XT600e Swingarm play
 

Hello been trying to get the XT through its MOT for months now.

The main one the testers are wingeing about is the play in the swingarm (up and down) when the wheel is raised off the floor.

Things I have done is replaced the rear suspension linkage bearings which they suggested to me to do to make it pass.... not good enough when tested.

I have now replaced the shock with a 'wilbers' shock supplied by David Lambeth so those bearings are spot on...

There is still movement in the swingarm but ive now reduced the play from 20mm to 10mm.

Im pretty sure that this is just normal, or is there something im missing?
Does anyone else have this type of movement?

You could have gotten new bushings for the stock shock instead of buying a new one(if it's the same as the old ones). Have you checked the main pivot bearings on the swingarm up by the motor to make sure they are good? otherwise there isn't anything left . I'm so glad we don't have anything like that MOT , sounds like they give a few people the power to mess/screw up anybodies lives they want, usually not good. I can see the "dangerous equipment " stuff but it is up to the individual testers "opinion what is wrong ?

Mine has had about 10mm of play (up and down) for years, both during my ownership and my mates previously.

It usually gets advised (but this year it went through clean). It hasn't ever failed for that.

I would put yours in somewhere else now you have it down to 10mm.

Hi.. I'm an MOT tester. It is quite normal to have some up/down movement in the shock. 10mm does seem a lot though.. Have you changed the upper bush too ?? Its likely just the damper rod..The tester should be able to differentiate between linkage, swingarm and shock movement..

Sadly, some testers aren't even bike mechanics or are just needlessly difficult.

Even brand new bikes (eg tiger 800) has a lot of freeplay in their fork bushes from standard and a BMW rear wheel drive can safely have free play.

The point is, an MOT is 90% opinion of the tester. Find a good one with common sense.

Take it elsewhere and ask them to quickly check it before test.

I work near Chester.( are you close ?) I'll give you a ticket assuming the rest of the bike is okay..

Ted

Hey yeah I already purchased the shock and wasnt going to fit it, but wanted it through its MOT asap so I fitted it while I source and fit new bushings to the original shock.
I hadnt planned on fitting the wilbers until I next went away on the bike.

I have looked and there doesnt seem to be any movement from any of the bearings, but the only ones I havent replaced is the main swingarm bearings.

Im going to take it to another MOT place once I get my other parts through that I need to make it pass

Google tells me your 3 and a half hours ride away, bit too far for me but thanks for the offer.
In my opinion... although not a tester or a mechanic.... it seems perfectly safe and strong how it is and obviously when the wheel is on the floor you wont notice this 'play' at all.

Take it elsewhere... Someone with half a brain will pass it.

Pump everything full of grease just before going , wipe off any extra that squeezes out so it doesn't look obvious .

And wind the preload on the spring to max..

Oh aren't we a devious bunch, co-conspiritors all....bier :D:D

ssshhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!:innocent:

just replaced my swing arm bearings and bushes on 43f xt 600, they were totally mullered ! the one on the chain side of the arm literally fell apart when I pulled the pivot bolt out (they are needle roller bearings at the outer ends).

Check the pivot bolt as well as these run in steel bushes and if they have not been lubed regularly the bushes grind on the bolt so even if you put new bushes and bearings in, the bolt is worn and you get movement, although 10 mm of up and down play is not possible as the bolt would be worn down to the size of a toothpick !.

I had this on a 1981 xt 250 where even with new bushes it was all over the place and i finally tracked it down to the long pivot bolt being worn under size.
Spike Island Motorcycles near southampton are very sympathetic to older bikes.

Took it to another place today near my work, and they passed it with no advisories.

Once I had the pass certificate firmly in my hand, I asked about the play in the rear. He then jacked the bike up and checked it in front of me... where he said 'no problem there mate there will be some movement but this one is quite tight , maximum 5mm play there nothing to worry about'

I think I was just worrying due to this being the reason for a failiure before.

Thanks for all the help chaps did everything you said to do and it seems it has done the trick :)

Nice to see you got a good result.

And MOT with no advisories is, in fact, an excellent result. Well done. :thumbup1:

You can see how varied test results can be from tester to tester..

Some are SO strict it's unreal. They can only look at a rule book. I think they are covering their own arses which is fair enough or maybe just lack of experience.

When I did my MOT course, I think only half of the people there were actually bike mechanics or had much experience with bikes.

For them. Free play is free play. Black is black and white is white. That's not how I look at it.

You also get people who are having a shit day and just fail a vehicle for the sake of it. It can be a sadistic game too. Of course, you also get bad places who will fail something as they expect to get the resulting repair business.


An MOT is a basic safety test. It's standards are actually very low.

When you find a good tester, stick with them...

My thoughts exactly when I was on the phone to another biker buddy in the last place (after they failed me), my friend asked 'why dont you get them to do the work?', to which I replied making sure everyone could hear in the shop ' I would rather do the work myself as I wouldnt have to pay for the work and I know it will be a good job'.

Almost in a sarcastic tone as this was the second test I paid for with them and I had done everything they asked them to do, including waiting for very expensive bearings for nearly 2 months! As you can imagine I was very upset....

But you live and learn! Now happy my baby is back on the road (THUMP THUMP THUMP)

You know..You can phone Vosa. Especially now you have a valid MOT, they will refund you for your old failures (probably) and the testing station will maybe be reassessed.

Why is that? because I went to another station and they passed it?

You can contest an MOT easily. Even easier when you get it to pass elsewhere. I've never done it or had it done to me but I know it happens... Worth a phone call at least..

I've just had a similar experience to Rfothy, so thought I might share this as it may be of use to others.
2001 XT600 4PT, 25000 km recently failed a WOF (MOT) due to excessive swingarm vertical movement, which was about 10mm at the wheel end of the swingarm.
After checking with a lever under the rear wheel to locate the source of movement, I found the most movement coming from the Relay Arm centre pivot where it attaches through the swingarm, and a lesser amount of movement from the shock lower mount.
I removed the relay arm and with micrometer and dial verniers measured the-
1/ Relay arm centre bolt(which passes through the swingarm)- found no wear.
2/ Relay arm centre floating hardened solid bush(which the centre bolt passes through)- found no wear or ovality.
3/ Relay arm centre outer bushes(pressed into arm)- found no wear or ovality.

Bolt to floating solid bush clearance = 0.005"
Floating solid bush to outer bush clearance = 0.004" (0.1 mm)

So a total of 0.009" play which must be standard clearances.
So renewing the bolt, or either of the bushes is not going to solve the problem.

What I did was dot-punched the mid-section of the bolt where the solid bush is positioned multiple times to enlarge it and reduce the bolt to solid bush clearance of 0.005" down to approx 0.001"
The solid bush is extremely hard so should withstand the rough surface of the bolt.
Greased and reassembled. Swingarm vertical movement now down from 10mm to 5mm.

I then checked for the cause of the shock lower mount movement and found-
1/ The pin had no wear
2/ The relay arm top holes where the pin fits had no wear as the pin can't rotate.

There was some minimal movement approx 0.003" between the relay arm and the pin, which is a slide fit secured with a splitpin and can't rotate.
There was some minimal movement approx 0.003" between the pin and the shock lower bush which floats.

What I did here was to dot punch the top holes in the relay arm multiple times to reduce the diameter so the pin was a firm push fit.
Greased and reassembled. Swingarm vertical movement now down from 5mm to 2-3mm.
Rechecked WOF(MOT) and passed.:thumbup1:

Although the movement at the shock or relay arm bushes seemed minimal, it is exaggerated by a ratio of 1:6 due to the length of the swingarm.
There is no spec or wear tolerance in the shop manual, only swingarm "side" movement.
It would be good if we could provide written proof to an inspector as to what is acceptable.
I wonder how much vertical swingarm movement these bikes have when new?
since Rfothy has renewed all bushes and still has 10mm movement, and I had 10mm movement with unworn original bushes. :confused1:

Bob

I've checked brand new, out of the box bikes, of all makes and models and plenty of them have play. Its determining where the play is. If its a Bush or bearing then yes it can be an MOT problem. If its the shock then a qualified bike mechanic would know that play can be normal.

Like I said earlier, the problem is you have car garages and other non qualified people doing motorcycle MOT courses and not really capable..