xt600e swing arm pivot bolt
 

hi
i know this subject isent new but as there are different variables its maybe worth the ask
the swing arm pivot bolt is stuck fast, it basically wont smack out, as its maintenence time for my xt as its the workhorse for me, (i have an xjr 1200 for this time of year,) chain and sprockets were required, good time to take swing arm off, all easy until the dreaded bolt, the nut is now off, the bolt does turn round and round so is not seized on either frame or engine block, i would say its seized to either or both pivots inside, the swing arm does go up and down fairly smoothly with no play, though i would imagine the needle rollers will be as dry as a bone as it probably hasent been touched since new,
why did yamaha not put grease nipples on the 4pt model.
is it a case of leave well alone and spray the gaps to see if any gets in over time
or drill it out from either end and that will be hard to do.
i do have another swing arm with a good pivot bolt to hand just incase, this one is off an older model with grease nipples
anybody come across this variable before and if so what did you do
regards to all

You dont need grease nipple when you remove bolt and grease it, i dont think it got the best lubrication all over bolt with nipple. Heat up bot, put the nut back almost in and use a sledge hammer on it, dont hit direct on nut but use something to hit the bolt itself.

Thanks for the reply
not really any access to heat here, the good news is its out, had to buy a mash hammer as the mell was to awkward, i used an old railway sleeper bolt as a drift,
until i had got bolt head to frame, once i got past that point it came away with only a few bats.
Anyway not nice inside, chain side was not too bad as normal, the other side i was met with rollers falling out, plus the sleeves are shot.
so i have a choice now, try and get the bearings out or use the other swing arm, no contest i think, the other swinger is off an older bike and is in better condition, it has good bearings and the sleeves are good also, its exactly the same as the one i took off, i only bought it for the pivot bolt and as the whole thing was cheaper than a new pivot bolt i had to be on a winner, it even came with the linkages.
the only thing wrong with it was a broken bracket for the chain guard, easy fix !

Great:thumbup1:

Put the other swinger on , all greased up ! nice and smooth !!
and put copperslip on pivot bolt, had to re tap the bit where the rear caliper
mount bolts to swing arm to m12, the slide along adjustment bit,
got a hole in otherside for a bracket for chain guard, m8 into arm.
forgot the thrust washer so have to take it to bits again, drat!!
at least that will be easy this time

Those bolts like to rust to the inner sleeves where the swingarm bearing ride on thus why they turn but don't slide out . This I why I've drilled(if not hollow) and tapped several for grease zerks then a cross hole underneath those sleeves , not just Yamaha has this issue. This way any time a person greases the bike you get it under the sleeve and they won't rust .

Once a bolt is rusted I beadblast or wire wheel it to remove all rust then paint them with a zinc rich paint coating (best is to send out for hot dipping), then completely cover with nickel anti-sieze, plus coat inside the motor bushings after polishing to get rid of any corrosion. Even with no added zerks it will take a long time to start corroding again if not maintained .


Sounds like your was right at the point of being really hard to remove , luck you didn't leave it another year .


.

Couldnt agree more with JJrider.
I do this for all my bikes.

Thanks for the reply's
While i was at it, and as is fairly normal for this part of the world, a good time to deal with rusty bits on frame, i am no paint expert though i do understand the rigmarole attached to painting things.
with that in mind and as the paint is very expensive hereabouts, i decided on the cumbrian method of dealing with it, some will cringe but i am more interested in longevity than concours.
its an awkward silver grey colour so i will experiment with various colours of our old friend smoothrite, i have some grey,silver and black, so after rubbing the bits down with drill and brass bristled wire brush i painted the offending areas, the mix was a bit of silver a little grey and added black until it looked ok.
3 coats later its pretty damn close maybe a shade off, put it this way from a few feet away you cant tell, even has silver speckles showing.
that will keep the salt off !!