Excessive amount of play in the swingarm pivot.

[darkducati]

Any of you guys noticed any play in the swingarm pivot? It seems like I saw it mentioned as a possible cause of the chain issues. Back end felt a bit off this evening and I can move the rear wheel/swingarn laterally and there is a slight clicking. It's not much, but I'm thinking there should be zero lateral play. Torque is correct on the pivot bolt. Any input? I've talked to the guys on the 1190 facebook page but perhaps there is additional input on here as well.

[Doosh]

Yes, I've observed it. So has a friend. The torque on the swing arm pivot needs to be reset as the bearings wear in. This was also true of the 1125-era race swing arm.

[M1Combat]

There's a post on Facebook about the pinch bolt pinch (not sure of the technical term for it) being too tight even with the pinch bolt loose. Because of this it's hard to get the swingarm pivot to the correct torque setting. To fix, gently wedge the pinch bolt side open and torque that way, then pull the wedge and tighten pinch bolt.

The idea is that maybe some bikes were built and didn't have quite enough torque on the swingarm pivot. This could explain the chain rub issues as well.

[Mike]

As promised...

While changing the oil in my RX this weekend, I looked into the loose swingarm thing.

My bike -
It's got just over 23,000 miles on it.
Gets driven daily, about 85 miles a day. 80% freeway. 70mph to 90mph at 4:30 am and 10mph to 60mph, splitting lanes going home from work.

With the bike on the ground, I put my index finger into the joint of the engine case and swingarm and pushed the tail of the bike back and forth. I felt no movement of the swingarm. Both in a sorta jerking and a smooth motion.
With the bike on the spool stand, I did the same thing as with it on the ground. Again, I felt no movement between the swingarm and the engine case.

I did not get a chance to put a torque wrench to it. I'll be adjusting the valves over the Thanksgiving "week"...holiday. So I'll do that then. Was also thinking of putting a dial indicator up there somehow. Will be a challenge since I don't have a magnet that works on aluminum..!

But as of now, my suspension feels good.

Mike

[Doug Porcaro]

Thanks Mike! I knew this sounded weird.

[darkducati]

After some further investigation I was apparently having the same issue with the pinch bolt on the pivot bolt. After backing off the pinch bolt I was able to somewhat pry the housing apart to correct the torque on the pivot. Thanks for the input!