1980 gs1000-st swingarm

[met]

hi all,

im in the process of restoring this old wes cooley bike and im up to replacing the left and right bearings to the swing arm.

never done this before, but im finding it impossible to remove either of these, from their ends.....
i have used heat and im thinking if there is a way, the previous owner might have even welded these on...?...!!!!!!
(i find this hard to believe)....but its a thought.

both bushings that the bearings run onto, are pitted so they will need replacing as well as the bearings, when and if i get them of....

anyway, should anyone have any tricks up their sleeve or could offer a suggestion whether they have encountered this same thing, during their travels.......

thanks in advance

[GregT]

Looks like you've still got the spacer tube in there. It should drive out but check if there's a grease nipple in the center which may be restraining it.
Once that's out, it's simply a case of using a long drift and a big hammer.
I did once strike a spacer that was too big to come out through the races so made up a drift to closely fit it ID and OD - and drifted the spacer and one bearing out - then the other bearing.
Be careful putting the new needle races in. I use a socket of a size to bear on the outer shell of the bearing to press it in.

[Nessism]

It's been a while since I've replaced some though but I do remember you basically have to destroy the cage in order to get something to grab onto so they can be removed.

[GregT]

It's been a while since I've replaced some though but I do remember you basically have to destroy the cage in order to get something to grab onto so they can be removed.

Laverdas have a similar setup but with a big shoulder on the inner side of the bearing which it presses up against. This makes it almost impossible to remove.
A common trick there is to spot weld a piece of scrap steel across the end of the bearing cage - and use a long drift on that.

[fastbysuzuki]

A common trick there is to spot weld a piece of scrap steel across the end of the bearing cage - and use a long drift on that.

I second that, sometimes it pulls the outer inwards and becomes lose.

[met]

well....they're out finally.....

i soaked them with aviation type penetrating oil which still wouldn't loosen them,
but then had to resort to a very small chisel to cut the damn things out.
this took a couple of hours because i needed to be sure i wasn't going to damage the tube....and i didnt.
so now i figured to put them back in i might use this way as i don't want to knock them in.
shown around the six minute mark, i thought this way would be easy on the new bearings....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da_ZenYu4Xo

thanks to everyone for comments

[limeex2]

Find the right size socket/driver to install the bearing. Put the bearing in the freezer overnight then heat up the the swingarm bearing area right before installing bearing. Treaded rod and washers work well also to pull bearing in.

[bwringer]

I use a hydraulic press to install these.

To remove, it's usually fastest to just destroy them. I use a wee chisel to sort of fold and collapse the shell inwards.

On some bikes, it's possible to figure out a setup to remove one or both with the press.

Of course, not everyone has a hydraulic press... but I can say that mine has been surprisingly handy on a wide variety of projects involving the application of controlled force. I do a lot less hammer bashing since getting my press.