Changing the swing arm to gearbox boot

[bakerlonglegs]

The swing arm to gearbox rubber boot on my 1981 R100 has split. It’s a two sided swing arm bike.

I’ve heard this is a bugger of a job to change! Please may I ask for the collective’s advice: Do I need to remove the swing arm to do it? I’ve done this once before on a G/S but it was part of a rebuild when I was reassembling so the swing arm was already off.

I did do a search through this section, apologies if this has been answered before and I missed it. My trusty Clymer manual only talks about it in the context of a swing arm removal and strip down.

Many thanks

 

[mikeyboy]

It’s not that bad,
I’d remove the swing arm as it’s a lot easier to get the boot and clip on correctly and straight

 

[cookie]

I use a wheel spoke with a 90º bend near one end to coax the boot on the gearbox where I can't reach.

 

[theoneandonly]

Snap-on Store

shop.snapon.com

 

[Steptoe]

It’s not that bad,
I’d remove the swing arm as it’s a lot easier to get the boot and clip on correctly and straight

I’ve always found that if leaving the swingarm in place it’s one of those “it either takes 2 minutes or 2 hours” jobs

Easier if the bike is off the stand and someone is sitting on it , preferably someone heavy

 

[Stirlingmoz]

I’m by no means an expert and had a recent failure doing this exact job.

Trying to tease the rubber gaiter on the bottom side of the gearbox I accidentally poked a hole in it. Worst possible place, that was bound to leak.

I bit the bullet and removed the swingarm to fit the gaiter onto it. I then removed the battery and battery bracket to improve access to the gearbox side.

I also removed the shock absorber so I could raise / level the swingarm. Same effect as getting someone to sit on it I guess.

This is quite a lot of work but made the job so much easier - and those gaiters aren’t cheap

 

[Gelandestrasse]

I did this job the other night on my R90S rebuild. You have to undo the 4 shaft bolts so the best access you give yourself the better. You need a special socket to undo the swing arm locknuts. If you can't do that you are into a bit of a squeeze. I've got such a socket so I always undo (not remove) the swingarm, put the rear jubilee clip back on first, making sure the gaiter is the right way round. Then put the swingarm back, pull the gaiter back so you can get the bolts in and work cross-ways with the bolts (ie one bolt then the one 180 degrees out, then the other 2). The gaiter I had was extra thick so I couldn't get my sausage fingers in so I used a magnet....