Project Swingarm

[atomsplitter]

Well today I was prompted (because the buyer wanted to know how it's going) to start the swingarm replacement on the '98 Trophy 1200. I have a commitment from Tom to come over Monday and help with the project. So today I decided to start with the simple stuff and remove the rear wheel to start. To simplify the process I also opted to remove the exhaust cans to provide unfettered access to swingarm bolting. Below are some pics I took of the progress and damaged swingarm eccentric clamp. There was nothing clamping the left (drive side) adjuster so it was free to dance around under engine torque. Glad the buyer didn't have an accident on the way home!! Have the replacement swingarm already, will also take the opportunity to verify swingarm bearings are up to snuff as well as lubricate the pivot points. I have new rubber to fit on the hoops so he'll have fresh compound to scrub when the job is done (he's willing to pay for the fresh buns so I went ahead and ordered them, they're sitting in my hobby room).

 

[Rocky]

Good progress

 

[Qship]

Coming along nicrely. When is the new(used) one going in?

 

[atomsplitter]

Coming along nicrely. When is the new(used) one going in?

Got it stripped to the point the swingarm is the next thing to come off, that should happen tomorrow. Tom said he'd come by to lend a hand since he has the day off and provide a little perspiration to the project as well. Today's progress:








And yes I'm aware I've got a huge mess on my work surface, nature of the beast when sweat is dripping in your eyes. The next big issue is how difficult the bearings and bushings are going to be to get out of the old swingarm. I did the recommended test for bearing play and they feel solid, however they've been in there since 1997ish so they may not want to come out in one piece. I will invest in a bearing puller just to be safe (Amazon to the rescue).

 

[Qship]

Pretty big job.
If they weren't so focused on saving grams/ounces of weight, I believe they could have made the clamping ends of that swing arm a bit more rugged, considering the forces in play on that, and not had this issue.

 

[atomsplitter]

Pretty big job.
If they weren't so focused on saving grams/ounces of weight, I believe they could have made the clamping ends of that swing arm a bit more rugged, considering the forces in play on that, and not had this issue.

You're probably right. In doing some research I found that Triumph used 2 different swingarms for 1200 Trophy model years 1994 to 2003, if my luck holds as usual the swingarm I bought to replace this unit will be the wrong one and the bearings and bushings won't transfer from the old to the new. I won't know till I have the swingarm out and can inspect them side by side. At worst my hope is it might require getting a bearing and some sleeves if it's not a direct swap.

 

[atomsplitter]

Well I'm down to pulling the swingarm next. Had to remove the rear shock and remote adjuster to clear the way:




I'll need Tom for the actual removal since I can't hold the pivot bolt one one side and remove the threaded bolt on the other. But it's down to the nitty gritty of getting it out of the frame and onto my work bench. As you notice I policed all the bits and bobs getting to this point and just the big stuff is now on my lift.

 

[atomsplitter]

Well today I got the swingarm out finally. The bearings and bushes appear to be in good shape. I removed the used one I bought on eBay from the box and compared side by side to the original and they are the same swingarm, so lucky me. Next up pull the bearings and bushes from the old and insert in the new (the new one has rust on the bushings, bearings look nackered and lacks any grease while the old one was fully greased and has no rust). I also cleaned up and regreased the lower shock pivot.

Before

After

 

[atomsplitter]

Update: After drifting out the old bearings I realized there is no swapping bearing sets old to new, so I took the good swingarm to Eurosport to have them install new bearings. I don't have (and don't want to make) a bearing press to install the new bearings, they have one so I'll pay their labor.

 

[atomsplitter]

Update: Got the front wheel off and took both wheels to the Chop Shop here in Keller (they've done work for me before) to have the new tires mounted. If they don't balance them I have a static balancer and weights to take care of it. Also ordered new brake pads front and rear. The rear pads were down to the wear bar and so decided to just replace all of them.

 

[atomsplitter]

UPDATE: Got the wheels back yesterday from Chop Shop with fresh rubber and re-installed the front wheel. Got the rear brake pads yesterday so I installed those today since I was finishing the front wheel install, i.e. putting the body bits (bottom cowl and front fender) back on after wheel installation. Front pads should be here today by 7PM so those will go in next. Luckily they are Type A pads so they drop in from the top of the caliper no need to remove the caliper from the carrier. After that it's waiting on the swingarm from Eurosport to complete the repair.

 

[Qship]

Coming along nicely.

 

[atomsplitter]

Front brake pads installed today. The old pads were a harder compound and not overly worn like the rear set, so will give those as spares to the buyer. Now I'm waiting on the swingarm bearing install at Eurosport. Once I have that back it's reverse everything I've done to this point (except putting old tires on). I'll pack the pivots with grease now that I have a grease gun (again). and that should complete the project. I'll post up when it's back together and road ready.