FT swingarm bearings

[scottly]

When I first went to remove the swing-arm, the pivot bolt was extremely tight until the nut was backed off by two or three turns. The width of the swing-arm pivot was less than the frame mount, and excessive torque had been used to actually flex the mount, apparently from the factory. With the bolt loose, the mount returned closer to it's original location, leaving a gap. I fitted a 1/16" thick washer, which snugged things up.

The stock FT bearing is a single row needle bearing with a 20mm ID, 26mm OD, and 20mm length. The '82 Honda CR480 uses a double row needle bearing that is 20x26x30. The better CR bearing will fit right into the FT swing-arm, in fact, it looks like they designed it that way.

[J6G1Z]

Excellent info! Thank you. Somehow this post slipped past me & I just saw it this morning.

I tried some I'net searching on early XR & XL swingarms a while back to see if there was any truth to the old saying that some of these swingers will interchange. It would be cool to find a rectangular tubing aluminum swingarm. The only potential candidate that looked like it might work was the early XL (1981 I think) that has an aluminum looking swinger, but it is actually steel that was painted to resemble aluminum. The XR's went to a single shock in the rear at about the same time. Now maybe one of those nice XR swingers will fit, but you need to add two shock mounting plates to the swingarm.

J.

[Slyphon]

Not to dredge up an old thread... but I'm going to.

There seem to be many places to get these bushings (the ones for the CR480). However, I can't seem to find any seal kits for the FT500. Did you re-use your seals or get some elsewhere? Yours look new...

[J6G1Z]

Hmm... Good question. You might send Scottly a PM. Sometimes he works out of town.

J.

[Slyphon]

Just a follow up on this:

The Dust Cover was easily cleaned and appears to be in fine condition for re-use. The bushing was also removed without causing damage so I think I'll be able to re-use it just fine.

There were a few people trying to sell the CR480 bearings for $40 for a pair. I found the manufacture to be INA (Germany) and part number to be HK2030. Just verify that it's the double row type prior to purchase. I picked up a pair for $12.50 total on eBay at: REDACTED

[J6G1Z]

Great information. Thanks for updating this post.


J.

[Slyphon]

I redacted the eBay seller as a source for the INA HK2030 because they are not actually INA brand. They are a cheaper version. The eBay seller has the INA brand pictured in the second image, but I received another brand. This other brand is lower quality. It is lower quality because the cage for the needle bearings is made of plastic rather than a metal/plastic composite like the INA brand. The needles are also more exposed and the overall fitment isn't as "firm" as I would like for it to be. I am returning the eBay versions and getting a set of real INA HK2030's from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/INA-Bearing-12000rpm-Maximum-Rotational/dp/B007D34YMW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1410542217&sr=8-4&keywords=HK2030

Notice the same image as from the eBay listing? Wonder where he got that from....

[Slyphon]

Here is a photo of the quality of the two different bearings side-by-side. The one on the right is the German made INA HK2030-ZW. It has a steel cage for the needles, double rows, and better ratings for max RPMs and weight. It also just looks like an overall better quality bearing, and fits the Swingarm Pivot much better as well.

[J6G1Z]

This is a very informative post. I'll bet those bearings really firm up the rear end.

The bearing on the right looks like it has a hole in the outer case to line up with a zirk-fitting to add grease later.


J.