rear axle

[desert1]

Frustrating thing trying to install an axle, sometimes it binds midway thru the hub, if it does go thru it pushes the wheel over till it near touches the swing arm...been at this two days now and I may need to remove the hub bearings to inspect, it may be the bearing is moving....Im changing the rear 17 inch wheel to a 16 inch off my parts bike so thats where the difficultys began....hope to have this all worked out in a couple of days....greasy, man real greasy!
Bruce Doucette
78XS1100

[Lbrown311]

Center stand, some shims (2x4's), crow bar and a rubber mallet. bike on center stand, set tire on shims, slide axle thru frame, spacer and caliper bracket, then use the crow bar and wiggle with your hand till you can slide it in more when you hit a jam. use the rubber mallet to get the rest of the way thru it. honestly a floor jack would work better than shims but not everyone has one.

[CatatonicBug]

if it does go thru it pushes the wheel over till it near touches the swing arm...

If the axle is pushing through the wheel, it should simply push the wheel harder into the final drive. The axle goes through the swingarm before it ever touches the wheel.

Set the wheel in place and get the teeth in the hub lined up with the final drive so is is seated. Then just tap the axle through the frame, spacers, brake bracket, etc. until it comes out the other side of the final drive. I find a screwdriver in the hole on the end of the axle helps to rotate the axle back and forth so it slides in nicely.

[WSL91]

I believe it goes in from the brake side.

[crazy steve]

Yes, the axle goes in from the brake side.

May be a couple of things going on here besides that....

First, if your converting from a 17" wheel to a 16", you need to swap the inner wheel spacer and steel caliper bracket from the bike the wheel came off of, and leave the outer spacer off. The two wheels have the rotor position different (the Special has it .3" further out) and without the right parts it has to be forced together, and still won't be right.

If you've got that right, then you may have a slightly bent swingarm. If the problem is that when the larger-diameter 'collar' on the axle gets to the swingarm and doesn't quite line up and has to be forced, you need to 'tweak' the arm a bit. If the axle is to the rear of the hole, the swingarm is 'spread' too far and can be corrected by giving the brake side of the arm a few good whacks with a hammer (padding the arm with a piece of wood please ). To the front of the hole, it's too close together; use a small jack to spring it open slightly. If the problem is up or down, loosen the nuts holding the FD on and 'rotate' that until it lines up. You can check this without the wheel; if the alignment is right, the axle will slide right in with hand pressure.

Also make sure this inner spacer is present on the drive side of the wheel...



.. as seen sticking out the seal here. If this is missing, the wheel can go into the drive too far and bind up.

[desert1]

Parts

I have all the parts to do the swap from the 17 to the 16 inch wheel and the inner seal is on the final drive of the 16 incher and the outer spacer next to the bearing is indeed shorter than the one on the 17 ....I'll get this together at some point and let you all know how it goes. The thing is last week I changed wheels 17 to 16 inch in maybe 1 hour, rode several miles and decided to take the wheel to a shop to have a new tire put on as the the bridgestone was 18 years old and had cracks in the centre tread usually the side walls go in old tires not this time.....

I noticed in the original tool kit for the XS theres a hanger that supports the swing arm, unfortunately I dont have the hanger.....
One good thing is that the wheel does fit well into the final drive and the clearance on the tire to swingarm is right....I measured my swingarm on the 79 special and the arm off my 78' E and the clearances are the same....

Thanks all you XSives for the help and I think tomorrow I will use two axles in lining things up one from each side.....I'm glad I saved the the old 79s wheels.....one thing Im not sure of and perhaps one of you know did the 79 special come standard with a 16 inch wheel??
Bruce Doucette
78 XS1100

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Bruce,

ALL of the Specials came with 16" rear wheels.
T.C.

[BA80]

I between the bearings inside the wheel there is a spacer to keep too much side pressure off the bearings. There is supposed to be a couple thin metal washers with teeth that grip the outside of that spacer on each end of it. They are there to center the spacer in order to aid in ease of installation.

They are not needed for proper operation but can make it difficult to install the axle if they aren't there or have been damaged somehow. You may need to use a long screwdriver to line that spacer up manually. I have a spare front wheel that's that way. No big deal.

Check and see if that spacer is lined up.

[desert1]

Hello Top Cat!!

Found the problem....the brake side of the swing arm has shrunk 1.5 mms much like your trousers do when the waters to hot!! Being facecious here Guys of course.....but it comes down to 1.5 mms or so; that much missalignment is enough to throw the wheel off centre and everything else mounted to the wheel.....the good news is....this is happening to both wheels, Ive gone back and tried mounting the 17 inch wheel but doing the axle install there is the same miss alignment with the fat end of the axle and everything pitches sideways......the other bit of good news is that the spacers and collars and caliper align perfectly along with the torsion plate so that everything is to the book perfect clearence-wise.....its just that fat end of the axle that pitches everything off kilter....I know the swing arm has nothing to do with this cause its snug and in place.....
Its quite a kerfuffle.....one benefit is I have two axles to play with and the same result with either.....and neither axle is bent, damaged or abused..but this may change if I get to much more grief....ugh...again, thanks for your input and consideration of this debaukle I am in....
Bruce

[jwhughes3]

1.5mm

Bruce,

1.5mm sounds suspiciously like a washer missing. At least I'd add one even if book doesn't show it.

John

[BA80]

Found the problem....the brake side of the swing arm has shrunk 1.5 mms much like your trousers do when the waters to hot!! Being facecious here Guys of course.....but it comes down to 1.5 mms or so; that much missalignment is enough to throw the wheel off centre and everything else mounted to the wheel.....the good news is....this is happening to both wheels, Ive gone back and tried mounting the 17 inch wheel but doing the axle install there is the same miss alignment with the fat end of the axle and everything pitches sideways......the other bit of good news is that the spacers and collars and caliper align perfectly along with the torsion plate so that everything is to the book perfect clearence-wise.....its just that fat end of the axle that pitches everything off kilter....I know the swing arm has nothing to do with this cause its snug and in place.....
Its quite a kerfuffle.....one benefit is I have two axles to play with and the same result with either.....and neither axle is bent, damaged or abused..but this may change if I get to much more grief....ugh...again, thanks for your input and consideration of this debaukle I am in....
Bruce

I can't quite picture whats happening. So, can you take some pics and post them so those of us with inquiring minds can study it?

[BA80]

Seems that DGXSER was having a similar problem http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...508#post378508

Could yours be the same? Swingarm pivot bolts too tight?

[Eveready1100]

Maybe just the brake torque plate not seated properly on the swingarm stub? That's be about 1.5 mm wide on it's flange.

[desert1]

swing arm tension

I did detach the shocks from the swing arm and found the arm free without drag or slopiness but I will look again....the tension plate for the brake was a bit off the flat so I tweeked it so that it sat flush to the arm's face....

Tonight I put the wheel on, and the caliper aligned fine but the tire is like the thickness of a baseball card from the swing arm....the tire is a bridgestone 140/90--16--71h......I drove down the road and back and the tire didnt rub but thats too close for my liking....anyone know how close a 16 inch tire of this size runs to the arm...its a wider profile than 17 inch tire.
Bruce Doucette
78XS1100

[crazy steve]

Yeah, the 140 is an oversize, and they do get real close....

As long as it's not hitting, it should be ok. If you still can't stand it, go back to the stock 130/90-16.