-2001 are the years with the cracking swingarms.

Well I guess some Evos were involved. As I said above, I never saw or heard of the problem on an EVO. I guess it must have happened, though.

[Paniolo]

I saw this over on the Delphi forum Harley Electra Glide Garage:

23599.1 

I HAVE A SWING ARM CONVERSION COMPLETE THAT I AM SELLING. WHAT THIS DOES IS ALLOW YOU TO USE YOUR STOCK CENTER PIVOT SHAFT OFF OF A 2001 OR EARLIER WITH A LATER STRONGER SELF CENTERING SWING ARM. I HAVE EVERY THING YOU NEED INCLUDED. A 2005 FLHT SWING ARM WITH THE STA-BO III, AXLE ASSY W/SPACERS,SILVER REAR BRAKE CALIPER,PULLEY,REAR BRAKE DISC, REAR BLACK NINE SPOKE WHEEL AND TIRE. I AM ASKING 350.00 PLUS SHIPPING. THE STA-BO KIT ALONE COST ME 225.OO. SHIPPING WOULD BE FROM 75002. --> -->

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Troy Dykes

Purple People Eater

Gaelsig1203

Now that's a GREAT Deal!!!!