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.
What finally did work was loosening the engine mount nut below the swingarm that holds the frame so tight to the swingarm. Loosen that off and you can install the big through bolt into the the left side of the frame with that side's washer in place and then thread it through the swingarm. Once the engine mount bolt is loosened off you can the slide the wash in on the other side and then finish pushing the big swingarm retaining bolt though before tightening everything up again. Needless to say, I greased the hell out of all that too.
There might be a way to install the swingarm with those fussy washers another way, but it was beyond me and I was running out of expletives. Loosening off the engine bolt is a top tip for swingarm installation.
I'd also recommend you do the swingarm service if you haven't as mine was essentially seized on one side even though it was in good shape otherwise. I think the bike's going to feel much more responsive as a result thanks to all the chassis lubrication and maintenance I've been doing this winter. Below is what that engine mount nut looks like (above the exhaust and under the swingarm). Loosen that off and the swingarm installation is straightforward.
Everything is moving freely and easily back on the bike. My weekend's up but I'm hoping I can get the back wheel on this week and finalize all the bits and pieces on both the front and back ends. That'll end the chassis maintenance portion of our program which included:
- 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
When you've got the front end out installing the brake lines is easy. Same with the back end, so why not do it while access is easy? The brake fluid was due a change anyway as I last did it in 2017, so the lines weren't that expensive because the bike would have been getting new DOT4 fluid anyway.
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.
To dos this week include:
- 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
Once the chassis is sorted out I'll turn to the engine and go over the fuel injectors. I think I can ultrasonically clean them in my new cleaner. This isn't my first rodeo with the fuel system (it had issues last summer), so I'm hoping a deep service in the cold of a Canadian winter means my too-short riding season will be spent riding instead of swearing at faulty fuel injection in 2021. No intermittent stalling this year!
