Adjusting Swingarm?
 

So i've been trying to figure out how my bike lowered itself from a crash and i think i've figured that the swingarm was tweeked up a little, therefore bringing the stance of the bike down. How would i go about loosening the swingarm to be able to raise the bike back up again? I've been reading up on threads of how to REMOVE the swingarm but not adjusting it...and it seems removing it is a real pita, so this might be similar..any suggestions/help appreciated.

pics for comparison:
how my bike looks now(you can see how the exhaust blocks the view of the rotors where as a normal one doesnt)
Attachment 72811

what a normal f4i swingarm angle looks like, this is a good picture because you can also see the tranny/clutch cover (if owner wants me to take down pics please let me know)

https://cbrforum.com/upfiles/2844/40...807A34B0D2.jpg

You can see how much more the swingarm angles down from the second pic where in mine it's almost parallel to the ground.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

The swingarm plate isn't adjustable. It's possible that your spring has sprung (too much sag). OR your swingarm is tweaked and needs replacement.

I have a swingarm with pivot plates, etc. just sitting in a box taking up space. PM me if you want it.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

Measure from the rear axle to that bolt that sticks out and see what the distance is, then have someone measure a stock f4i thats never been dropped and see what the difference is.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

I would say that your spring has sprung on the damper. I can't imagine the swingarm being bent and not screwing up a whole bunch of other stuff.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

yeah, it seriously doubt, no garauntee your swingarm isnt the problem. ( it may be tweaked left to right, but not vertical).

You either busted you shock-not the spring- but blew the seals on the shock. that is the most likely.

or, the end of your subframe is bent. why is your seat all jacked up? if it wont fit, your subframe is all tweaked. the end of it could be bent down, which would cause your exhaust hanger to be lower, which would cause the exhuast to hang down infront of the rotor.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

Mines measured 21 inches from rear axle nut to where the swingarm bolts to the frame. There seems to be nothing wrong with the swingarm itself just the placement of it..seems to sag more than normal. Something is causing my bike to be lower and this seems like the problem.

yeah i was thinking how could the swingarm tweak upwards without some bolts being loose, but i have no other idea what it could be.

i'm hoping it's just the shock because that can be easily and less costly to replace, i'll have to take it out and examine it. I think my subframe is straight and wouldn't be causing my bike to be lower than normal. The seat is like that because when the bike crashed the seat popped off along with the ecu and battery from it's compartment, and because i needed to get home i just stuck all the stuff back in there not properly, but i'm sure if i took the time it would go in as it should.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

The rear shock seems to appear normal, but is it possible for the shock to be messed up but still look fine?

pics:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c1...Picture089.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c1...Picture090.jpg

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

Yea something might def not be right, idk if its supposed to sit that horizontal.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

Been awhile since I've seen a stocker, but that doesn't look right.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

going to need more pics. those pics dont really tell anything. I was thinking, the only 2 things other than the shock being blown, is possibly you jacked up the dogbone assembly. Take a picture of lower mounting end of the shock. it mounts to 2 plates, with a bolt in the middle, and then that bolts to "dog bone".
Attachment 72662

here is a pic of mine, bolt removed. but if you could take a pick of that assembly from the other side, that is the only mechanical thing I can think off,
unless you bent your frame at the upper mounting point.....here under the gas tank

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...neral455-1.jpg


back to the shock. if you push on the back end of the bike, does it bounce up and down easily?

I dunno, the more I think about this, it cant be your shock. the spring is what holds the bike up, the shock only slows down the spring once its in motion. the spring wont sag just becuase the shock is holding pressure.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

By golly Krash....I think you've had a stroke of genius.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

Right when i had to time to work on the bike and see what's wrong this site went down[:'(] but now that it's up here's an update:

So I released the shock from the dogbone and swingarm link. And this is what i think is the problem. Once the swingarm was detached i was able to bring it down enough to where the bike would not sit as low before. But the problem lies within the shock im guessing because it is not long enough to connect to the swingarm link to the height i want it to be at.

pics:

Attachment 72151



And this is the height at which it should be at but the shock is not long enough for me to connect it to the swingarm link:

Attachment 72152


This is how it should be sitting, but the shock is just not long enough:

Attachment 72153


The shock itself looks fine:

Attachment 72154

Here's a clearer picture of the dogbone:

Attachment 72155

Yeah the shock rebounds up and down as it's supposed to, it's just that i think it got compressed somehow and the bike sits lower because of the shock itself. I'm not sure what the preload does, weather it lengthens or shortens the compression of the shock? But is there some way i can elongate the stock shock so that it matches up with the holes?

Thanks krash and all the others for the help, one step closer to being back on the road :)

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

the preload only adjusts the spring length and pressure, although, I guess if you turned the preload all the way up it could possibly apply enough spring pressure to "pull" the shock back out. if thats the problem.

although, I'm still not convinced there is not a problem in your linkage somwhere. either there where it connects to the pivot plates, or on the bottom where it connects to the engine housing.

let me load up some pics for you to compare it

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

my first part that I am really unsure of in the linkage is this part, not sure if this is the actual "dogbone" or if its the other part.(the other part looks like a dog bone to me, but everybody calls these pivot plates the dogbone. whatever, mine look like they have more angle than yours. it could just be the way the picture was taken, but here are a couple pics of mine for reference

up close, tried to get the same angle you have, notice how much of an angle there is compared to yours?

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...linkage001.jpg

here is a couple more view:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...linkage002.jpg

one from the other side:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...linkage009.jpg


But what about the bottom where it mounts to the engine?

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...linkage007.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...linkage006.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...linkage005.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...linkage003.jpg

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

wow i think i know what most of the problem may be. So here is my dogbone detached from the bike:

Attachment 72128
Attachment 72129
You can even see the stress and bend marks.

It has to be this. But i'm not sure whether this is the ONLY problem, i don't think replacing it would add much more height but i could be wrong.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

yeah, you got like 3/4" worth of bend there. that is for sure the problem. that little bit will make a tremendous amount of difference on the geometry of the bike.

If you go back and look at my pics where I had the bottom bolt out, you can see my shock isnt very far off from the mounting points, and compared to yours with the bend, they would be about the same.

now, after all is said and done, that took a tremendous amount of force on the shock compressing to actually bend that, so its possible that you may have blown some seals in your shock.

if it were me, I would buy a whole assembly, used, off ebay. buy a new shock(used) and new plates. your probably looking at about $75 total. but the piece of mind knowing that your shock and linkage is all good will let you sleep at night.

if not, your always going to be doubting the performance of the shock.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

Yeah i think i'm gonna trash the shock i have now, either get a stock replacement, ohlins or penske. Thanks for all the help krash, couldn't have done it without ya. I'll update some pics with the bike put back together, hopefully SOON. 1.5 months with no bike i'm slowly dying inside.

RE: Adjusting Swingarm?
 

Yep. replacement is in order. Keep us posted. Check for other cracks/ warps as well. Make sure that's the only misalignment.