Issues with Misaligned Swing Arm 06 Mastiff

[Jay Dawg]

Well I got back to the bike today, and I confirmed what I suspected, that because the swingarm is in the wrong location the belt has been rubbing the inside of the pulley/clutch rod cover. My clutch pull had been about 45 to 50 pounds, after removing the clutch cable, I found I could not pull the cable through the sleeve. Eventually I will be removing the swingarm, replacing the bearings, the pivot shaft, pivot shaft bolts, and may be the frame adjuster. The work is going a lot slower than what I had hoped for, but there’s a lot of other things going on that it doesn’t allow me to spend much time right now working on the bike.

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

You need the new ez pull ball and ramp, makes a world of difference in the pull force you have to use. I think mine is maybe 15 to 20 lbs now. But I'm also running the energy one 9 plate clutch set up too. You should be running a 12 disk if still factory clutches, but even with 12 disk the ez pull will make a big difference. I do believe Erik has those in stock.

Your going to have to remove the rear tire either way on this project. Might as well get a new belt since it will be off and keep that one as a spare. But once you remove the tire you can either leave the belt on and work around it or remove and replace it which I wont lie is a PITA. But everything you will be working on will be around that belt. And with it out the way the starter is a little easier to get to.

As far as your belt goes, the rear wheel is misaligned for it to be riding that far out on the pulley. Even with my pivot shaft and frame adjuster not being correct my belt never rubbed my cover like that. If I'm correct your left side axle adjuster needs to be deeper to pull the belt back to the center of the pulley. And don't forget there are 2 set screws in that hole. Take one out, loosen the axle a bit then screw the adjuster toward the rear. Put second set screw back in and tighten axle back down to I think 60 or 75 ft lbs. I'm sure swingarm issues did help but like i said even with all the problems i had with mine my belt never rode over that far.

 

[Jay Dawg]

You need the new ez pull ball and ramp, makes a world of difference in the pull force you have to use. I think mine is maybe 15 to 20 lbs now. But I'm also running the energy one 9 plate clutch set up too. You should be running a 12 disk if still factory clutches, but even with 12 disk the ez pull will make a big difference. I do believe Erik has those in stock.

Your going to have to remove the rear tire either way on this project. Might as well get a new belt since it will be off and keep that one as a spare. But once you remove the tire you can either leave the belt on and work around it or remove and replace it which I wont lie is a PITA. But everything you will be working on will be around that belt. And with it out the way the starter is a little easier to get to.

As far as your belt goes, the rear wheel is misaligned for it to be riding that far out on the pulley. Even with my pivot shaft and frame adjuster not being correct my belt never rubbed my cover like that. If I'm correct your left side axle adjuster needs to be deeper to pull the belt back to the center of the pulley. And don't forget there are 2 set screws in that hole. Take one out, loosen the axle a bit then screw the adjuster toward the rear. Put second set screw back in and tighten axle back down to I think 60 or 75 ft lbs. I'm sure swingarm issues did help but like i said even with all the problems i had with mine my belt never rode over that far.

Yeah I measured everything and the tire is in the correct location for the swingarm the swingarm is just mounted too far over towards the right causing the belt to drive too far over the pulley once I get that swingarm off and readjusted new bearings and what have you that will bring the alignment back in. I will keep updating this post as I go, This belt and tire was put on just before I bought it ( probably to mask the issues) so it doesn’t have that many miles on it I think the previous belt did all the damage to the pulley cover, I’ve decided I am gonna pull the oil tank, I may end up having to cut the pivot shaft in half to get this thing apart. I appreciate all your suggestions, information and inputs. I will continue to update this post as I go forward.

 

[Jay Dawg]

Well I got the shocks off, rear tire removed, and did it all without anything but a scissor jack and my tiedowns to the front end, I positioned a scissor jack at the down tubes and then Jack to bike up using the scissor jack, the tiedowns kept the front tire planted and raised the rear high enough for me to get the shocks off Without moving anything. I found my shocks were solid they would not move the swing arm is not locked into place like I thought it would be, although it is misaligned it is not what was causing my bike to ride like a hard tail it was the shocks that will not move, b

without moving anything. I found my shocks were solid they would not move, the swing arm is not locked into place like I thought it would be, although it is misaligned it is not what was causing my bike to ride like a hard tail it was the shocks that will not move. You can see with the shock bolts somebody’s been in there, I have a feeling one of the shock bolt broke and somebody sleeved the left shock and used an all thread bolt instead of a shank style. I think the wheel bearings also need to be replaced they moved with no problem but I could feel regular rough spots about every 16th of an inch, just something else I gotta order, I hope Eric is reading this, you know I’ll be contacting you soon!

 

[Jay Dawg]

If I am not mistaken these shocks are the original style, but unfortunately LOCKED up solid. And you can see what I found for attaching hardware, not exactly awe inspiring!

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

Well that is good that it wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be. And those do look like the factory shocks which are no longer available. There is a replacement shock tho, they are the 84 thru 99 Harley Davidson narrow body shocks. You could have your stock ones rebuilt if you wanted to spend the time and money, but if your not interested in rebuilding them I would like to offer to take them off your hands if your interested in selling them. Just let me know. Thanks.

 

[Jay Dawg]

Well that is good that it wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be. And those do look like the factory shocks which are no longer available. There is a replacement shock tho, they are the 84 thru 99 Harley Davidson narrow body shocks. You could have your stock ones rebuilt if you wanted to spend the time and money, but if your not interested in rebuilding them I would like to offer to take them off your hands if your interested in selling them. Just let me know. Thanks.

Thanks, I have purchased the narrowbody Harley shocks, I’m gonna try those and see how they work before I decide to get rid of these old ones in case I have to rebuild them and use them. But if I decide to get rid of them I will definitely let you know. Have you replaced the wheel bearings in your rear wheel?

 

[HMAN]

Have you replaced the wheel bearings in your rear wheel?

https://www.bigdogbiker.com/threads/pit-posse-imposter.88638/

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

Yes I replace them about every other year. And sounds good on the shocks just let me know.

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

https://www.bigdogbiker.com/threads/pit-posse-imposter.88638/

That's what I have too

 

[Mickmorris]

Absolutely replace the bearings. Any time you take the wheel off

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

Absolutely replace the bearings. Any time you take the wheel off

I try not to take mine off to often. Lol maybe 1 time a year to once every 2 years.

 

[Jay Dawg]

This bike is getting more expensive every day. Now I need to buy the bearing puller so I can replace the wheel bearings myself. well I spent a couple hours trying to get that screw that broke off in the swing arm I tried everything and nothing worked, I ended up just drilling through the piece of shit and now I’ve ordered my number 10–24 helicoil, by the time I’m done with all this maintenance and repair I’m gonna have one very expensive bike, we’re not even talking about man hours we’re just talking about parts and pieces and tools. Thanks everyone for your help, I appreciate the suggestions on the tools, don’t hesitate to make suggestions. I am very glad I went with the harbor freight lift table, I would’ve had to work too hard using my OTC lift. I should be draining the oil tank and removing all the oil lines here in the next day or so

 

[Jay Dawg]

So for clarification, I will not need to use a hydraulic press with the tool that you guys have shown me?

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

What screw broke off in the swingarm?

 

[Jay Dawg]

What screw broke off in the swingarm?

The 10–24 screws that hold the axle cover on, one of them was seized in there and there was no getting it off, I use left-handed drillbits, two different styles of easy outs nothing worked so I ended up having to drill the damn thing out, now I’m just gonna helicoil it back to the original size. I had to order that he helicoil, nobody locally had that smaller size. Somebody and used Loctite, three of them I got out with a little bit of struggle but this one obviously had corrosion and Loctite and it was seized in there., broke the head off the screw. What a pain in the ass.

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

The 10–24 screws that hold the axle cover on, one of them was seized in there and there was no getting it off, I use left-handed drillbits, two different styles of easy outs nothing worked so I ended up having to drill the damn thing out, now I’m just gonna helicoil it back to the original size. I had to order that he helicoil, nobody locally had that smaller size. Somebody and used Loctite, three of them I got out with a little bit of struggle but this one obviously had corrosion and Loctite and it was seized in there., broke the head off the screw. What a pain in the ass.

Damn I hate to hear that for sure. I never use loctite on those. And hate to hear this job is getting more expensive by the day for you. But just know you may be spending a lot now but once you get the bike right and the way you want it the maintenance cost will go down a good bit. But yes you will have an expensive motorcycle when all is said and done, thats why ppl hate to sell them. NADA on these bikes suck, but if you get it done up right then have it appraised for the cost of a total rebuild you can sell it for more if you can find the right buyer. You'd be amazed at what the 06 Mastiff is appraised for and what my insurance company has it total loss valued at. If you go back and find my post about when the mastiff got stolen and then recovered you'll see that my insurance company paid out almost 25k in repairs. For a bike with a NADA value of 8k. Yeah I don't think so.. not with what i have invested in this bike...lol

 

[Jay Dawg]

Damn I hate to hear that for sure. I never use loctite on those. And hate to hear this job is getting more expensive by the day for you. But just know you may be spending a lot now but once you get the bike right and the way you want it the maintenance cost will go down a good bit. But yes you will have an expensive motorcycle when all is said and done, thats why ppl hate to sell them. NADA on these bikes suck, but if you get it done up right then have it appraised for the cost of a total rebuild you can sell it for more if you can find the right buyer. You'd be amazed at what the 06 Mastiff is appraised for and what my insurance company has it total loss valued at. If you go back and find my post about when the mastiff got stolen and then recovered you'll see that my insurance company paid out almost 25k in repairs. For a bike with a NADA value of 8k. Yeah I don't think so.. not with what i have invested in this bike...lol

Wow, I am surprised the insurance company just didn't total it and pay out the going rate. It is a great looking bike, everyone loves the looks of the Mastiff, I just want it to be a great looking RELIABLE bike that's not spewing parts down the road. I didn't buy it to flip it, I want to enjoy it. I have had a very rapid education concerning this Dog specifically and Dogs in general. I like being able to fix whatever goes wrong with it. Since there have been mods it will make fixing the bike a little more difficult, just liike the forks and bars are different, ordered a replacement clutch cable whichy is a few inches shorter that what it had, so there will be some trial and error. The next big hurdle will be removing that swing arm. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

Wow, I am surprised the insurance company just didn't total it and pay out the going rate. It is a great looking bike, everyone loves the looks of the Mastiff, I just want it to be a great looking RELIABLE bike that's not spewing parts down the road. I didn't buy it to flip it, I want to enjoy it. I have had a very rapid education concerning this Dog specifically and Dogs in general. I like being able to fix whatever goes wrong with it. Since there have been mods it will make fixing the bike a little more difficult, just like the forks and bars are different, ordered a replacement clutch cable whichy is a few inches shorter that what it had, so there will be some trial and error. The next big hurdle will be removing that swing arm. Thanks again for the help!

Well they can't give me going rate, because I had it appraised and insured it at the appraisal value. Kind of like what classic car owners do. Because there is no way a 69 Chevy Camaro SS is worth 150,000 but it sells for that on some of these auction shows. And they insure it for what they have in it money wise because it appraised at that value, the insurance company has to cover it for that value. At least in South Carolina you can cover it that way. Now can I ever sell it for that value, probably not unless I found a collector or someone who really wants it that bad.

But I completely know what you mean about buying a bike and not just wanting to keep throwing money at them, been there done that. Well youre very welcome for all the help and if you ever need anything just let me know.

 

[Jay Dawg]

Well they can't give me going rate, because I had it appraised and insured it at the appraisal value. Kind of like what classic car owners do. Because there is no way a 69 Chevy Camaro SS is worth 150,000 but it sells for that on some of these auction shows. And they insure it for what they have in it money wise because it appraised at that value, the insurance company has to cover it for that value. At least in South Carolina you can cover it that way. Now can I ever sell it for that value, probably not unless I found a collector or someone who really wants it that bad.

But I completely know what you mean about buying a bike and not just wanting to keep throwing money at them, been there done that. Well youre very welcome for all the help and if you ever need anything just let me know.

I have insured my previous classic cars like that with Grundy Ins, it was called... agreed upon value, under a certain value it did not even have to have it appraised. Before I hit the street again, I will check with my insurance agent and find out where I stand with their ideas of it's value.