Ossa TR 77 Swinging Arm

[IDC]

I am considering have the swinging arm off my TR77 powder coated and if so I thought it would be a good idea to remove the bushes and spindle. The spindle seems a really tight fit in the bushes, can anyone advise me of the best way of removing the spindle and the bushes. Thanks.

[feetupfun]

It's fairly normal on motorbikes to spring the frame and cut through the swingarm axle to get the swingarm out. The inner bushes can then be slid out of the outer bushes and the whole thing done without risk of damaging the frame or swingarm. The issue is usually corrosion causing one or both steel inner bushes to stick to the steel axle

[IDC]

Thanks for the reply feetupfun. I was not clear in my original post, the swinging arm has already been removed from the frame and I was expecting the spindle to rotate in the nylon bushes easily but it seems seized. I am not sure how much force to use to extract it just wondered if anyone else has found this on an MAR or TR77 and how they got around it.

[woody]

Put one of the bolts back in to avoid damaging the end of the spindle and thread and then drift it out with a hammer and metal bar.  It's virtuall impossible to remove the bushes themselves intact so just hammer an old screwdriver down the side of the bush and use it as a lever to deform it and it will just drop out. Use new bushes when reassembling.  When powdercoating blank off each end to keep paint out

[IDC]

Thanks for the advice Woody, I will order some replacement bushes and get the big hammer out!

[ColinPybus]

Good evening IDC, I have done the same on my mar. However when I measured the swing arm spindle it was all sorts of sizes . I ended up cylindrically grinding the spindle between centres and then turning some new plastic bushes to suit on the lathe. You may want to check the size of your spindle before fitting new bushes as you may have excess clearance on the fit.

[IDC]

Hi ColinPybus, thanks for your comments. I have still not managed to extract the spindle from the swinging arm bushes, it is seized solid will not budge even with a big hammer and a drift. I am now thinking of carefully drilling the bushes between the spindle and the swinging arm to weaken the grip the bushes have on the spindle. Hopefully I can do this without damaging the spindle or the swinging arm but if the worst comes to the worst I note that replacement spindles and bushes are available. Regards.

[TL350]

Try heating the swing arm until the bushes melt as you will probably have to replace bushes and shaft anyway ?

[woody]

On the drive side of the arm is a threaded hole for a grease nipple, it aligns with a hole/slot in the spindle if the spindle is in the corresponding position. Is there a grease nipple fitted that has somehow locked the spindle - or a bolt that has been used to stop the spindle from spinning when undoing the spindle bolts, either of which might stop it being removed. I've never know plastic bushed to grip a spindle to the point it won't drift out. Are they definitely plaastic

[IDC]

Thanks for the comments guys. I have now managed to remove the spindle by cutting off the flange on the bushes and carefully drilling down between the swinging arm and the spindle in multiple places to relieve the grip the bushes had on the spindle, I was then able to recover the o-rings and drift the spindle out. I cannot believe how tightly the plastic/nylon? bushes had gripped the spindle, it would not move. Whether it was due to some chemical reaction between the bushes and the grease that had caused them to swell I am not sure, they spindle has probably not rotated/moved in excess of 25 years! The hole on the top of the swinging arm is a plain hole and originally there was some dense foam type material that plugged it, on the underneath there is an oil/grease nipple with a spring loaded ball bearing in the center. I think I will tap the top hole and fit a grease nipple where it will be more accessible.