Rear rubber swingarm bushings question?????

[sandrooney]

I have a 95 RK that I got in Aug. it had 15,000 miles on it. I bought it from the original owner who said he rode it about 1,200 miles a year, so it sat a lot.
I had to put a new front motor mount on it cause the old one was cracked. I assumed it was from just being old and probably having oil dumped on it and not cleaned off. The bike runs great and is very smooth. My question is should I replace the rear mounts now or wait till it shows signs of needing it ? I guess signs of needing it would be wobble and or sloppy handling. The bike now has 20,000 miles on it and I would not think they need to be changed except maybe just cause they are old. The bike handles great.
SR

[Old Crow]

Having just gone thru this on my shovel FLT, I can say that you definitly want to change them *before* you see a handling problem.  I pull a trailer with mine, and had a scary moment last year.  Decided at that point to change the bushings to some fancy steel/bronze ones that a bud whipped up on his lathe.  I also added the nylon inserts in the cross shaft brackets ala Sta-bo.  Judging by how stiff the swing arm seems, I think it'll really handle the curves here in N Arkansas.
BTW,, good luck with the cross shaft.  I ended up pulling the trans and swing arm out of the frame in one piece(yes, practically every other part has to come off the frame first)because the shaft wouldn't come out after 2 weeks of penetrating oil and hammering.  It took about 20 minutes to get it apart once I got the thing out where I could hit it with a *real* hammer

[Buddy WMC]

That's what happens when the pivot shaft was not lubricated before installation. Took my 1993 FXR apart at 18K to install a Baker DD6. Found out the the previous owner had a belt replaced at 15K which souns a little odd. The mechanic that did the job cheated and only removed the left side pivot block and components to sqeeze the belt through. Upon reassembly, the outer bushing and nylon washer were misalingned and were torn up. I purchased a new left side just to get the transmission installed and get together. I have the Drag Specialties part number 1302-0208 Custom Cycle Engineering Spherical bearing kit on order.

A trusted friend and Indy technician recommended this to me and runs the same setup on his own bike. He has over 100K so far without any problems on his bike. Soon as it gets here, we'll tear down, have the swingarm powder coated and install the kit. He also told me that this happens very often with front and rear axles even on the newer bikes. The HD factory does not grease or anti seize these components before installation.

Guess who pays after the warranty period is over?

[baldoldfxr]

with the replacement swingarm kits sperhical bearing & solid bush types do you get an increase in vibration ?.
Iv'e been told the factory now fits sperhical bearings, If so do newer bikes vibrate more ?, I guess the answer to that should be No ,any comments as Ive asked this one before & did not get a definative answer & would like to know before changing my fxr mounts.

[Old Crow]

Snag would be the one to ask about my solid bushing setup.  He's already riding his bike(mine ain't finished yet). 
He's got the solid bushings and he's added the 3rd link under the transmission.  He says there's a bit more vibration, but the difference in handling makes it worth it.
I've got the cop air seat on mine, and the last bike I had before I got the FLT was a rigid frame Ironhead...what vibration?

[Buddy WMC]

After you raised that question, I called my mechanic friend. In his experience, the vibration increase is very slight and the removal of the sway and tightness in the swingarm more than makes up for that slight difference. When we discussed this a couple of weeks ago I asked about the Delrin Sta-Bo kit as it is $100.00 cheaper. Said that he didn't like using the replacement Nylon or Delrin bushing sets vs the real bearings.

If you look at it, the pivot shaft is still going through steel bushings no matter which system is deployed. It just made sense to me that the Spherical bearing would be longer lasting and smoother. His 100K with still a tight swingarm would seem to bear that thought process out. He often rides from Florida to the Carolinas and makes the trip to Sturgis every year. His Bike is a dresser with an S&S 106 and a Baker six speed transmission, mine is a lighter FXR with a built 85" engine and Baker DD6. I expect that this conversion should last for awhile.

[Snag]

Snag would be the one to ask about my solid bushing setup.  He's already riding his bike(mine ain't finished yet). 
He's got the solid bushings and he's added the 3rd link under the transmission.  He says there's a bit more vibration, but the difference in handling makes it worth it.
I've got the cop air seat on mine, and the last bike I had before I got the FLT was a rigid frame Ironhead...what vibration?

  The only real difference I've found is increased  noise levels from the tranny . There might be a slight increase in the felt vibrations from the road and engine vibes , but not enough to be noticeable - to me . I think the tranny noise is because of the direct mechanical connection between the crossmember and the tranny . Overall , the increase in handling is worth it . I checked my rear tire after my last trip to the Ozarks , there was road contact all the way to the edge of the tread <Dunlop EIII's> . Not bad for a 700 lb bagger . BTW , I'm running the latest version of the OEM rubbermount .
  Snag

[Buddy WMC]

Snag,

Would that be the "C" or "D" front mount? I also read somewhere that some guys are using the Buell mount as it is a bit softer. When I rebuilt my top end, I think we installed the "C" model upgraded mount. We also installed the V-Thunder stabilizers and between the two it all seems pretty good.

[Snag]

Snag,

Would that be the "C" or "D" front mount? I also read somewhere that some guys are using the Buell mount as it is a bit softer. When I rebuilt my top end, I think we installed the "C" model upgraded mount. We also installed the V-Thunder stabilizers and between the two it all seems pretty good.

I was referring to the rear mounts . My front is still in good shape , so the new one is still on the shelf . I'm not sure which it is , I just ordered the newest version .
  Snag

[sandrooney]

Thanks Guys.
Snag,
Did you have to re-align the bike after installing the rear mounts?
Thanks,
SR

[Snag]

Thanks Guys.
Snag,
Did you have to re-align the bike after installing the rear mounts?
Thanks,
SR

I checked alignment , turned out I only needed to adjust the top mount a tiny bit . Didn't even have to touch the front .
  Snag

[RoadKingTrooper]

Agree with Snag, the rear mounts won't install unless alignment is pretty colse to begin with.
Scot

[sandrooney]

Hey Scot,The old ones slipped right out, I had a little trouble with getting the left one in, had to raise the frame a little to get it to line up on the pivot shaft.
When you coming back?
Kevin

[bobrk1]

At 100k I had the shop do my front mount and swingarm bushings, he said the front one was blown apart after I got it back and rode it he asked if i saw a difference I said yeah I feel vibrations at an idle. LOL Over the course of time you get use to things wearing and don't notice them at least I didn't.