| Author | Message | ||
     S1w222 |
Finally have a bit of time in the shipyard near ny bike and want to get some long over due jobs done, any helpful advice much appreciated: Swing Arm Swap: I have an X1 swingarm along with rear axle and adjusted, I believe I now have everything I need to do the swap, is this a job that can be attempted with a small portable type lift? Does anyone have a step by step guide on how to approach this? Recalls: I have heard that there are a bunch of recalls that the S1W had, what should i look for to tell if these have been done already? Header repair: I currently have 2 x 2.5" headers that need a repair, one is a simple patch over the forward mounting tab area (I've been advised to just patch over and not try to refit the tab, thoughts?), the other header is snapped clean in two at the collector, other than that the pipes are in good shape. What is the best way to attempt a fix on the snapped one? Remove current pipe (KT), fit broken pipe and get a welder to spot weld in place then remove once its solid for a decent repair weld to be done? Sleeve it? Also bike has 26,000 on it now, I've been changing the oil and filter reguarly but other than that haven't done much, anything I should do while I'm working at it? Thanks Sam  | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Clean looking bike! love that style of shifter. I wouldn't worry about replacing that front tab on the header. Mine is still intact but I quit attaching it to my engine. The bracket that connects the 2 is a joke, so I didn't really see a point. I think you should still be able to get your VIN number to a dealership to see if all of the recalls have been taken care of. You could try checking with Lance at St. Paul HD/Buell. Some other stuff you'll just have to check yourself. You'll have to pull the primary cover to see if you have the newer primary chain tensioner and if the clutch grenade plate was removed. The oil pump needs to be removed so you can look in there and check out your oil pump drive gear to see if yours is in good shape, or to see if it was replaced with the updated version. That's a good job for next time you change your oil, it only takes a couple minutes after you've already got it drained. Sounds like you've got what you need for the swingarm. Does your bike have the newer isolators? You can swap the swingarm onto the old ones, but if yours are due for replacement, that's a really good time to do it. What type of lift do you have? You'll want something that can lift up the bike by the frame, and then something to support the engine from below. I've seen it done plenty of different ways. I used ratchet straps up to a beam in my garage and lifted it by the subframe. I put a mini scissor lift under the back of the engine. At that point you can remove the swingarm, and still have the ability to move the frame and engine independently when you need to start trying to align things when you bolt it back together. It'll make life easier if you have a way to stabilize the front end, wheel chock if you have one, if not I feel like you could make some kind of rectangle out of 2x4s that go under your front wheel and run some straps from it to the bottom triple clamps just to keep the bike from rocking. I had mine on a normal front end stand that lifts the bike by the bottom of the fork legs, worked ok. I've seen people lift the back of the bike by putting a ladder over it and using ratchet straps, an engine hoist... pretty sure there's a picture of someone on this forum of a guy who used straps and a tree to get his bike out of his truck. Plenty of options haha. Can't remember if I found a walk through online. I think I just followed the service manual instructions for removing the swingarm. Do you have the newer swingarm mounting block? You can use the one on yours, you just need to spend a little time with a grinder to knock down the old swingarm stop. I know there's pictures of that on the forum somewhere. I started sanding mine, but it was taking a while so I ended up just throwing on the new one that came with my swingarm. It was a bit of a project to figure out how to get the right wrenches in to the right spots at the right angles, but I finally figured it out. One tip though, check the bearing adjuster cups(the parts the isolators bolt to) before you get the bike all put together. The ones that came with my new swingarm were a little chewed up, and it turned into a serious project trying to clean those out with a tap after I had the new swingarm back on the bike. If I had checked them before they were on the bike it would've been a 2 minute job. | ||
| 34nineteen |
You could try checking with Lance at St. Paul HD/Buell. I dont think he is there anymore. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
That's horrible news. He was beyond helpful when I needed a little information on updating my shift detent. He also talked me into a bunch of other stuff while I was at it, so it was expensive information haha, but what can you do. | ||
| Ceigenberger |
Nhtsa.gov. You can run the vin on any vehicle to check recalls. Getting them performed however is a different story..... | ||
| Falloutnl |
"Getting them performed however is a different story....." Haha, bet it's a bit like pulling teeth at this point. | ||
| 99cyclone |
The swingarm would just be an aesthetics or personal preference thing. You'll never notice any difference in stiffness or weight. I own bikes with both swingarm designs and can't feel a difference. (Message edited by 99cyclone on February 23, 2021) | ||
| Falloutnl |
"You'll never notice any difference in stiffness or weight. I own bikes with both swingarm designs and can't feel a difference." Time to push those bikes harder :P I'm kidding, but I do notice a pretty big difference between my X1 and S1. Have an X1 swing lined up for the S1 to see if it adds some stability. Will report back once the swap is done. I am actually convinced it will make a difference. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
I've heard people say they noticed a difference, but I personally never have, outside of it's visual appearance(which was definitely worth it). Curious how much of the difference with the X1 is the swingarm, and how much is frame differences like the extra bar welded into the left side and the extra tie bar up front. Someday when I repaint my frame I planned to have that bar welded into mine. At the same time I can admit I'm horrible at keeping up with my tire pressure, never adjusted my rear shock when I got the bike because I heard those old shocks are prone to start leaking if you start adjusting stuff so I was afraid to touch it, so I'm not one to notice subtle differences. | ||
| 34nineteen |
^^^ this guy has me convinced to do the X1 swingarm swap as well. I need to get off my lazy butt and get on it!  Someday when I repaint my frame I planned to have that bar welded into mine. Which bar are you referring to? | ||
| Upthemaiden |
The bar I'm talking about is the one on the left side of the frame, that people replicate with those Banke frame braces. It's entire purpose is to hold one end of the tie rod that mounts on the front of the engine, but supposedly stiffening it up does help. The Banke braces are a little bulky for me. I've always really liked the Westek braces, but they're super hard to come by.   | ||
| Falloutnl |
On the subject of swing arm swaps: does anyone have a simple trick to get to the 'top left' bolt that fixes that mounting block to the engine? I would like to swap out the S1 block for an X1 block to save myself the trouble of grinding out that additional space on the bottom of the mounting block. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Removing those bolts was the biggest pain of the process. I never found a trick to it, you just have to keep trying different sides and directions of your wrenches till you manage to get a good enough angle. I didn't use anything aside from a box wrench and a socket/ratchet, but it was certainly a puzzle. A lot of people also talked about the process being easier if you just lifted the frame up and off of the engine high enough to pull the isolators and put in the new ones, which I assume would also help with replacing those bolts. My S1 has the header that goes over the frame though, so I could only lift it 1/4-1/2" or so before the frame was touching the headers, and I wasn't willing to risk snapping a header bolt to remove it. That is a potential option though. | ||
| Falloutnl |
Gotcha, thanks. Yeah I ordered one of those spanners that is also a ratchet to see if I can get that to fit. I'll make another thread when I get started, to share some pictures. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
I know I originally planned on grinding down the mounting block, but just wasn't getting very far very fast. I forget what I was using, probably a die grinder or a Dremel. I'm sure something like an angle grinder with a flap disk might've sped things up, but I had the spare so I just ended up swapping it. Whether or not that was actually easier, I don't really know. Good luck with it. | ||
| Falloutnl |
Thank you, appreciate it  | ||
| 34nineteen |
Removing those bolts was the biggest pain of the process. I never found a trick to it, you just have to keep trying different sides and directions of your wrenches till you manage to get a good enough angle. I didn't use anything aside from a box wrench and a socket/ratchet, but it was certainly a puzzle. This ^^^ It wasnt that difficult for me, as I actually just pulled the motor out of mine. Like UTM said, its just a bit of a puzzle jockeying wrenches and sockets around for each of the 4 locations. (Message edited by 34nineteen on February 26, 2021) | ||
| Upthemaiden |
maybe keep a piece of paper and pencil handy so you can make a not of how you got each in there, so you don't have to figure it out a 2nd time when you reassemble. | ||
| S1w222 |
I got slammed at work and only just had time to catch up on these posts, thanks so much for all the useful information guys and for taking the time to post, I'll let you know how I get on | ||
| Falloutnl |
We got that bolt out. That ratchet spanner I bought sort of did the trick. Though we did try a couple of different 5/8 wrenches to find one that had the correct angle on its 'teeth' to make the very first (partial) turn. It wasn't on too tight though, that's probably why it worked at all. We'll have to find a way to tighten it up properly once the X1 mounting block is on. | ||
| Jayvee |
I really like those ratcheting box ends. There's a couple of places they are just ideal, like the gas tank rear bolt comes to mind. I wound up buying the whole set from Craftsman, of course had to get both metric and SAE for the M2. | ||
| Roderick |
Does the engine needs to be supported when installing a front frame brace? Roderick | ||
| Gusm2 |
If you mean the one that bolts to the front cylinder head then yes, if it's the missing spar from a pre 99 frame then probably not |
