'73 Suzuki GT250 - Part 5 - '79-80 RM/PE 250 swingarm swap

Here's first part of fitting '79 RM 250 swingarm to my '73 GT250, which at the end was a pretty easy task. Hardest part was to find all the necessary bushings for it since I didn't want to lathe them myself. I started by ordering a pair of new old stock swingarm pivot bushings (61261-40402) from eBay, which I knew I was going to need. 

Pair of Suzuki swingarm pivot bushings (61261-40402).

Next step was to find proper bushings inside the pivot bushings and bearings. After a bit of googling I came across a Kymco scooter speed up kit made by Naraku (NK800.04). Since I knew I needed bushings with 14 mm inner diameter and 20 mm outer diameter, that kit seemed like a perfect match and I ended  up ordering a pair of them. They are approximately 38 mm long (37.94 mm to be exact) so I needed a spacer which would keep them a part. I ended up lathing 113 mm long spacer out of 19 x 1.50 mm steel pipe.

Pair of Naraku Speed Up kits (14 x 20 x 38 mm) for Kymco
(NK800.04).

Lathed spacer (19 x 1.50 x 113 mm).

Once I knew how long all the bushings were I could order proper sized needle roller bearings from eBay. I decided to go with IKO TA2025Z, which are 20 x 27 x 25 mm and have open ends.

(3) Pair of IKO TA2025Z needle roller bearings with open ends
(20 x 27 x 25 mm).

Stock GT250 swingarm axle and all the new parts.

Test fitting.

I had to narrow the swingarm a bit so it would fit better with the frame and bushings. I took a bit of material out of both sides of the swingarm with a file and a sanding block. I also made the swingarm a bit narrower than the inner bushings. With a bit of clearance the swingarm swings smoothly once the swingarm axle is tightened. 

In the second part of the swingarm installation I will cover how to fit rear shock absorbers and modify their upper mounting points. But before that I have to refurbish front forks and fit them to the bike. By doing so I can check the stance and figure out how long rear shocks I need to order.

'73 Suzuki GT250 - Part 4 - Removal of broken swingarm bearings/bushings

I might have teased you in my last post that I was going to show how I fitted that aluminum '79-80 Suzuki RM250 swingarm to my '73 GT250K. But before we do so I wanted to write a little post on how to easily remove old swingarm bearings/bushings with simple tools, which you can find from almost every garage. 

Here's a little backstory about the swingarm. A while ago I bought a swingarm from '80s RM/PE250 through a want to buy add, which I had written to one Finnish classic motocross forum. It didn't take long to receive an answer for my it. Seller of this swingarm was from southern Finland which meant that I had to purchase it without seen it first. He send me a few pictures of it but nothing too detailed. Once I received the shipment I noticed that it had broken bearings or some sort of bushings inside the bearing housings. For a while I had to figure out how to get them out of there. In the end the solution was pretty simple.

'79-80 Suzuki RM/PE 250 swingarm

Broken swingarm bearing/bushing.

Bearing housings in this swingarm have 27 mm diameter. This meant that I could use M8 fender washers (24 mm outer diameter) to pull both of the bearings/bushings out. I had to grind few of the washers to make them narrower. This helped to slide them through one of the bearings/bushings and set them behind one of them. After that was accomplished it was easy to pull bearings out with a long M8 bolt and 27 mm socket.

Long M8 bolt, nut and fender washers.

Narrowing few of the washers helps to slide them through 

bearings and inside the bearing housing. Use them to get the 

first bearing out of the way.

27 mm and 13 mm sockets, small ratchet and open/ring spanner.

DIY puller.

Ready to pull.

Bearing almost out.

Job done.

Broken bearings/bushings out of the way.