Hitchcocks Forum

I am removing the swingarm of my 500 bullet (94) to do some restoration work on it and have hit a major issue. I cannot remove the spindle for love nor money. I have tried gentle persuasion with a mallet and threatening it with a heat gun but to no avail.

This is the first time I have attempted to do this, so I am hoping there is something obvious I am not doing - perhaps a special incantation! I am getting close to attacking it with a grinder and replacing the whole thing so any suggestions would be gratefully received.

You might need a press. Do you have a tame jobbing mechanic handy?

Your spindle has seized to the inner metal sleeve of the metalstic bushes. Try removing the nut on one side and turning the other side clockwise with a big bar on the end of a socket to free the spindle. If it won't free off it will be a pain to fix, do you really need to remove the swinging arm?

No job too small. No hammer too big. Just cast an eye over Alan Rs exhaust fixing kit on a thread nearby.

There comes a time when careful consideration is given to method, multiplied by prefered outcome, divided by collateral damage and predicted expenditure equals give it the big knockerometer or something more subtle.

After nearly 20 years the bushings will be well corroded, requiring lots of heat and various size drifts and persuaders.

Bushings at £12.60 a spindle £5.00 paint £10.00 Not bad for a new swing arm, (chain stay)

Give the area a soak in penatrating oil and try johns method with the bar to break corrosion hold.

Then give it a reet thrappin with Mr shiftit... use a drift and dont ding the end of the tube... All will be well in the end. cheers gwilly

Just wanted to thank everyone for the advice. In the end, after several spirited assaults, I gave in and fetched the grinder to it. The inside of the chainstay was rusted solid - so I am not too unhappy with the result. It got what it deserved!

Following the postmortem and once safely clear of the bike, I hit it a few more times with the hammer. No reason but very therapeutic!!

Hi guys----------GWILLI,each of those tools shown was applied with traditional zeal and skill appropriate to the era represented ( That thumbnail is still black by the way !!)... and a "Special Hello" to OUDAIOS... had the same problem when changing to a trials swing arm a few years ago and resorted to the same method as well !! SO, to cheer us both up (and for any others out there contemplating this scenario) I give you our mate REG PRESCOTT, the D-I-Y man}---------------------- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo7l1QAe_es -------------------

Oudaios what did you actually cut with the grinder, did you cut the swing arm through the middle and destroy it?

I wonder what would prevent the shaft bonding so much , mines never been taken in/out since 1995 and stock shocks ( stiff ) the bushes could last for anouther 20 years and all I've changed was the nuts to stainless steel .
Makes me think that if dollops of grease were used when it was assembled and I rotated the shaft every 6 months with drips of penatrating oil I would prevent most of the hassle .
The official handbook tells that " no maintenance is necessary for the swing arm pivot ".

Arh therapy! I repainted the badly rust damaged old tank on the old 51 Bullet three times each time assuming erroneously that I had cured the pin hole leaks. Finally a friend found me another appropriate tank in sound condition at a swap meet so after literally hundreds of hours and several hundred if not a thousand dollars in paint, transfers and weld and various proofing mixtures I took it off and gave it several mighty thwacks with a ten pound sledge hammer. Gave me an unseemly amount of pleasure!

I have never seen inside a RE swing arm, but from the diagram shown in the book of words they seem similar to the old BSA 'B' models of which i have similarly cursed, getting the old spindle out was only half the problem as the outer steel tube of the 'silent block' bush (best described as a rubber sandwich), would rust tight in the swing arm and usually defy being knocked/pressed out, in worst cases you would burn out the rubber get the inner steel tube out, put a thread in the remaining steel (outer) tube and pull it out. Let us hope they are not that difficult.