Sherpa 198A Swing Arm Resistance

[JonnyWobbles]

Hi, the rebuild of my Sherpa 198A is progressing 'well' but I have a question on what is the expected / acceptable swing arm free-play and 'stiffness'. I have replaced the nylon/alloy swing arm bearings and spindle with new items, but find that with the newly powder coated frame and new replacement rear engine mount (all from In Motion) its all a very tight fit - requiring the rubber mallet persuader to fit! The result is that although nice and smooth, the swing arm does not freely move under its own weight (a rough measure I've used on road bikes with needle bearings) but requires some force (approximately a 1kg weight placed on swing arm) to move even without the swing arm spindle nut tightened. It has to be said, the resistance is very similar to that when I stripped the bike down but I'd put this down to worn components etc.

I've no experience of the nylon/alloy bearings and whether these will ease with use, but these themselves did tighten after being driven into the (clean) swing arm which will account for some of the resistance.  But it has to be said longitudinally with the powder coating there is no free play between swing arm bearings and frame even before the nut is tightened etc. incidentally i couldn't find a torque setting for the nut as the manual just says 'tighten', but obviously the tighter it goes the stiffer the swing arm gets.

Before I strip it all back down and take grinder to the lovely powder coating and possibly wet and dry to the bearings, could any one advise on what is acceptable resistance from their experience as I can't find any info in the manuals? Unfortunately I don't have a wheel built up to fit to gauge the effect of the increased weight etc. but it does not seem quite right to me!

Thanks as always!