A65 Swing Arm Spindle Removal

[Rob Neal]

I know you've been dying to hear the latest instalment of the A65 swing arm pin saga .  Having got the swing arm fee of the frame I still needed to remove what remained of the pin.  Getting thoroughly fed up with wielding a FBH my brother-in-law reminded me he had a 6 ton hydraulic press.  Mounting up the swing arm with a suitable drift the pin slid out nicely along with the rubber component of the bearing.  What was amazing was the HUGE pile of very fine reddish brown powdered rust that came out with it.  I doubt it had been lubricated since it left the factory in 1962.  This leaves me with the remnants of the outer bushes which are still firmly attached to the swing arm.  I can't get behind them to drift them out so I cut a groove into the sleeves using a Dremel mounted cutting disc. The groove was used to locate a blind bearing puller but this has proved to be ineffective so far despite the addition of lots of heat to the outer swing arm and cooling the inner bearing.  There's nothing for it now but to grind and cut the sleeves away being careful not to damage the swing arm ID.  What a nightmare.  But to be fair I had a similar problem with the bushes on a Yamaha I restored a couple of years ago.  It's also the only part of the bike which has given any trouble when taking it apart.  Going forward I'll reassemble the new bearings with anti corrosion grease (AC50) and all pack the space between them with grease.  A greasing point will also be fitted to allow regreasing.  Onwards and upwards!!
Rob

[Spaceman]

I've done a few Silentbloc replacements and they've all been messy and challenging even without a seized spindle. Although you would have thought swinging arms with needle roller bearings would be much easier to deal with, these can be an even bigger nightmare because you can then be faced with having to cut through hardened steel journals when the spindle has seized! I came close to having to right off a Honda XR20R frame when faced with this problem but, in the end, I managed to use a small angle grinder to do the cutting! The only effective way to prevent this sort of problem is to take out the spindle periodically and re-grease!

[Rob Neal]

New Years Eve and eventually the remnants of the silent bloc bushes were dealt with.  In the end it came down to creating a thinned area along the the length of the sleeve using a Dremel with cutting disc and grinding wheel.  I then manage to split it along the thinned line.  Even doing this I spent several hours with a hammer and small chisel 'peeling' the sleeve away from the inner diameter of the swing arm.  Success at last.  Just left time for a shower and change before heading off to see in 2023. Happy New Year all.  Rob