Swinging Arm Bushes

[Murf]

Hi
Does anyone have the dimensions OD, ID,  length  of 550 K1 swinging arm bushes, (all 550 Ks are the same i believe). After looking at the price of SA bushes on DSS I am going to turn up my own out of bronze bush stock. Don’t have to be exact sizes as I will buy oversized stock and turn to suit.
The reason I am not removing my swing arm and measuring its bushes is because I don’t want the bike to be unmovable in the garage while I wait for the stock to arrive. 
Thanks for any help.

[Johnwebley]

Hi
Does anyone have the dimensions OD, ID,  length  of 550 K1 swinging arm bushes, (all 550 Ks are the same i believe). After looking at the price of SA bushes on DSS I am going to turn up my own out of bronze bush stock. Don’t have to be exact sizes as I will buy oversized stock and turn to suit.
The reason I am not removing my swing arm and measuring its bushes is because I don’t want the bike to be unmovable in the garage while I wait for the stock to arrive. 
Thanks for any help.

Contact Julie,

I am 99% certain she can supply bushes

Sent from my SM-A546E using Tapatalk

[SteveW]

Just fitted a set from Julie, absolutely spot on.

[deltarider]

Warning. Before you order parts, always make sure which model you're dealing with. From the CB550K2 on, F models included and as far as the CB500, from the CB50OK2 GENERAL EXPORT on the swing arm bushes were modified. BTW, the same bushes had been used before on other models and were further used on a long list of models, even including the CBX1000 Super Sport. Honda must have done it right. I always wondered why I never ran into issues with the swing arm. Just last weekend when I had the rear wheel of, I checked for any play with the rear shocks loosened: not a fraction of a mm play. Amazing. In all those years I have maybe greased it 4 times. Most attempts to grease it had failed actually: I just could not execute sufficient force to get the grease in.

[Murf]

Thanks
Yes Julie has them, I will get a pair ordered. I have had some parts from her but missed these, I guess I didn’t know I needed them at that point as I have only just got around to checking the rear end of the bike properly. Anyway that is that sorted.

Well Deltarider you may have only greased them 4 times but that is probably 4 times more than a lot of owners 😄😄 and I don’t think they will have seen much grease when the bikes were assembled at the factory.
I get the impression that bike and car manufacturers don’t like getting their assembly lines messed up with grease 😂.

[Bryanj]

You need to check the pivot collar carefully as they wear more than the bushes but are horribly expensive.
The difference in bushes is that early ones had a phenolic thrust and felt washer which you dont use with the shouldered bronze bushes but you do use the steel cupped end washers

[deltarider]

You need to check the pivot collar carefully as they wear more than the bushes but are horribly expensive.
The difference in bushes is that early ones had a phenolic thrust and felt washer which you dont use with the shouldered bronze bushes but you do use the steel cupped end washers

Also the collar has been modified on the models I indicated in reply #3 and the steel cupped end washers were abandoned. This to stress once more how important it is that you know what exact model you're dealing with. Always consult either the part lists or CMSNL. The latter cannot be praised enough for providing info on what other models the same part was used, once you have logged in. A great service.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I must confess I've never really understood the rear swing arm arrangement with the central collar as well as end bushes.
Logic would say to me the bushes being at the end of each swing arm the wear/load would be on the shaft & bushes so they would wear the most.

On ADO15 Minis the rear radius arms had a central shaft with a bronze bearing at outer end (not unlike 500) with a Needle roller bearing on the inside. The rear shaft had no support on the inside section.
A lot more weight & forces than on a bike I suspect - the radius arms were a very heavy lump of steel.
The Mini would show wear on the bronze bush and rust on the shaft due to lack of greasing.
Back in the day I would fit a replacement bronze bush (& shaft) then used the correct sized reamer done by hand (they were line reamed originally). It never needed much material removing from the bushes for the shaft to be a snug fit.

Having said the above the shaft in a swing arm is probably close to twice the length.

[Bryanj]

They ALL have steel cup washers but the later ones were modified to have a small seal inside that sealed on the lip of the bush flange, as long as yo dont mind seeing grease this seal is not necessary.
Yes they modified the collar when they went to a single grease nipple under the swing arm but the new one has been nla for some time whilst the original is still available and to use it you either fit the long bolt with the grease nipple at either end, the best option in my opinion OR dill a small hole in the centre of the collar and in each bearing surface if not there, cant remember its been a while.

[Murf]

Thanks for all the replies and help, I have had a look at Cmsnl and see the set up with the long collar / (sleeve), it looks like 550 K0, K1, K2 all had this set up. I had better get my SA apart to see what state the collar is in before I order any parts. Let’s hope the collar is ok because as you say it ain’t cheap.

You still have to use an adjustable hand reamer on the SA bushes on the old Triumphs as the new bushes all come oversized,  it does allow for a nice fit though.

[deltarider]

[...] it looks like 550 K0, K1, K2 all had this set up.[...]

No Sir, the CB550(K0) and K1 had the old one, the CB550K2 had the newer design.
As far as the CB500, the K, K1 and the CB500K2-A had the old one and, the CB500K2 (-ED, -F, -G) and CB500K3 had the new one.

[Nurse Julie]

The bronze bushes I sell fit your bike Kevin, no reaming required.

[Bryanj]

The old pre unit Triumph you could use a hand reamer of correct size on as the shank was "sized" the same.
Big thing the japanese did was be super accurate with sizing