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The swingarm bearings on my bike went bad so I tore the rear linkage apart and took off the swingarm. My question is, how should I get the rest of the bearing out of the swingarm. The inner part fell apart when I took off the swingarm, but I can't get the rest of the bearing out.
Thanks

Try using a socket and piece of all threaded rod and press it out but do one side at a time, dont put the allthread the through both sides of the swingarm. Also if you get after market bearings like moose(all balls bearings) they are ok but the OEM like for the shock linkage the needle bearings can fall out like the aftermarket ones just makes for an easy install but they are expensive.

the oem needle bearings can not fall out that was suppose to say.

I have already tried doing it that way and it would not come out. They are in there real tight.

dremel? (carefull not to grind the swingarm)

dremel? (carefull not to grind the swingarm)

I was thinking of doing that but I don't trust myself. My dad is going to bring it to work tomorrow and try to press it out if he has time since I haven't been able to get it. The lower shock bearing was toast also and that came out real simple.

how about a little heat?

how about a little heat?

I thought about doing that also but I didn't know if that would be a good idea since the swingarm is aluminum.

a LITTLE ...

heat and a hammer and punch .......if you apply the right amount of heat to the right area and have somebody tapping on the bearing race at sametime; they should pop right out......i get most of my bearings and seals from Applied Ind (use to be Bearings Inc).....

Propane isn't hot enough to hurt aluminum without an oxidizer. Rick is right...The key to heating something to get it out is the whole expantion/contraction thing...Expecially when you have dissimlar metals. I've even gone as far as icing down a part before heating to create a larger differential. THe point is to create a small window in which your going to have the greatest clearance between the teo pieces (steel heats up a lot slower). I would've just hit it w/ the air chisel...

My dad took it to work today and got it out with a 20 ton press . So now that it's out I can finally start putting it back together. It has been apart for about 2 weeks now but it has seemed like forever . I'm pretty excited to go do some real riding again. Thanks for all the suggestions, if this hadn't worked I probably would have heated it up.

did you measure the bearings to see how far they were seated in the swingarm before taking them out? I dont know if the book tells you or not.

No I didn't measure how far they were seated, I just centered them when I put the new ones in. Will this cause any harm?

prob not but your seals might not go in far enough, depending on where the bearings are

I put it all back together and the seals went in fine and it all went together without any problems.

I bet you are going to like it. I never cease to be amazed at how crappy the suspension will work when the linkage/shock/swingarm bearings are in bad shape.
I bet this happens a lot: Rear suspension not working well. No amount of clicker adjustment can get it to work well. Send the shock to the shop for a fluid change. While the shock is off being rebuilt, look at linkage bearings, find 'em all toast, get a call from the shop saying your shock is ready and, by the way, the fluid looked fine. Order new bearings. Install all new bearings. Rear suspension working great now!

The above has happened to me. I'm a Dum$*SS

How often should the linkage bearings be serviced? Twice as Often as I think!

Yeah, the suspension seems to have a better feel to it now. Before I changed the swingarm bearings the swingarm was tough to move up and down by hand with the shock off but would move side to side . It had been making wierd noises so I took it apart for the first time (should have done it a while ago) and I greased the linkage bearings but those all looked great and were greased good already. The lower shock bearing and swingarm bearings were junk though. I'm lucky the linkage bearings were all still good.

91kdx200 wrote:No I didn't measure how far they were seated, I just centered them when I put the new ones in. Will this cause any harm?

A matter of note: At least some aftermarket bearings (PivotWorks 'fer example) do not have the same bearing configuration as the OEM setup. In the case where a single bearing twice as wide as each of the two OEM bearings is used, 'centering' works fine.

'Centering' does NOT work fine if you happen to be using the original sized bearings.

...just a btw for some future reader.......

You get the same amazement in how well things work when you service your shock, too. 'Amazing' indeed how new oil works better than completely old useless junk oil!