Swing arm play and bushings

Hi,

Can anyone give me a little advice on my 1977 650 c1custom.

I had the backend apart and checked the play in the swing arm bushes, there was a little play, a few mill, so I removed the swing arm to investigate.

The grease in there was pretty old and tired looking, the spacer for the bushes was fairly corroded at each end, I have cleaned every up well and removed all the rust. My question is whether it is worth the struggle and expenses of removing the bushes from the swing arm? The play was minimal but I did notice it, I understand that the bushes can be pigs to remove and that a new set are fairly costly?

When the rear end is bolted together and with the shocks in place, there is no noticeable play, is it worth it?

Thanks all,

Matt.

If you can detect any play at all, yes, it's definitely worth replacing the bushings. When the bushings are new there is zero play. I replaced the bushings on my KZ650-C1; it really is not difficult to do. In fact, removing the swingarm is the hardest part, so you're halfway done. According to Kawasaki.com the bushings and caps are still active (available) parts, so any dealer can get them. Ronayers.com lists the Genuine Kawasaki bushings at $40.52 each and the caps at $5.78 each. As an alternative, Z1E has new bronze bushings for $58.40 for the pair. You may want to price the caps locally and see if the cost is less than Ronayers when shipping is considered. Be sure to pre-load everything with grease when installing, then pump it with grease until it oozes from both ends. Ed

I had some play in my 77 and had the bushings (#3 in the diagram) already. The trouble is the bushings wear and at the same time sleeve (#6 in diagram) is getting corroded and rusty and has actually grown in size. If you get new bushings, get the new tube too or you'll have problems fitting. I had a good used tube and even with that it took a lot of work with emory cloth to make it to fit properly with the new bushings. So my advice is if it's working I would leave well enough alone unless you can get both the bushings and the tube new and install together.

RonKZ650 wrote: I had some play in my 77 and had the bushings (#3 in the diagram) already. The trouble is the bushings wear and at the same time sleeve (#6 in diagram) is getting corroded and rusty and has actually grown in size. If you get new bushings, get the new tube too or you'll have problems fitting. I had a good used tube and even with that it took a lot of work with emory cloth to make it to fit properly with the new bushings. So my advice is if it's working I would leave well enough alone unless you can get both the bushings and the tube new and install together.

Actually, when I replaced my bushings I also replaced the tube with a new old stock one. I didn't try the old tube since I already had a new one. Even the new tube is a very snug fit with the new bushings, because there is zero play when all is new. Ed

Thanks for the advice....I am still unsure as I have heard stories of both the old bushings being hard to remove and the new ones very tight with the sleeve.

I will have to price up my options and see what I can do.

Also, Ed, how did you remove your old bushings? Was it by heating or simply drifting them out?

Thanks.

The bushings came out and tapped in real easily on mine, but that was the least of the problems.

No heat involved. I just tapped them out from the opposite side with a long brass rod. Ed

Thanks Ron and Ed, I will see if I can get my hands on the new bushings and tube.

Matt.