Clutch Line Replacement

[bbolesaz]

Hi all, planning to do a bar riser install this weekend.  Looks easy peasy except for the clutch line replacement and access to the slave cylinder.

 

Read around the forum some and it seems that the standing recommendation is to get at it from the rear.  Got a couple of questions in that regard.

 

Wheel removal seems easy. 

What about the inner fender, how does that come out?

 

Then it seems that swingarm removal is recommended.  Done swingarms like this before.

 

What about the drive shaft?  Remove the rear differential 1st?

Do I remove the driveshaft from diff spline, the transmission spline or separate the shaft itself at its spline?

 

Or is it possible to only remove the drive shaft and the swingarm pivots, then let everything hang?

 

Thanks for your help !!

 

BTW, came across a discussion about aligning the swingarm with lasers and strings and etc.  Did you know that on a BMW airhead, the rear wheel usually tracks about 1/2" off the track for the front wheel?  Harleys are similar.  In both cases, it's because the engine / tranny are not symmetric weight about the center line of the bike. In BMW airhead land, you basically eyeball the swingarm evenly and call it a day.  Same should apply here.

 

BTW2, some of the guys darksiding shaft drive bikes are running their car tires up to 2" off of the front wheel track.  Doesn't seem to hurt anything.

 

 

 

 

 

[sp838]

lol I can't tell if this is sarcastic or sincere... but you don't need to disassemble the entire rear end of the bike to replace the clutch line.

 

Get yourself an M10 fluid bolt and a 45° 10mm (3/8") banjo with -3AN threads for the slave cylinder. Then get a 48" -3AN hose. Another M10 fluid bolt and 45° 10mm banjo for the master cylinder on the handle bars.

 

Accessing the slave cylinder is a pain in the a$$ but nowhere near as much as taking off the swing arm etc. That's totally unnecessary unless your fittings are completely corroded. Which is possible I guess...

 

That said, I am about to do a swing arm swap. Mine is rusty, paint peeling off. I have a freshly blasted swing arm at the body shop getting painted, new hardware on the way. Gonna do it all as soon as I have all the parts ready. And I just replaced the clutch line hahaha.

[Scud]

I agree with SP - no need to tear down the rear end to change the hydraulic clutch line. But you might want to invest in some short wrenches that are easier to move around in there. Removing the clutch slave cylinder is a different story... and I bet that's what you read about.

 

For your future reference:

• It's best to separate the two halves of the driveshaft when you remove the final drive - just be sure the shaft is properly aligned when you put it back together.
• I've never bothered with the precise measurements when installing a swingarm. There's not much room to adjust anyway. I just visually center it, snug everything up and make sure there is still free movement of the swingarm before (and after) applying final torque. Then connect the shock.
• Inner fender - 6 little screws, you'll figure that out the first time you try.
• Since the bike is new to you, this might be a good time to lube the three points on the driveshaft (junction and two U-joints). 

[Kiwi_Roy]

Just make sure you get the shaft phased right when you put it back together, there should be a paint mark to line up.

[docc]

 

I've never bothered with the precise measurements when installing a swingarm. There's not much room to adjust anyway. I just visually center it, snug everything up and make sure there is still free movement of the swingarm before (and after) applying final torque. Then connect the shock.

Hm - and here I really felt like taking the extra effort to center the track really made a difference on my Sport. Dunno. Maybe not.

[gstallons]

I would rather have it right .

[Scud]

Well, it looks like we answered BBoles' question, so let's talk swingarm alignment.

 

I'm all for doing it right, and willing to learn if I've missed something... and I just happen to have one off the bike that I can play with.

 

I just put the swingarm between the porkchops. With fingers instead of pivot pins, it has a small amount of lateral play. I estimate this as 2 to 3 mm (I had a ruler out to look at, but no third hand to take the measurement.) 

 

The pivot pin has to go through the porkchops until the lip at the base of the threads contacts the inner race of the swingarm bearing. Therefore when both pins are in, the swingarm is held in place laterally by the pressure of the 2 pins - and those pins are secured by the big chrome nuts outside the porkchops.

 

I don't think the pivot pins have a recommended torque setting. What I have done is to position the swingarm on pins, then put a hex-wrench in each pin - and turn them both until it rests about in the middle - with approximately equal clearance on each side. Then tighten them and lock them down with the big chrome nuts. Then attach the shock.

 

Let's take my (I think generous) 3mm estimate of total lateral clearance. If the swingarm was exactly centered, that would leave 1.5mm on each side. But even if it was 1mm on one side and 2mm on the other - are we saying that 0.5mm one way or the other makes a practical difference?

 

Again - not to trying to be argumentative. If I am wrong, please explain.

 

[Chuck]

You're probably right, Scud. Just the same, I have depth mics and know how to use them. It only take a few seconds to get them closer than Luigi originally assembled them.   Makes me feel good. That's just the way I am.

[Scud]

It only take a few seconds to get them closer than Luigi originally assembled them.   Makes me feel good. That's just the way I am.

 

I feel similarly. I'm trusting my life to my own work. So I want it done correctly. Centered is the goal, right? I just lack a good way to measure the clearance between the swingarm and the inside of the porkchop. But I bet I get it very close to center by feel.

 

I've seen posts where people measure how much the pin sticks out of the porckhop and try to replicate that on assembly. But that just puts it back how it was - and does not guarantee that the pins are snug against the bearing's inner races, nor does it pay attention to alignment. If was off center to start, it will be off-center again. 

[docc]

The ideal is not to track the rear directly behind the front?

 

Or is it? (Ideal?)

[sp838]

There are some examples of bikes that run dog legged...

[sp838]

Butler/Smith BMW race bikes for example had offset wheels, they won some superbike championships.

[bbolesaz]

Rear wheel tracking the front is only ideal if the bike is weight symmetric about the front to back centerline.  If it isn't, a little rear wheel offset can correct what would otherwise be a pull to a side.  The shafty BMW airheads have a significant weight bias to the right side since not only the shaft, but most of the tranny is over to the right.  The Guzzi tranny seems much more centered, but the shaft/diff will have a weight bias.

[sp838]

All that was just to say that I don't think an offset of ~1.5 - 2mm is going to change the world, but if you can measure and setup within that level of precision then by all means go for it.

[Scud]

All that was just to say that I don't think an offset of ~1.5 - 2mm is going to change the world, but if you can measure and setup within that level of precision then by all means go for it.

 

This is essentially my point as well.

 

The major wheel alignment is done be the frame and how all the big pieces bolt up. By the time you install the swingarm, there is only a small amount of free play between the porkchops - not nearly enough to alter alignment. IMO, the process of measuring how far the pivot pins stick out of the porkchops is an unnecessary step that produces no perceptible benefit, but also does no harm (unless it was poorly installed at first, then the measurements would replicate the original error).