[caricabasso]

I walked up to now more than 45,000 kilometers and I thought to inspect the bushes of the swingarm.
The whole was very clean and free from infiltrations of water and mud thanks to those two large washers which also have a sealing gasket.
In practice the whole system is completely sealed and protected from dust and water.








I re-assembled the swingarm putting a little grease.
  All perfect

[JVS]

That's really good to know. Thanks for the report! 

[mattsz]

Look really good!  When I had my swing arm off, I wondered about the central spacer rod - it was filled with some sort of... something!  It definitely wasn't grease; green and absolutely rock-hard, like a hardened epoxy.  Never did figure out what it was, but it fit easily and freely over the long bolt, so I greased everything up and forgot about it...

[Carlsberg Wordsworth]

When I grab the back of the rear wheel I've found I can move it 2-3mm at a guess. The swingarm moves so I believe my bushes are worn. Is this the case before I pull it all apart hopefully this weekend?

I've ordered Mr H replacements just in case. Not looking forward to the bush replacement given the lack of equipment I've got.

[john hut]

i had a similar problem when I took my G5 for its first M.O.T here in England which is after 3 years and then every year. The tester notified me of play in the swinging arm,according to Hitchcocks the nylon bushes are prone to premature wear and sell metalistic bushes as replacements, I ordered a set and did a dummy run on stripping it down whilst waiting for delivery, I did not notice any wear in the bushes and refitted the arm and 3years on have had no problems with it or MOTs so try a a bit more tightness in the bolts and it might cure it.  ( Ive still got a spare set of swinging arm bushes 3 years later)..

[Carlsberg Wordsworth]

Thanks for the tip John, but I've already tightened as below and still have movement.

[wildbill]

congratulations on the 45k. its always good to hear a few good stories of bikes with a few high klm. even a local dealer here in aust has one advertised a 2013 c5 with 50,000 klm for $5790
so there are a few about climbing up the klm scale

[johno]

I must have been pretty unlucky with the pivot bolt spacer and bushes on my B5. They were corroded together and the bushes were scored by the corrosion, I had about 1/2" of sideways movement at the back wheel, this was at around 1500 miles.
After cleaning up the corrosion and flooding the spacer with moly grease, I replaced the bushes for the Hitchcock's metalastic bushes. Well worthwhile, the ride was a lot better than even when the bike was new.
I also found you need to over torque the pivot bolt to pull the frame inline before easing off then torqueing the bolt to the correct value.

[caricabasso]

I must have been pretty unlucky with the pivot bolt spacer and bushes on my B5. They were corroded together and the bushes were scored by the corrosion, I had about 1/2" of sideways movement at the back wheel, this was at around 1500 miles.
After cleaning up the corrosion and flooding the spacer with moly grease, I replaced the bushes for the Hitchcock's metalastic bushes. Well worthwhile, the ride was a lot better than even when the bike was new.
I also found you need to over torque the pivot bolt to pull the frame inline before easing off then torqueing the bolt to the correct value.

The system swing-arm bushings on my motorcycle remained perfect despite the 45,000 kilometers through the washers with seal that prevented water and dust to damage them.
This change should be introduced by the Royal Enfield motorcycles manufactured after 2011 probably.
To Hithcock it is a good system but not waterproof.

[Arizoni]

johno:
Are you saying that just the pivot bolt spacer was corroded or that the bushings were also corroded?

To the best of my knowledge, the UCE powered B5, C5 and G5 all use reinforced polymers (Nylon?) for the swing arm bushings and polymers may melt but they don't corrode.

[Carlsberg Wordsworth]

 I reckon the pivot bolt spacer was corroded, wearing the nylon bush. I felt more play on the right hand side where the corrosion was.

Anyway, I was surprised how little time it took to get everything apart (around 50 mins with nylon bushings removed), however, using the nut and bolt method has proved nothing short of brute force and disbelief. I phoned 3 different places but 1 was waiting for their new press to arrive and 2 could not fit me in due to heavy workload.

I've got about 22mm to go on one side. The swingarm better only swing up and down once it's back in is all I can say.

I also can't see them ever coming out should they ever need replacement. Given how quick it was to take apart I'm thinking it would have been easier to replace like for like.

[Carlsberg Wordsworth]

Well , that's that pig of a job done with. If I had to do it again at home, I'd fine tune the process a bit.

I'd forgot to mention, on the old bushes, I could notice the chain tighten when pulling to the it to the left.

The new bushes are as good as it ever will be. Bike seems a whole lot more stable in the corners and a straight line, makes me wonder how long they have needed replacing. I couldn't give it the full beans test though. The threaded bar I was using snapped, things went ping and I went backwards hurting my lower back. bah.

*edit*

Sorry caricabasso, didn't mean to steal you're thread.

[johno]

johno:
Are you saying that just the pivot bolt spacer was corroded or that the bushings were also corroded?

To the best of my knowledge, the UCE powered B5, C5 and G5 all use reinforced polymers (Nylon?) for the swing arm bushings and polymers may melt but they don't corrode.

The bolt and the sleeve were corroded together, the corrosion had scored the nylon bushes, hope that clears it up!