swingarm bushings

[Lee H. Mann]

i can watch the entire left side of the pivotshaft move up and down if i jack the bike up. the right doesn't move. when i jack it up the pivot shaft lines up with where it should be all the time. once you set the weight of the bike on it it moves way forward and up. i'm sure it's putting a strain on the other motor mounts. something going on with it for sure. i know all those rubber pieces should not be in there.

I AM WONDERING IF THE LEFT REAR ENGINE MOUNT (ALSO THE SWING-ARM MOUNT) HAS BECOME UNATTACHED TO THE LARGE STEEL BASE WASHER ...

[Papa Zook]

i can watch the entire left side of the pivotshaft move up and down if i jack the bike up. the right doesn't move. when i jack it up the pivot shaft lines up with where it should be all the time. once you set the weight of the bike on it it moves way forward and up. i'm sure it's putting a strain on the other motor mounts. something going on with it for sure. i know all those rubber pieces should not be in there.

Where are you placing your jack contact point when you jack it up?

[headheaded]

Where are you placing your jack contact point when you jack it up?

i placed the jack under the left side of the frame and the right just to see how much movement is there. lots more on the left side. the dealer called early this morning and asked if i would like to see what they found, i jumped right in the truck and went down there. swingarm pivot shaft was loose. they are going to install new bushing on both sides. hope to have it back by the wekend. they are looking at all the trike on the lot and showroom floor right now and are seeing the same issue on some of them. at least with a new bike they could just retorque the pivot shaft, at least that's what they told me. it's not over till it's over though.

[MikeyTX]

crazy this is happening to some and not all.

[rhino 2]

crazy this is happening to some and not all.

If it was happening to all then there would be a recall... Sometimes things just happen!

Just like reverse motors , Some fail...

And many don't...Sh*t just happens sometimes' even to nice people..

[wlibert]

My swing arm is moving every time I try and set the belt deflection. You can't see it move but it's moving. The two spots used to measure proper axle alignment remain set to with in spec. but the belt deflection can't be set as soon as the pinch bolts are tightened the belt gets too tight.

I started the thread below as well as one on another forum. The one on the other forum asked for some help from other members. I wanted some members to remove the plastic caps on the ends of the swing arm pivot shaft, take some pictures and send them to me via email. I received multiple emails with pictures and they all show the same thing, a large amount of rubber shavings under the caps. The thread below contains some of the pictures I got as well as a picture from a member that was able to get his fixed. His dealer took pictures of the rubber shavings and the destroyed bearings inside the single are.

Mine is in the shop now and the dealer is waiting on parts. Based on just the pictures of the rubber shavings I sent them they felt that there was adequate proof something is wrong and then they looked at the pictures of the bearings and that sealed the deal.

I won't declare victory on mine until I've ridden two or three hundred mile. I slo have a complaint open with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and they recommend that other people that are seeing this concern file a separate complaint and reference my complaint number. The website and my complaint number can be found in the link below.

http://www.triketalk.com/forum/threa...itted-to-NHTSA

[wlibert]

If it was happening to all then there would be a recall... Sometimes things just happen!

Just like reverse motors , Some fail...

And many don't...Sh*t just happens sometimes' even to nice people..

crazy this is happening to some and not all.

I started this whole swing arm issue via post on another forum. I found rubber shavings behind the plastic caps that cover the ends of the swing arm pivot shaft. In the post on the other forum I asked members to pop the plastic caps on their trikes and email me pictures. I got several responses. There is another thread on this forum about filing a complaint with NHTSA. I have made attempts to raise awareness about what some of us are seeing but finding a vehicle to do that has proven to be more of a challenge that I thought. Posting on a forum isn't going to get the proper exposure. A good portion of the population with HD trikes don't belong to forums.

The biggest issue see is that there is no reason to pull those caps off. I was informed the parts between the caps are design to last 100,000 miles so unless someone has an alignment issue or trouble setting belt deflection properly they will never know. I believe the rubber shavings the we are seeing start occurring before enough swing arm bear damage down that it may go unnoticed.

My commitment in doing what I started went above my own own trike to help others find out if they have the problem of not and if they do to give them direction on how to file their own complaint and reference mine. Getting the NHTSA involved is the only thing I've been able to find to possibly raise some awareness. The letters 'NHTSA' are at then end of the subject for the thread I created

[wlibert]

All this talk about the swing arm bushing, On this forum and other forum's finally got me to bend down to look at mine...43 thousand miles 2011 Tri=Glide....Just like i did a year or two ago when this came up on Forums...

And what i noticed today.... Was just what i noticed a year ago... A little wear on the outside of the bushings..[Not enough to worry about] And just like a year ago the center nut was off center......So in my case...Only ''Mine''...I consider it normal...

I started this talk here and on another forum and my request on the other forum was for 2014 to 2016 Rushmore trikes. I got several response from the other forum with pictures but they were all Rushmore trikes. I am not sure if limiting my original request on another forum was the proper thing to do but I did get pictures and from people and them brought them here. I don't have anyway to raise more awareness about this though. I don't feel like publishing it on forums will raise enough awareness. I tend to believe that a large number of trike owner don't belong to forums.

[Mykneesbehurtin]

I have a 17 so this thread peaked my interest so I pooped the plugs off and looked .At 5300 miles clean as new with no rubber or steel shavings.I will try to keep an eye on it every 1000 miles.

[headheaded]

I have a 17 so this thread peaked my interest so I pooped the plugs off and looked .At 5300 miles clean as new with no rubber or steel shavings.I will try to keep an eye on it every 1000 miles.

was it painfull when you pooped those plugs out ? sorry, couldn't help myself .

[30glock]

I have a 16 and now i'm curious, exactly where Is this cap that needs to be removed?

[headheaded]

I have a 16 and now i'm curious, exactly where Is this cap that needs to be removed?

black [plastic caps covering your swingarm pivot shaft down under the passinger footboards. pull them out with my thumb nail.

[Mykneesbehurtin]

was it painfull when you pooped those plugs out ? sorry, couldn't help myself .

AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA ,just caught what I typed.

[30glock]

black [plastic caps covering your swingarm pivot shaft down under the passinger footboards. pull them out with my thumb nail.

Thanks

[Capt.Bob]

Just checked my 2017 TGU with 3600 miles on her and not a hint of dust on either pivot point or the inside of either protective cap. Thanks for the hint on which caps to remove. I had been looking to find what you had shown in the original pics and was not sure where to look? Thankfully, I didn't have to poop out the caps Mykneesbehurtin

[HDB0B]

I checked my 2014 with 29K miles. I had some fine rubber dust under each cap .... no "chunks". I blew out the dust and replaced the caps. I will make it a habit to check under the caps every time I check the air filter. If the swing arm bearings start to fail, .... then the rubber bushings are going to rotate and fail.

Improper drive belt adjustment could stress these bushings. The rubber bushings are definitely part of the belt tension equation. If I ever have to replace a drive belt .... I would do a full rear end tear down and replace these bushings and the swingarm bearings while everything is apart.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Bob

[headheaded]

the dealer kept telling me they were designed to last a 100,000 miles. yea well, so are the wheel bearings and we know hown that went.

[wlibert]

I checked my 2014 with 29K miles. I had some fine rubber dust under each cap .... no "chunks". I blew out the dust and replaced the caps. I will make it a habit to check under the caps every time I check the air filter. If the swing arm bearings start to fail, .... then the rubber bushings are going to rotate and fail.

Improper drive belt adjustment could stress these bushings. The rubber bushings are definitely part of the belt tension equation. If I ever have to replace a drive belt .... I would do a full rear end tear down and replace these bushings and the swingarm bearings while everything is apart.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Bob

What you are seeing is what should be seen. I got mine fixed finally and the dealer went over the parts with and pictures I gave them and told me the rubber chunk shouldn't be there it should be just as you described. Given the rubber chunk and the pictures they felt that the possibility was there that some was wrong. They also what you said in regards to the belt and I said well guess what you guys gave it to me that way so what ever process you all follow to inspect these bikes for safety and possible problems didn't catch the improper belt tension