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Grease in my swinging arm

Submitted by paul_hignett on Sun, 26/10/2014
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Commando

hi chaps

i am relatively new to owning a commando and i may or may not be the first to have madethis mistake but ive put grease in the swing arm with a grease gun, oops, i know.

now i know it should be 140 oil i need to get the grease out so ime about to dimantle the swing arm and clean it out. having read the haynes manual, which is all i have, i believe i will need a bolt to aid the removal of the pivot tube. it says the front engine mount bolt is the correct size. my question is does anyone know what thread this is so i can get one. also any advice would be appreciated as ime on a huge learning curve with this bike, thanks

Submitted by peter_shand on Sun, 26/10/2014

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Hello Paul

Thread in swinging arm spindle is 1/2" UNF. Try and get a length of 1/2" UNF stud bar and along with a weight with a 1/2" clearance hole in it you can use it as a slide hammer to remove the spindle. A spare rear isolastic mounting spindle will also do the trick and might be the cheapest option.

regards

The Shand

Submitted by phil_hannam on Mon, 27/10/2014

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Previously paul_hignett wrote:

hi chaps

i am relatively new to owning a commando and i may or may not be the first to have madethis mistake but ive put grease in the swing arm with a grease gun, oops, i know.

I am sure that other owners are going to shout at me re this matter but I can not see that adding some grease is going to seriously be a problem. I would expect the grease to be diluted down by the thinner 140 oil but the mix will still lubricate the important bits. I have often rebuilt engines with dollops of grease added to vunerable parts like camshaft lobes and big ends.

Submitted by alan_throssell on Mon, 27/10/2014

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Hi Paul,

Itâs been my experience that the swinging arm spindle is a real swine to get out. They usually rust into position. They are a close fit in the engine cradle, it doesnât take much to seize it in place. I would be pleased but very surprised if you manage to shift it using a slide bar tool. Normally a sledge hammer or machine press is required.

If you have no play in your swinging arm assembly and no need to replace the bushes and spindle, you could just remove the RH end cap and retaining spoke then flush it out with paraffin (or similar). Then use a light oil for a few months and keep topping it up. Eventually it would dissolve all the grease then you could change to the correct 140 grade oil.

It is best to ignore the grease nipple, fill and top up via the spindle centre lock screw (you may need to remove the rear wheel to access it).

Doing this would save you a huge amount of work.

Regards, Alan

 


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