Stuck Swingarm Pivot on TE250

[ioneater]

Your post is definitely not idiotic IMO. It will help someone else either prevent this from occuring or show how to get it out in a near worst case scenerio. Thanks.

 

[pvduke]

i 100% agree...this was an awesome thread, never seen a whole bike in a press before, looks like something i'd try!

i also learned of a couple of new really good resources.

 

[Slowpoke]

Here is an update to my swingarm sob story. Kids, dont try this at home...

My first approach to extracting the swingarm bolt was the "bigger hammer" approach using the below implements of destruction:

Heat, penetrant and banging with increasingly bigger hammers had only one effect...I damaged the end of the bolt. Split it actually. Doh!

We (yes, asked for help at this point) then rigged up a puller to see if we could get any movement via an approach other than blunt force:

This looked promising at first, until it became evident that rather than moving the bolt, we were simply stretching the all-thread rod running through the middle of the stuck bolt.

At this point, we decided that we really needed to undo the damage done to the end of the bolt, as even breaking it free would mean the bolt was still constrained due to the swelled end. So...very gingerly, we sawed off the tip with a sawzall. Amazingly, this step actually worked without further damage.

Other than making the 12 ton press groan, the stinkin bolt didn't move. At this point, we considering cutting the damn swingarm off with a die grinder. Until priced...a replacement new from Husqvarna is $1200. No thank you.

So...the final request for help: Wasco Frames in Tacoma, WA. Dick Wascher has been building and repairing motorcycle frames for 30 years. 10 minutes on the phone with Dick and it was clear he knew exactly to get the bolt removed. The sad hulk heads for Tacoma from Seattle:

Dicks shop with the Husky in the background. You could eat off the floor in this place:

Dick pressed in the new bearings and I was back in business! Kinda, that is. Still waiting for a new bolt from Husky. Hoping it will be in this week.

So...kiddies: Lube your damn bolts regularly. I didn't. Then I used the bigger hammer approach to extraction and made a bad problem worse. What a F'ing Tard. And I stupid enough to post the details here. Idiot...

About the only good thing I did was ask for help and find a competent specialist to bail me out. Whew. Highly recommend Wasco for specialized frame fabrication or repair:


Mark C.

Don't feel bad. Taking the time to document and post your hard won experience is very valuable to the rest of the community here. I'm sure many will save a ton of grief because of this thread. I got to go thru this with my CR80R 29 years ago when I was 14 and working on it in my parents basement and nobody had heard of the internet yet............
I should note that using a small propane torch generally doesn't provide enough heat to 'crack' the rust on a job like this. It's generally better to use oxy-acetylene or oxy-propane; heat the bolt to a cherry red, then spray WD-40 in the joint where you guys went in with the sawzall and the ones against the tranny castings. Repeat as necessary.
Also, 1/4" ready rod (or whatever small size rod you used) is generally only strong enough to pull a cigar out of its tube and not much else...... Usually 1/2" would be the minimum for a job like this, ideally with heavy duty flange nuts that millwrights use for jobs like this...

Some rep for you