pivot bearings loose

[billbeemer]

i re torqued my FD pivot bearing yesterday after finding looseness after a clutch replacement. now i guess i'll re torque the front swing arm bearings because of mistrust. any checks for side play on front swing arm play?. also, if i remove FD and reinstall, do you guys phase the drive shaft? no mention in Clymer and chris harris ignored it in his youtube. thanx

[kirby]

Did you use thread lock compound (locktight)? Its a must. If just a bit loose no problems with damage.

I phase my u-joints but I know many others that pay no attention to it. If your operating at a high angle which a r1150r does not it becomes more important. Some GS's have a lot more angle and in my opinion phasing should be considered a good idea. Angular velocity caused by high angle is the problem. When you sit on you machine ready to ride there is little angle.

mikwe

[CycleRob]

billbeemer,
Phasing the U-Joints is necessary to avoid the possibility of a drive-line vibration, especially if you manage to get them exactly one quarter turn from correct . . . the worst-case scenario. Phasing is a MUST when there is a substantial angle between the 2 shaft drive-lines, for example, like the analog hour and minute hands show a't four O-Clock. That is because the speed of the driven shaft varies between faster and slower than the driver shaft as the bearing center cluster "tumbles" between the U-Joint yokes. This occurs so smoothly and imperceptibly that it is only visually apparent at a large drive angle and at a slow hand turning speed. When you have your drive shaft out and in your hand, put and maintain a large drive-line angle on one U-Joint and s-l-o-w-l-y turn the shaft at a constant speed as you watch the speed changes of the driven end. You'll then see how the higher/lower speed changes occur. When the drive shaft U-Joints are phased and the drive-line has parallel tranny and FD shafts (the ParaLever design guarantees that!), the driven U-Joint exactly matches those speed changes in the opposite direction, effectively cancelling them out so input=output speeds are always identical.

In the case of the OilHeads, the drive-line is at such a small angle with a normal passenger/luggage load at cruising speed that an incorrectly phased drive shaft may not cause any noticeable roughness or vibration. Even at that very shallow drive-line angle, if you do not phase the U-Joints you will be unnecessarily stressing the drive shaft's 8 needle bearing sets and the downstream working FD components. Anyone that omits mentioning the need to phase the U-Joints either is not aware of it or assumes the person knows it is standard operating procedure.

Back on the title topic, be very careful you do not torque the pivot bearings too much. Once the "correct preload torque" is made, turning it tighter will distort the Aluminum castings or the frame with seemingly little extra effort on the wrench. Then the excess axial load will cause unnecessary wear and binding friction on the suspension travel.