Rear suspension clunk

[orbit]

I've been feeling a real intermittent clunk in the rear suspension of the 'b' pretty much all season long.

I feel it essentially at the rear of the footboards on each side of the 'b'.

I've checked everything I can think of at the rear of the bike.

As most of you know, the 'b' was wrecked last year and had a lot of rear hardware and bracketry changed out as a result.

I've checked fastener tightness on all the installed new parts and everything is nice and snug.

Earlier this season I changed out the swingarm isolators as I was feeling a bit more vibration through the footboards, as well as the clunk. The old isolators definitely showed wear and the replacement parts did alleviate the vibration a bit.

Swingarm shaft was reinstalled and torqued to book spec.

The clunk persisted.

I thought that I may have had a binding spring on one or the other Ricor shocks the 'b' currently sports. I reset the sag and have played with the preload settings. The clunk persists. Shocks are nice and tight in their mounts, as well.

Curiosity pointed me to the rear wheel. There is a little side to side play in the rear end. At first I thought wheel bearings or loose axle nut. Fresh bearings were installed and the rear axle was torqued to spec.

The clunk persists.

I've come to the conclusion that the spherical bearings in the swingarm have begun to develop slop.

Rather than get the stock Harley bearings, I ordered a set of Aurora GE25ET-2RS bearings offa eBay.

I decided to install a new set of inner and outer bushings as well. Those parts have been ordered from the local Harley dealer.

The swingarm shaft appeared to be in perfect shape (no corrosion, galling or pitting) when I had it out at isolator install time, so I plan on reusing it. But, if there's doubt, I'll replace that part with new as well.

The 'b' will need a new tire installed this winter, so the swingarm will come out and get rebuilt at that time.

Hopefully fresh guts in the swingarm will take care of the annoyance.

[MrSurly]

I wonder if this could be a clutch/compensator/driveline issue?
It it repeatable at all or totally random?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[orbit]

Originally Posted by MrSurly

I wonder if this could be a clutch/compensator/driveline issue?
It it repeatable at all or totally random?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Totally random.

Varying road surfaces. You could hit a grade crossing hard. No clunk. Little frost heave. Clunk. Or vise versa.

And maybe. Or not at all.

And if it clunks once, it tends not to again during that riding session.

Thought shocks as it seems more prominent when the suspension is 'cold'.

And there's definitely lateral rocking in the swingarm. The swingarm rocks like a badly adjusted front wheel bearing in an old rear wheel drive car.

But only at 3 and 9-ish. Not 12 and 6-ish.

[Bone Stockman]

Get yourself a straightedge and remove your shocks. Run the straightedge from the top mounting points to the bottom and make sure that your swingarm is properly aligned with the frame. If it's offset, you can either rip the bike apart to straighten it, or use washers to shim the shocks. That'll keep them from binding and may solve your clunk.

[Backroad Mike]

Sounds like the swingarm bearings to me. I had that same issue. If you've already replaced the donuts, that's the next step.

[Slick]

I'm thinking blinker fluid or the radiator bearing.

[orbit]

Took the 'b' to the local Harley shop for repairs last Saturday.

The bike has a weepy shifter shaft seal, and I have neither the desire nor tools to effect a repair, so off she went.

I got a call yesterday morning. The service manager confirmed worn out bearings in the swing arm. The shop will install the new parts I had previously purchased. They're also gonna install a new E3 rear tire that I also supplied.

I told 'em to inspect the clutch pack and to replace any necessary parts if needed.

She's also gonna a get a little tuning tweakage.

The 'b' should be ready for pickup this afternoon.

Gonna be a cool, breezy 32° ride home.

Cain't wait........

[Fe Butte]

That tiny little seal, the SSS, is a pain to replace because of all the other stuff you have to take off to get to it.

[Turbo Turtle]

My shifter shaft seal will be replaced when I have time to break it down. Right now, the scoot is all I have running.
No unidentifiable clunking at eight years and 83K+



aka

[d j]

...or you could take a swing through the showroom and see if that Orange Limited is still there.

[Fe Butte]

NBF is way cheaper than replacing the SSS.

[Bone Stockman]

Originally Posted by Fe Butte

That tiny little seal, the SSS, is a pain to replace because of all the other stuff you have to take off to get to it.

Truth. On Vader the starter and the oil bag had to come off.

[orbit]

Yeah, NBF.

Ain't gonna happen.

Why?

Way too much stuff is new on this '06.

Just got home.

28° and breezy.

Followed a northern-states based flatbed, who was blowin' snow offa the deck.

70 mph on the ol' Interstate.

Motor likes cold air.



Right swing arm bearing was shot. Stuffing was pretty much worked out of it.

Swing arm got new bearings, bushings and pivot shaft.

Way mucho better now, as in clunk free.

Bike tracks perfectly straight with hands offa the bars.



Had to laugh when the service manager called to say the 'b' was ready for pickup. He likes those Aurora bearings. Way better than the Harley stuff, he said. That's why I got 'em, I replied. Told him to write down the p/n, for future reference........

SSS got changed, too. As did whatever gaskets and seals that are in the inner primary. New outer primary gasket. Fresh Formula+.

Clutch got adjusted, actually way better than I do it.

Tune got tweaked in the 2K range. Leaned out just a smidge. Still get a little fairing shake at that rpm, but it's better than it was.

Fresh E3 on the rear.

And the 'b' got a bath, as well.

I ain't gonna mention the cost. Fixin' that swingarm and SSS wasn't cheap.

But at least it's done.

Now all we need is some decent weather.

Which will prolly come next April/May.

[DaSkip]

I'm glad the Bee is all healed up.

��

[Big Cheese]

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