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fitting a new swinging arm end cap rod

Submitted by alistair_king on Thu, 26/05/2022
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Commando

Hi All,

I had a bit of a leak from the right hand swinging arm end cap, so I slackend the retaining nut off a bit in order to try and replace the rubber O ring. All was going well until I tried to re-tighten the the small nut on the plate, not too much - but the end of the rod snapped off!

It looks to me impossible to get to the left hand end cap without serious dismantling. So my question is: has anyone any experience of getting the rod out from the right hand side and putting a new one in whilst leaving the left hand cap in situ. It looks to me as though it may be possible, but I would appreciate any experience out there before I start fiddling with it.

(1974 Commando MkIIa)

Thanks, Alistair.

Submitted by ian_goodhall on Thu, 26/05/2022

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The nut should be soldered on to the long threaded rod, so you are actually tightening the threaded rod into the left hand end cap. If just the right hand end bit has snapped off I would have thought you could grab what's left of the rod with something like pointed nose pliers and unscrew it. 

Submitted by alistair_king on Thu, 26/05/2022

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Thanks Ian.

My rod is actually just like a very long stud (i.e. nut not soldered on), however I've got a new one on order which may well have one nut fixed on.

I have I hope wedged the left had end cap in place by stuffing a couple of hacksaw blades between it and the inner primary chaincse - I think - it's a very narrow gap and difficult to see.

I have also been successful in removing the old broken rod - just a case of gently unscrewing with long nosed pliers.

I now just need to wait for the new one to arrive to see if I can get it in as easily as the old one came out.

I will report back.

I successfully replaced my rod in a similar situation.  I didn’t find it necessary to try to wedge the left hand cap in place.  There really isn’t much room between the cap and the back of the primary chain case so not much chance it’s going to dislodge when you try to insert the new rod.

best wishes

Rick

1972 Roadster

Submitted by alistair_king on Fri, 27/05/2022

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Success, sort off.

I got the new rod in the post this morning - thank you RGM Norton for the great next day service.

After about half an hour of wiggling and waggling I got the thread on the far end to locate. This was not made any easier by the cavity being half full off grease, but it went in and tightened up with my new O ring in place.

However, it dawned on me that all this work was to no avail as, being half full of grease already, the 140 oil I had been injecting in was obviously not going to get to where it was supposed to go and was (because of the duff O ring) just trickling back out again.

And now that I probably have an oil tight connection I don't think it's actually worth putting any oil in again as it's never going to get to the right place because of the grease! Does anyone concur?

Thanks for your input.

Submitted by john_holmes on Fri, 27/05/2022

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Grease is fatal to the bushes, the bushes are sintered with small pores to retain oil which is then released as required. When filled with grease the pores are blocked and the spindle wears out as the bush runs dry (despite all the  grease). The whole assembly needs pulling to remove the grease.

Submitted by alistair_king on Fri, 27/05/2022

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John,

Yes, I had read somewhere that grease could be a problem.

I'm thinking that at my low current mileage rate this may be a job for the winter.

Is it possible to do it without taking the chaincase off (i.e. just accessing/removing it from the right hand side)?

Submitted by john_holmes on Fri, 27/05/2022

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Not tried it myself but should be possible to draw the swingarm backwards with the wheel already removed plus the pivot pin. I had the primary off as I had to sort out the shimming behind it on the mounting stud. I would take the chance to add Kegler clamps to add rigidity.

Submitted by richard_potter on Fri, 27/05/2022

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… following the process you outlined John (and indeed made up and fitted a pair of Kegler clamps).  Pretty straight forward - remove rear wheel and sprocket, remove mudguard, rear shocks and silencers to give clear access.  Pull pivot pin then swinging arm can be removed.    

 


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