Re-fitting swingarm to the Falco

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#1 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sat Dec 12, 2015 5:38 pm

Ad some of you may recall, I had the misfortune to ride through an acid spill in France earlier this year which made quite a mess of a number of components. One part which suffered was the swingarm - it was left looking blotchy and discoloured over a large part of the surface. I've just received the swingarm and exhaust system back from the polishers and they're looking as good as new - in fact probably better than new. Which is nice...

When I came to re-fit the swingarm I suffered a moment of brain fade as to the correct sequence and torque values to apply, and having consulted the manual I'm still not a lot the wiser. I'm almost certainly over-thinking this, but what torque value should I be using when bolting up the inner 14mm hex pin to the RH side of the bike? The manual mentions 2 torque values, 60 Nm and 12 Nm. Am I right in thinking that the inner 14mm hex socket torque is 60mm and the outer (castellated) fixing that accepts a Shimano tool is the one that should be torqued up to 12Nm?

My only concern is that using a 60NM value on the hex inner will load the ball races up too much. The manual seems to indicate that this is what you should do, but I'd like confirmation.

Thanks in advance....

blinkey501 · #2 Post by **blinkey501** » Sat Dec 12, 2015 6:10 pm

mangocrazy wrote:Ad some of you may recall, I had the misfortune to ride through an acid spill in France earlier this year which made quite a mess of a number of components. One part which suffered was the swingarm - it was left looking blotchy and discoloured over a large part of the surface. I've just received the swingarm and exhaust system back from the polishers and they're looking as good as new - in fact probably better than new. Which is nice...

When I came to re-fit the swingarm I suffered a moment of brain fade as to the correct sequence and torque values to apply, and having consulted the manual I'm still not a lot the wiser. I'm almost certainly over-thinking this, but what torque value should I be using when bolting up the inner 14mm hex pin to the RH side of the bike? The manual mentions 2 torque values, 60 Nm and 12 Nm. Am I right in thinking that the inner 14mm hex socket torque is 60mm and the outer (castellated) fixing that accepts a Shimano tool is the one that should be torqued up to 12Nm?

My only concern is that using a 60NM value on the hex inner will load the ball races up too much. The manual seems to indicate that this is what you should do, but I'd like confirmation.

Thanks in advance....

Never used a torque wrench mate.

I move the arm side to side and tighten the 14mm hex until it feels right?

#3 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:24 am

OK _ I've had this debate on other forums about using a torque wrench or doing it by 'feel' and don't feel inclined to have it again here.

Let me put it this way. Do you tighten the 14mm hex on the RH side of the swingarm pivot pin and the large nut on the LH side of the swingarm pivot pin to a significantly higher value than the castellated nut on the LH side? Like about 5 times more perhaps? Or do you use a different tightening torque on one side compared to the other?

D-Rider · #4 Post by **D-Rider** » Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:30 am

I've not replied yet as it's so long ago that I really can't remember what I did.
I will have done it according to the manual but will need to read through it.
I'll try to find a moment to do so .... though Griff will probably know off the top of his head.

As for torque wrenches, for me it depends what for. Just "doing things up" tends to be by feel but if something critical or applying a designed load, the torque wrench gets pressed in to use.
Horses for courses.

#5 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:39 am

Cheers, Andy. The annoying this is I've done the same thing 4 or 5 times at least and never had cause for doubt until now. To my mind the manual isn't entirely clear, but that could easily be down to the person reading it. Ahem.

And agree with the torque wrench thing. I don't believe Aprilia would go to all that bother of providing torque values if they didn't intend them to be used.

blinkey501 · #6 Post by **blinkey501** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 3:44 pm

Always done it by feel Graham. Besides it will be held in place after words with the locking nut. There doesn't want to be too much side pressure on the swing arm bearings. It needs to be tight enough to prevent side movement.

blinkey501 · #7 Post by **blinkey501** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 8:53 pm

Called round to see you earlier?

#8 Post by **mangocrazy** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:00 pm

Cheers, Jay. I figured exactly the same thing - you don't want to be putting undue side loads on the inner bearing race, so I just tightened the RH side (M14 hex) to light tension, torqued the LH side nut to 60Nm and then locked the RH side up with the castellated lock nut. There's no sideways movement and the swing arm moves nice and freely through its arc.

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Re-fitting swingarm to the Falco

Re-fitting swingarm to the Falco

Re: Re-fitting swingarm to the Falco