Rear susp. linkage bolt removal Q's

[Jarvicious]

I've read and read up on this and it still eludes me.  Long story short, I have most of the rear end of the bike apart for the countershaft sprocket and the front end is non existent, so I figured I'd try my hand at raising the rear a touch.

It's pretty straight forward, or so it would seem.  The rear suspension is basically the swingarm connected to the shock, the shock linkage, and the rocker arm at the top.  The top connecting bolts for both the linkage rod and the shock are a pain in the ass to get to, but doable.  Even the right side lower bolt, the one that holds the bottom of the linkage and the shock to the swingarm, was easy.  The bane of my existence at the moment is the left side (see picture).  The right side bolt (labeled 17 in the manual) once removed frees up the shock, but the left side bolt (labeled 18 in the manual) holds in the linkage bar and 18 will not budge, but I'm not sure why. 

The right side hole in the swingarm was just a rubber grommet, but the left side (picture) is kind of a hard plastic cap that appears to be attatched to the 18 bolt.  Won't budge.  Suggestions?

The front is in a chock and the rear is hiked up with a jack to alleviate stress.  The right side bolt slid out fairly easily, but I don't want to go bashing on the other bolt from inside the swingarm when there's a c clip or something else I don't know about.  I tried to raise the linkage up a thread or two while it was still on the bike, but both ends are locked up solid, so I'm gonna have to get it out and hit it with some major PB action. 

As always, any help is much appreciated  .

[junior varsity]

You may need to replace the thing entirely as some of them seize and don't unseize. A pregnant dog, indeed. (but an opportunity for some billet)

Don't know about the plastic thing you are describing, sorry - its not present on my SSS bike (the 748).

[Jarvicious]

That's kind of what I was afraid of.  The bushings that sit inside the ball joints on the linkage rod are aluminum while the pivot bolts themselves are steel.  You wouldn't think, being a part that moves frequently, they'd have the opportunity to seize, but you never know.

Unfortunately there will be no billet opportunities.  At the very least I'm sure I can just get a new ball joint for end of the linkage rod.Since the left hand pivot bolt is female (I'm assuming.  The right hand bolt is male) I'm half tempted to get a good length screwdriver in there and pound the hell out of it.  That is, if no one else has any recommendations    

On that note, I'm putting down the wrench and going to the store before I do something stupid.

[Speeddog]

In the picture below, the 'right hand bolt' is #11.
What you refer to as the 'left hand bolt' is #12, but it's not a bolt, just a plastic piece with a threaded metal end to accept #11.
It's the black plastic piece shown in your pic.
 
Once #11 is removed, the only thing keeping the pushrod heim joint in the swingarm would be crud and corrosion.

You can thread #11 into #12 a few turns, and give it a light tap to knock it back a bit to free up the pushrod heim joint.
That also helps a lot for reassembly.
Put your finger on the end of #12 before you tap on #11, and only knock it back a very small amount, 1/16" is *plenty*.

If you're using a short allen socket, tape it onto the extension, so you don't inadvertently remove it when pulling it out.

[S2daRk]

Make sure the rear suspension is truly unloaded. When it's unloaded, it should be fairly easy to push it out from the inside as Speeddog instructed. If the rear wheel is up in the air, it's not unloaded.

Edit: #12 does not go through the height adjusting rod as I originally thought.

[Jarvicious]

Your bolt numbers differ from mine.  I may have the wrong year manual, but the schematic looks the same.  Yes, the rear wheel is truly unloaded.  When #11 is removed (which it was very easy to remove) the shock just hangs from the rocker arm assembly.  and the top heim joint on the linkage rod is already loose, so the swingarm just sits there on the bench. 

So that black plastic piece (in my pic) screws out?  I'm assuming normal threading?  Hopefully that's all that's holding it, and not a bunch of corrosion.  I thought about threading 11 into 12 a touch, but I didn't know how much corrosion (if any) there was and I didn't want to jack up the threads on either bolt. 

Edit... The black plastic cap on the left side is just a cap for bolt #12, and it's not threaded?  There's no real way unscrew that cap, so I'm assuming I'm just gonna have to soak it in penetrating oil and try and knock it out from the right side, via bolt #11.  Since (I'm assuming) 12 is hollow with female threading, could I put a screwdriver or anything smaller than bolt #11 in there instead of using 11 and possibly stripping the threads?

[Speeddog]

You could well have the proper year parts manual, but I don't know what year bike you have, so I just picked the first SSS one.

Install bolt #11, get it just snug.

Install Bolts #7 and #5, finger tight is fine.

At this point, the rear wheel should be off the ground, and the bike should be supported from the engine or skyhook or whatever...

Loosen bolt #11 one turn, and then whack it with a hammer on the end of the extension or allen driver or punch...

That should push the plastic head of #12 about a millemeter proud of the swingarm surface.

Lift up a bit on the swingarm, and unscrew bolt #11.

Let go of the swingarm, and it's weight should pull it off of the shock and pushrod.

[Jarvicious]

Got it.  I was under the impression that 12 went all the way through the linkage assy and that 11 went through the shock and met half way. 

Bolt 12 (for anyone else that's interested/frustrated) only comes up flush with the very very edge of the bushing that runs throught the heim joint.  If you look at the pic, that female threaded part is the very end of 12.  I guess the bottom part of the linkage rod was just stuck, becasue I yanked on it quite a bit. 

Now to let the ends soak.  I got the standard threaded lock nut (#17) loose, but I'm waiting for the other end to come loose (#14).  I double checked and it is reverse threaded, but boy is it stuck. 

Question Part 2:  I know the linkage to height adjustment isn't isn't a 1:1 ratio, how much distance on the linkage rod will add how much height to the rear end?  I didn't measure before hand, but I was only planning on raising the rear up maybe a half an inch.  Plus, once the damn lock nuts were unsiezed I didn't think it would be too terribly tough to raise it more once the rear end is back together. 

Thanks for all your help fellas.  I was about to break out the BFH and ruin something.   

[S2daRk]

Got it.  I was under the impression that 12 went all the way through the linkage assy and that 11 went through the shock and met half way. 

Me too! That's why I said to make sure it's unloaded. So basically, removing #12 isn't needed to remove the height adjusting rod...good to know!

[Speeddog]

At fully extended, the ratio is about 3:1, so a little less than 3/16" longer on the pushrod will get you about 1/2" at the wheel.
Measure the pushrod length now, before you get the locknuts and heims loose.....

Before you tighten all 3 bolts (#5, #7, and #11) at assembly, have the rear wheel supporting at least some of the bike weight, so it takes out all of the slop (between the bolts/heim joints/rockers/shock) in the correct direction.

[Jarvicious]

Man, I can't thank you enough, Speeddog. 

A note in case someone else is thinking about doing this: take your time and let the lock nuts soak.  It took a wrench on either side of the linkage rod and two full grown men to get the left hand thread lock nut loose.  My hand hurts

I didn't measure the linkage rod before I loosened the heim joints because, well, that's just how I roll.  As I've heard some say, it was about as short as it could possibly get from the factory, unless the original owner moved it some (doubful, these things were locked up good).  1/2" was just an estimate, and even as tall as I am I know I don't want to raise the rear end that much just for comfort's sake. 

[S2daRk]

FYI, factory svc manual states 261 mm between the centers of the ball joints - S2R800