I had to lever the swingarm out with a tire iron, it's a tight fit in the frame. Removing it was tricky but reasonably straightforward with the some leverage between the engine and the swingarm.
Undoing the top bolt on the shock was a bugger (it's in an awkward spot inside the frame) but small motions over and over again eventually got it loose. The Chilton manual says to remove the exhaust system entirely (which also means the oil cooler and radiator), but that seemed like a big faff. Adrian Molloy .com had some good advice: instead of taking half the bike apart just take the swingarm out with the rear shock attached then dismantle it off the bike. Not sure what Chilton's thinking was in removing half the motor to get the swingarm out, but removing the rear shock with it is a much more efficient approach.
Installing the swingarm was another bugger of a job. It's a tight fit and has thin washers that sit between the swingarm and the frame. They move around when you're trying to squeeze the swingarm into the frame and drive you around the bend. You can see them in that picture in the middle. Every time you squeeze the swingarm in it pushes the washers out of place. I put a 14mm socket in which holds them in place, but it's a finicky process that I just couldn't get right.
The lower bolt that holds the shock in place on the swingarm is always awkward as it lines up with the exhaust pipe (which is probably why Chilton wants you to remove the whole exhaust system along with the radiator and oil cooler necessitated by that). Since the rear shock just drops out with the swingarm that seems like a wrong headed way to do it, but what do I know? Once it's out the lower bolt for the shock is easy to access.
- front fork removal, cleanup and new fork oil
- reconditioned the fork gaiters (was going to replace them but reconditioning did the trick)
- triple tree removal, cleanup and regreasing
- swingarm removal
- rear shock cleanup and reconditioning
- cleanup and regreasing of swingarm pivot
Some advice on brake fluid: don't buy a big bottle as once you've opened it time is ticking because the stuff absorbs moisture. Just get what you need and no more. Keep it sealed when you're not using it and use it as quickly as you can. I'm about half way through a normal sized bottle of DOT4 having bled the front brakes. I should be able to bleed the rears on that one bottle and then not have the rest going off.
- install the newly rear tired rim on the swingarm
- finish the rear brake line install and bleed it (can't do that until the caliper's back on the disk)
- go over all the fasteners front and rear and make sure they're all torqued up right