Leaning trike

[djm0242]

Well I have spent sometime looking the bike over. I pulled the rear fenders and I'm almost certain that the frame is not bent. I have measured the forks multiple times. I've turned the bike on its side in the grass and I am now of the opinion that it is indeed the rear swing arm that is culprit. The differential appears to be slightly twisted. This leads me to believe that one or more of the swingarm and or tubes/ flanges are bent. So I have ordered another swingarm, new bearings, seals, and the special socket tool. We shall see how it goes, it should be pretty easy.

[djm0242]

Ok, I replaced the swingarm and I made a two part video on YouTube check it out!!
http://youtu.be/Q0F-_GooOgM.

[OKSTATE#1]

I had an issue like this when I rebuilt my 86 250ES. For me, it was the swing arm bearings. New bearings and seals and it was back to strait. Didn't watch the video, but I assume you have your problem solved.

[djm0242]

My problem is solved, the swing was actually bent. I wish it had just been bearings.

[barnett468]

.
HOWDY!



Just noticed your post. this is obviously a little late but if it happens again you can simply do the measurements below. You need a fairly flat floor to do this accurately.

put your bike on a stand.

pull the rear wheels

measure the distance from the floor to the center of the swing arm pivot bolt on both sides of the bike.

shim the bike until both sides of the bolt measure evenly.

measure the distance from the center of the rear axle to the ground.

rotate axle 90 degrees and measure, then do that two more times.

if the measurement stays the same, the swing arm is bent and the axle is straight.

if the measurement changes the axle is bent but the swing arm may still be bent.

if the axle is bent, you can measure the height of a carrier mounting bolt on both sides of swing arm/carrier. this measurement will likely only vary a little so if your floor is not perfectly flat it will not be accurate.

if the rear axle is bent, you can also determine the total amount the axle is out of round on either side then divide that number in half and add it to the number from the axle on the other side and if it is 0, your swing arm is NOT bent, however if it it NOT 0, your swing arm is bent too.

this would have taken all of around 15 minutes for you to set up and measure. It also would have told you if the forks were bent because you would either see it or you could put a $10.00 inclinometer from home depot on the side of the steering head to check it.

ok, confused yet?

[djm0242]

Thank you good advice! Next time it may come in handy. Hopefully there won't be a next time!