Rust inside swingarm

[heavyd]

We had a few nice days here mid-winter and got that spring time itch going. Pulled out the Valkyrie I bought late last summer when I bent a valve in my first Valkyrie. I did 0 maintenance on it last summer beyond putting gas in, so I thought I should pull the rear end to check on things. I thought I felt some u-joint vibration last year and it is starting to go as I expected so I ordered a new one and I will throw this one in the spare parts box. All of the gears had lots of grease, and teeth look good but I found a lot of rust inside the swingarm and on the outside of the pinion cup. The ujoint boot was inplace and appears to be in good condition so I don't know for sure how the water got in there unless the boot was out of place at some point previously. The bike has 46k miles on it, 97 Standard. If I clean up the rust and oil everything, should I expect any future issues?

I'll have to attach the pictures when I get home, work computer won't let me attach them, stupid Internet Explorer.

[Glenn-B]

Here in England Valk swing arms are prone to rotting out completely. The easiest fix is to buy a replacement from some one like Pinwall in the USA. They're cheap enough because rust isn't a problem in dry states. I personally refurbed my swing arm a couple of years ago. I removed the damper plates and drilled a hole in the box section to get the rivets out. Had it sand blasted then painted it. I then sloshed around some thinned down anti rust cavity wax in the box section. My mate made me some new damper plates out of stainless. Re-greased the bearings. Job done and looking smart    

[hubcapsc]

Here's a cool and relevant thread:

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,74406.0.html

-Mike

[h13man]

Here's a cool and relevant thread:

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,74406.0.html

-Mike

Thanks for the posting. Filed away into the manual!

[heavyd]

Thanks hubcapsc, I had seen that before, but it didn't come up in my search so i kind of forgot about it. I will investigate those drain holes the next time I am out there.

Based on what you can see, any reason it should cause further issues if I clean up the rust a spray it down with fluid film?

[heavyd]

On a seperate issue, without starting a new thread, this bike doesn't have any nut cages. The square nuts are welded to the inside of the fender. This bike is originally from NY I believe, would that be why it is different from my Canadian bike?

[Hook#3287]

I can't see your pics, did you use a third party host site?

The rear fender bolts must have been tacked in place, most likely by a PO that got tired of installing them. They can be a challenge. 

The cages were probably removed for a C/T at the same time.

[98valk]

another thread, very bad rusted SA
http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,64832.0.html

[heavyd]

I found what I believe are the drain holes referenced in the other threads and they don't appear to be plugged. At this point I'm kind of working under the assumption that at some previous time the boot was not on properly. I used a wire wheel to clean out as much rust as possible and hosed the inside down with fluid film. Unless anyone has further input I'm planning to stick it back together and check it again in 10k km.

Also, I realized that I was looking at the wrong half of the fender. The nut cages are on the part that I had removed and set in the corner before I took the tire off.

[Bagger John - #3785]

When you get the interior cleaned up, spray the heck out of it with Boeshield. Weigle's Frame Saver is another good choice.

Both are meant for protecting the inside of things like bicycle and aircraft frames from rust and corrosion.