Hi all As part of my routine winter cleaning of the bike i discovered that the swingarm on my 749 has an alarming amount of free play up and down. when the bike is on the frame stand so the rear wheel is raised i noticed free play up and down by about 3-4 mm. there is small amounts of play in the tie rod ends between it and the bolt which is to be expected but quite a bit more at either end of the shock itself. Has anyone else experienced this and or rectified it. the shock seems to have a moveable piece in the centre of the 'eye' that sits inside a rubber housing that seems to be worn out. can this be replaced at all? any ideas welcome Paul
Hi Paul, when I had mine mot last year it failed on a leaking shock, cleaned it up and r- mot and all they mentioned that the shock had a lot of play in it. You could move the shock with your hand a good 2-4mm each side but the tie rods were tight with no play. I was concerned so a visit to eBay and I got a 2nd hand Showa one from America of a low mileage for £70. Fitted my self, took 2 hours. End result was much better, still a tiny bit of play 1-2mm each side but the ride difference was night and day. I think the bushes might be worn on yours but I don't think you can change them but I could be wrong.
Thanks for the reply, I do get some sideways play aswell, but I don't think that's a big deal, and you're probably right that the bushes are worn, I just don't like that they're not replaceable, maybe I should use this to get a nice new nitron shock
