hey jfunk...what did you use to press the bearings out....my only concern is i am at a condo without any sort of press or anything....plus i would be worried i'd muck up the bearings when pressing them out...how'd it go...how'd you do it...curious

 

We (my wrencher buddy and I) used good ol' persuasion...we used sockets underneath to support the out side diameter, and a smaller socket on the inside diameter and hammered them out. That one needle bearing, in the upper right of the pic, imploded on us, so hopefully I can put it back together by greasing the hell out of it and reinserting the needles one-by-one. There's 27 needles in that bearing, and hopefully we got them all. That's the bearing that came out of the arm where the lower shock actually bolts in there, so be careful when pulling that one out. There is an inner pivot collar (look at pic, the shortest one) and if you can keep that pivot collar in there, it should hold the needles in place and you won't have the bearing implode like mine did. It wasn'tTHAT hard, but a few of them we couldn't get out using this method, plus it got late. Def need two people too.

You also have to be careful not to damage/nick the pieces themselves, as they are aluminum (I think) and the sockets are steel, so they very easily will damage the sleeves on the shock arm/swing arm/shock link. Be very careful!! It may be easier for you to go rent (?)a bearing puller and driver to get them out. But you'll need help, one person to hold the piece and the other to pound them out. Also, be careful with those dust seals, they have a metal ring in them and when we popped them out, a few came out warped. So I'll probably replace them because I don't want to take this all apart again. And they are about $4.50 ea, so they are not cheap considering there's about 10 of them.

What is in that pic there was almost 3 hours of work, there are 10 bearings total and we got out 7 of them (one s/a bearing we couldn't get out because we didn't have snap ring pliers). One requiresthe snap ring to be removed, and the ones in the shock link (dog bone) proved challenging. My boy is taking it to his work (he's a mechanic) and trying to use the press, because this piece is so flimsy I think I could bend it with my hands by squeezing it. We didn't want to bang on it and cause stress fractures either. I'm sure you can remove most of them yourself, and the ones that are tough maybe you can bring to a bike shop and they should be able to press them out for you.

Most bikes I've seen that have the s/a pc'ed didn't do these small shock arm pieces underneath...but since I'm going, I'm going all out!! You gotta take the extra step to ensure you got something no one else does. And it's alot of work...those bearings aren't easy to remove. Another challenge will be getting them back in w/o damaging the pc...so we'll see how that goes.

Also, make sure you label each one, because although they look the same size, one of them is one mm smaller, which by eye looks the same size, but it isn't. W/o this service manual, I'd be so lost...of you need pics of anything, I'd gladly post them for you like I did for sho nuff. Go to this fiche site to see diagrams...
http://www.willowsmotorsports.com/fi...ion_detail.asp
Let me know how you make out...

Crazy Horse...that bike looks nice all black frame and s/a. Nice job. I'll post pics when I'm done.

 

yeah see you pretty much confirmed all my fears about that job...LOL....i know i COULD do it, i just don't know if i WANT to...i think i will just disassemble and let Tristan over at Tripage tape up the bearings...the heat won't do anything to em and i left my bearings in the wheels when he PC'd my wheels and they are fine....

and i agree about the shock linkages...if and when i do my swing...i will DEFINITELY be doing that...if you look at the few pics in my diary thread towards the end...from the rear...the entire rear end looks blacked out...EXCEPT for those damn linkages...i am so close to have a fully blacked out rear....if it stays cold, i might have to PC some more things

 

I'd take out the easy ones...those bearings aren't cheap, and IF something happens to them your looking at $100-$150 to replace them. It wasn't an easy job, but not as bad as I imagined when I started. Plus, when the grease melts during the baking, your gonna have needles falling out of that thing all over the place...w/o grease I don't believe the needles will stay in their sleeve. May be a bigger mess when it's all said and done.

Another option is to just buy a new shock link, have it done black, then get new bearings and seals and put them in. Then sell the one that's on your bike now on Ebay when your done with the swap.

Andit's 25 degrees here all week, and if the bike was together I'd be WAY too tempted to ride it thru all the sand and salt...so I got the time and I'm not half assin' this one.

 

well i'm about 95% sure the needles won't fall out of the needle bearings...only because i had my engine cover done, and there is a needle bearing in there that i didn't take out...came back and was perfectly fine....

i also don't think it'd be $100-150 to replace the bearings (maybe if all of em got messed up)....but ehhh....like i said, i trust Tristan, he's done a bunch of swingers with no problems...it'll save me the hassle...the other issue is i live in a condo with a community garage...not that easy to break things down and leave them around the bike as if i had my own garage.....

i did half think about buying a new shock setup off ebay and customizing it before putting it back on...but i think i am just going to do it all at once....i have already spent a good hunk of cash on my bike and fronting money for parts to seel my stock ones later...ehhh....plus...it's nice, my bike's only got like 6.5k on it....most people selling pieces are much higher up in the mileage...for the most part, i know my bike has a newer part....

either way, can't wait to see how your stuff turns out...

on a side note, i got a quote from a place to drop out my engine and PC the frame....LOL...$1800!!!!!! i think i can figure it out for less than that....holy crap!

 

I hope the needles don't fall out...give it a go and let me know how it turns out. The grease didn't run out of the needle bearing in your engine cover? I'm being told that the grease melts during baking and can potentially ruin the whole job.

And your right, the bearings wouldn't cost $100-$150, they would cost $221.91 +tax. That's if all the bearings get ruined though. That fiche site I linked earlier has the dealer prices for each part on there.

And I understand the condo thing...I was in a condo before I bought my house last year. If you got somoeone you trust to do it, go for it. This is my first big project like this I've ever attempted, so I don't want/can't afford to screw it up. I'm going the extra mile, and I can't wait to see how it comes out either!!

The frame would look sweet pc'ed, gloss or chrome, I'm guessing? I like the stock black and I'm doing my s/a and shock mounts to match, while doing the other components gloss to match my rear sets. That's a lot of $ to pc the frame. And I want no part of taking apart the whole bike when the frame is already black. But let me know what else your doing...take some pics when you get a chance. (of the bike and wife, lol)

 

nope i checked all the needles and they were there no problems....as for the grease running out...on the engine cover, they are on the inside so there really isn't a potential problem...

now on the rims, ther was and tristan came through...bearings stayed in and the grease never got out to mess up the PC...

oh yeah...if they all got ruined it would be that much, but i would doubt that...at least based on my previous experience with "my" guy...

oh yeah i HAD a garage at my house then sold the house and moved to a condo..now i miss my garage....and i can understand the hesitation with a big project...at this point, i have done so many things, i am sort of numb to the risk involved...haha....plus i have learned quite a bit about PC and that it can be done in certain ways to avoid issues...the biggest concern i had when i started doing it was if it would hurt the bearings...the heat that is...but it doesn't...the bearings can easily withstand the heat...

the only issue with bearings with powdercoating is 1) you don't want to get sand in it from blasting the original finish off and 2) you don't want to have the grease run out onto the PC while baking and 3) (sort of) is not getting PC into the bearings, but if you have them taped off to prevent the grease running, you've solved this problem too...

this is the reason why i choose a guy who does bike parts, they know how to handle the bearings so that 1-3 don't happen...

yeah i want the frame a gloss black like crazy horse....essentially i want everything gloss black and i iwll be getting a complimenting paintjob next off-season with gloss black and red....i already have a ton of pieces PC'd gloss black...as for the money, that's too much...next year i will get adventurous and drop out the engine to do it....i am pretty sure i could handle it if i had the time...

as for pics of the bike, they are in my sig....and as for the wife...check out the first few pages of the hot wives thread

 

I saw thw wife thread, that's how I knew.

My guy for pc'ing is a biker and has done tons of bike parts, but they recommended pulling the bearings out and one guy wouldn't even touch it with the bearings in there. He must have got burnt on a past job or something. To each his own...

My boy was willing to help me do it, so I figured why not. It's all part of the learning process. Plus I get to learn how to pack bearings when we have to put them back in.
Good times.

 

oh yeah...definitely good to learn about these things...i think if i had my own garage i would be more inclined to try it, but as it stands right now, it's just not an option....

and as for bike/wife pics...i am HOPING she'll let me this summer, but we'll see...haha..i had to beg her to let me put those up...

 

Hi, jfunk and fingers this sho nuff I got a problem I just took off my engine covers off and on the strator side i pulled it and i notice oil was all over the strator coil and housing what will cause this I"m lost is this a seal blown the bike was running fine. man o man .

thanks