BigDogNZ
Member
Hi,
I ran my Dog a couple of hundred miles through reasonable twisties 2 days ago, with its usual crappy handling that I am too used to. The Vintage classic has the rubber bushes on the end of the swingarm, FXR style. My USA dealer told me they were only ever good for 2.5k miles but the cost of replacing them got to me so I usually ran them further than that. The current ones only have 3.5k miles on them but they have been on the bike since late 2002. And of course, being rubber, and load bearing even with sitting, they continue to sag and lose coherence. So long story short, in my post ride bike check I discovered the right wall of the rear tire was rubbing up against the bolt heads inside of the rear mudguard. Enough to leave a fine rubber dust on the license plate! Further inspection revealed clearance on the left side between mudguard and tire wall sufficient to easily insert the thickness of my hand (flat of course), but on the right side there was barely an eight of an inch with the bilke at rest on the stand. My (Harley) mechanic was convinced the mudguard with bag and seat assembly had somehow shifted. I insisted it was the swingarm rubber mounts that had sagged/broken. So we jacked the rear wheel of the ground and sure enough, the wheel returned to normal alignment and clearances on both sides. So that appears to be the problem and now for the fix.
I plan to strip the rear end down over the next week and do a bunch of things to get it ready for summer riding (yes it is winter this end of the world). Bike has 33k miles on the clock.
I don't have a BD Service manual yet, its not the $125 to buy it, its the additional $125 it will cost to ship it to New Zealand! I do have a service manual for HD 1993-1994 FLT/FXR models which has a very small section on the swingarm that is relevant. I have also pulled a bunch of info on FXR swingarm pivot bearing and end-bushing replacments and upgrades so hopefully it will be reasonably straight forward.
I am figuring that with that amount of wheel movement from true, the pivot axle bearings are going to need attention as well as the donuts. Won't know until I strip it down if the cleveblocs themselves will be reusable or not.
On this site (yes I have searched it extensively but if I missed something let me know) there is good info relating to a question on a 2000 Pro Sport pro's cons for sticking iwth the stock cleve blocs, or upgrading to the Delrin Sta-bo type or the Custom Cycle spherical bearings. Given that the stock parts are probably more readily available as HD parts here in NZ I am probably going to run with that, particularly for the pivot bearings themselves. But if the cleveblocs are stuffed I might consider spherical bearings as an upgrade.
It is the rubber end bushings that I would really like to do something better about, so some questions for you fella's and fella'esses...
1. Can anyone confirm the 2000 Vintage Classic is fitted with clevebloc pivot axle bearings - highly likely but good to check.
2. What life are you getting from stock rubber end bushes on the swing arm? (donuts, biscuits?) On the web I am reading of HD's getting over 100k miles before replacing. My mechanic is gobsmacked that mine have only been lasting 2-3K.
2. Does anyone have experience of running neoprene after-market donuts?
3. Is there any issue with staying with clevebloc pivot axle bearings and running non-stock (neoprene) donuts?
4. Has anyone done a full upgrade to spherical pivot arm axle bearings and if so can you shed some light on benefit/ issues run into? I am not too worried about vibration, already have plenty so I figure a little more won't matter.
5. Has anyone got a ready price comparison between stock clevebloc replacement kits and say spherical bearing upgrades - the latter kits are running around $250 USD I believe.
6. Does anyone have handy the HD part numbers for the clevebloc pivot axle bearings and servicing elements and also the donut rubber end bushes?
When i am stripped down i will be checking, servicing the rear wheel bearing, front motor mount, drive belt, and also the primary assembly. Anything I have missed?
Finally is anyone interested in photos, tall stories posted as I progress
cheers
John
I ran my Dog a couple of hundred miles through reasonable twisties 2 days ago, with its usual crappy handling that I am too used to. The Vintage classic has the rubber bushes on the end of the swingarm, FXR style. My USA dealer told me they were only ever good for 2.5k miles but the cost of replacing them got to me so I usually ran them further than that. The current ones only have 3.5k miles on them but they have been on the bike since late 2002. And of course, being rubber, and load bearing even with sitting, they continue to sag and lose coherence. So long story short, in my post ride bike check I discovered the right wall of the rear tire was rubbing up against the bolt heads inside of the rear mudguard. Enough to leave a fine rubber dust on the license plate! Further inspection revealed clearance on the left side between mudguard and tire wall sufficient to easily insert the thickness of my hand (flat of course), but on the right side there was barely an eight of an inch with the bilke at rest on the stand. My (Harley) mechanic was convinced the mudguard with bag and seat assembly had somehow shifted. I insisted it was the swingarm rubber mounts that had sagged/broken. So we jacked the rear wheel of the ground and sure enough, the wheel returned to normal alignment and clearances on both sides. So that appears to be the problem and now for the fix.
I plan to strip the rear end down over the next week and do a bunch of things to get it ready for summer riding (yes it is winter this end of the world). Bike has 33k miles on the clock.
I don't have a BD Service manual yet, its not the $125 to buy it, its the additional $125 it will cost to ship it to New Zealand! I do have a service manual for HD 1993-1994 FLT/FXR models which has a very small section on the swingarm that is relevant. I have also pulled a bunch of info on FXR swingarm pivot bearing and end-bushing replacments and upgrades so hopefully it will be reasonably straight forward.
I am figuring that with that amount of wheel movement from true, the pivot axle bearings are going to need attention as well as the donuts. Won't know until I strip it down if the cleveblocs themselves will be reusable or not.
On this site (yes I have searched it extensively but if I missed something let me know) there is good info relating to a question on a 2000 Pro Sport pro's cons for sticking iwth the stock cleve blocs, or upgrading to the Delrin Sta-bo type or the Custom Cycle spherical bearings. Given that the stock parts are probably more readily available as HD parts here in NZ I am probably going to run with that, particularly for the pivot bearings themselves. But if the cleveblocs are stuffed I might consider spherical bearings as an upgrade.
It is the rubber end bushings that I would really like to do something better about, so some questions for you fella's and fella'esses...
1. Can anyone confirm the 2000 Vintage Classic is fitted with clevebloc pivot axle bearings - highly likely but good to check.
2. What life are you getting from stock rubber end bushes on the swing arm? (donuts, biscuits?) On the web I am reading of HD's getting over 100k miles before replacing. My mechanic is gobsmacked that mine have only been lasting 2-3K.
2. Does anyone have experience of running neoprene after-market donuts?
3. Is there any issue with staying with clevebloc pivot axle bearings and running non-stock (neoprene) donuts?
4. Has anyone done a full upgrade to spherical pivot arm axle bearings and if so can you shed some light on benefit/ issues run into? I am not too worried about vibration, already have plenty so I figure a little more won't matter.
5. Has anyone got a ready price comparison between stock clevebloc replacement kits and say spherical bearing upgrades - the latter kits are running around $250 USD I believe.
6. Does anyone have handy the HD part numbers for the clevebloc pivot axle bearings and servicing elements and also the donut rubber end bushes?
When i am stripped down i will be checking, servicing the rear wheel bearing, front motor mount, drive belt, and also the primary assembly. Anything I have missed?
Finally is anyone interested in photos, tall stories posted as I progress
cheers
John