I have a 76 250 gs and I am in the process of rebuilding the swing arm. It has 2 small plugs in the top of the swing arm as to lubricate the needle bearings with transmission fluid.Has anybody ever put grease fittings in these plugs and used grease instead? I am afraid that when putting grease in I would blow the o-rings out.Any Ideas?
Thomas Carmichael
1970 125 Six Day
1976 250 Hare Scrambler
My 77 400 GS6 has them and my manual says take to out both plugs and top off with automatic transmission fluid....replace plugs.
It explains that having both plugs out while filling allows trapped air to escape.....
Steve Minor
Wilmington, NC
Thomas,
I have used grease fittings on 3 of my swing arms so far. McMaster Carr has metric fittings. I haven't had any problem with the o-rings but due to the tight fit of all the components ATF might be a better option.
Chris
Thanks Guys!!!
Thomas Carmichael
1970 125 Six Day
1976 250 Hare Scrambler
The bane of the needle bearing setup is that it doesn't take much to cause the needles to decide to stop rolling and then just slide on the inner tube. The bearing then becomes like a bushing, and the stuck needles wear divots into the inner tube, permanently damaging the smooth surface. They'll stop rolling due to no lube, of course, but I've pulled out tubes where someone had installed with a heavy dose of grease and the grease dried up some over time, causing the same needle lockup problem.
There's very little room for grease to get in around the cage and needles. My opinion is that a medium weight oil is better and creates less chance of ruining the needle bearing action. Might be why the manual called for oil too.
Jon McLean
Lake Grove, OR
Thanks Jon! I belive you are right,Now if I could just find the adjustment nuts and bearing sleeve I would be in business!!
Thomas Carmichael
1970 125 Six Day
1976 250 Hare Scrambler
I wonder if a better system all together would be a soft bushing like the Sachs engined bikes had. Jon is right on the money, I have yet to take apart a swing arm with needle bearings that didn't have completely destroyed needles and inner cages. Not to mention it's a bear of a project to extract the old bearings
Chris
Chris, You said it!!It is a bear and it had a fight with a 50 ton press at work!!:DThus the bad caps.I don't belive these bearings have seen light since the factory! But when I get this over with it will be a yearly deal.
Thomas Carmichael
1970 125 Six Day
1976 250 Hare Scrambler
Thomas, If you're still needing these parts, I can help. Bob
Thomas , rob , Jon,
If one of you can send a inner sleeve ( bad one ) with one of the nuts ( they are a little special ) to David Haines in SA he said he would see if they could get someone to re-pop'ed them. He was the one that was able to get the 100/125 (Isolastic SP?) bushes made up for our CMF Pentons swing arms.
Can someone supply a damaged sleeve and at least 1 nut to give this a try?
hope this will help
John D.
John,The old parts I had after the rebuild were trashed.Sorry.
Rob, I was able to find them from another brother here in POG but Thank You anyway.
Thomas Carmichael
1970 125 Six Day
1976 250 Hare Scrambler