twisted frame/swingarm saga??

fullthrottle

fullthrottle

New member
Heres the story of my 06 ec 250 feedback needed :eek:

i was never convinced the bike was straight from factory but left it too long to do anything about it, I have already had to change one swingarm $600about 2yrs ago as it was twisted how i could manage that at 68kg i dont know, when i look at bike from the back from dealer i wasnt 100% satisfied the bike was straight (besides the subframe i know thats twisted) :) now im not sure weather this swing arm is twisted now too or im thinking the frame may be twisted also when looking at it from behind.
when i ride if i take my hands off the bars it pulls to one side to the point i just about have to sit off the side of the seat to go straight.
so what should i do i not really on talking terms anymore with the only dealer in my state is there a way that i can measure the frame to find out wats going on

any ideas would be good as i just keep riding it like this if i cant work it out my self hopefully not looking at a new frame:eek:

thanks
 
Stand your bike up straight, have some one hold it. Draw a line on the floor on both sides of the front tire and rear tire. Roll the bike away and see if they are in line with each other. You will have to extend the lines and also account for the width of each tire. They should be pointing in the same direction, from your description is sounds like one of them is pointing to the moon.

Have you checked to see that your front forks are set the same. (dampening and rebound)?
 
Perhaps the swingarm is as it's suposed to be and that, to you, it looks odd. You then set your rear wheel the way you did with previous bikes, and this leads to your wheels being out of alignment, thus the pulling to one side.

Unless you had a massive off, I don't see how you could bend your swingarm.
 
I'd be very surprised if the swingarm is twisted and astonished if 2 were. Maybe one might just conceivably be drilled slightly skew for the wheel spindle or pivot. You can always take it off and lay it on a flat surface to check. The frame is more likely if anything especially as you've changed swingarms. You'd need a frame specialist who can put it on a jig to be sure but taking the rear wheel off and looking ought to give you a clue. If you measure it you'll have to be very careful - chalking lines on the floor by the wheels strikes me as very difficult to do with the required accuracy.
 
He is about 1200 km's,(Adelaide).
Do you know of anyone decent closer to Adelaide?
Cheers Mark
 
einsteingarage said:
Have you checked to see that your front forks are set the same. (dampening and rebound)?
Click to expand...

clickers are set the same

i cant see how i bent the swingarm either but i have a bent swingarm here if anyone want to have a go a straighting it :)

ill measure the distance from swingarm bot tho alex bolt to make sure they are the same

if you were to look at the bike from behing the wheel looks like it is on an angle like this..... \ and the swingarm i have that is bent is the same.


i wonder if the frame is bent and in turn i keeps twisting the s/arm :confused: also when i had the 1st swingarm changed they said my swingarm bolt was slightly bent and they straightened it could that be contributing??

i saw that frames are about $1600 US scary:eek: :eek: hopefully i dont have to go down that road or i might be parting it out

thanks alot for the replys keep em coming

Mick
 
Hey Mick,
I would ring a few bike shops or talk to a couple of bike clubs..... someone somewhere in Adelaide must be able to check. Even ring a car chassis straightener and ask about bikes and who to use.
Good time to pull it apart , rebuild what needs to be done and check the frame at the same time , ready for next year????
Yours is not like mine is it as mine just has a little bend in the rear subframe?
Did you end up going to the endurocross?, it was bloody awesome fun mate?
Catch up later mate,
Mark
 
I'm amazed you have a bent swingarm - thought it would break before bending.

You aren't running the chain too tight? - although I would expect something else to break if it was that tight, like the chain itself. It should be looser, in my opinion, than the manual states.

I can only think the most likely explanation is something isn't aligned and when the bike is used it slowly bends. The thing is making sure you identify the root cause before changing something. Have you checked the swingarm mounts through the engines case and frame? Stick a long rod through - doesn't matter if much thinner than the pivot as the bottom of the holes should all align.
 
Yes, please let us see some photos. I spent quite some time in my garage yesterday staring at my ec300 rear ( trying to visualise what could be wrong with yours )
 
dudenstumpy said:
Yes, please let us see some photos. I spent quite some time in my garage yesterday staring at my ec300 rear ( trying to visualise what could be wrong with yours )
Click to expand...

ok ill get some photos over the week end , i have a feeling that the frame must be twisted but its hard to tell by eye and being that my subframe has had a hard life and isnt quite straight isnt helpin the situation
thanks for the intrest
 
ok sorry for the delay..... ive been busy here are some pics its hard to tell wats going on it looks more like a pretzle
gg006.jpg

gg005.jpg

gg004.jpg

gg003.jpg



its the swingarm / frame im worried about, ive got another subframe to put on but dont see the point atm
 
Here is where I would start...

1) Set the rear wheel vertical with a level, then check to see if your front wheel is vertical. From your pics it looks like the forks may be close to vertically aligned with the rear wheel.

2) run strings or straight boards the length of the bike along the outside edges of the tires and see if the front and rear tires are in the same track when parallel.

If both of those check good, then I would look at the subframe.
 
The photos look pretty inconclusive. It looks wonky but as you say probably just the subframe which is normal after a bit of crashing. I think as said it's a case of carefully measuring everything and checking for play anywhere there can be play.
 
it does look a bit funky ......
pull the subframe off and then take a pic
without the suframe, fender, seat, exhaust pipe in the pic any issues with the frame would be more obvious
 
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