kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Camel, Sahara, Kanguro, Coguaro
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dbd32
Posts: 17
Joined: 03 Dec 2013 22:23
Location: nelson lancs

kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by dbd32 »

Hi All
Trying to remove swinging arm from my Kangura x1. Removed the nuts from both sides, whats the next move?
The Blue Book dosn't seem to say anything about removal
Cheers dbd32
EVguru
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Re: kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by EVguru »

If it's like the roadsters, the pin unscrews from the frame.
Paul Compton
http://www.morini-mania.co.uk
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dbd32
Posts: 17
Joined: 03 Dec 2013 22:23
Location: nelson lancs

Re: kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by dbd32 »

I think the roadsters have the spindle protruding on the left hand side so that you can get a spanner on it. The kangura has a chrome cover on either side covering the spindle so no means of unscrewing it. Unless mine has been butchered
Any body else with any ideas?
dbd32
MickeyMoto
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Re: kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by MickeyMoto »

The X3 spindle screws in. Undo but, socket on and unscrew. X1 may be different if nuts on both sides. Has the spindle seized? Are there flats on the spindle for a spanner?
dbd32
Posts: 17
Joined: 03 Dec 2013 22:23
Location: nelson lancs

Re: kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by dbd32 »

had to cut spindle out with disc cutter. Bushes were knackered and seized.
Having new spindle made and oilite bushes fit, have also fit grease nipple in middle of swinging-arm
And yes the spindle does screw out, thread being on the right side so screws out from the left.
Cookie
Posts: 10
Joined: 27 Sep 2014 19:20
Location: York

Re: kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by Cookie »

Hi dbd32,
I've just aquired an X model which Im stripping for a fettle and repaint of the frame and swingarm. It looks to have same frame and swing arm as your X1 and also benefits from a seized spindle! The left hand nut came off but was very stiff all the way, I assumed it was a damaged thread but looking now was probably some kind of locking between pin and nut. How did you cut your pin out? I cant see how to do this without damaging the frame or arm.
Cookie.
julianharty
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Location: High Wycombe Area (Bucks)

Re: kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by julianharty »

An update 6 years on based on my long-running yet ultimately successful removal of the swinging arm from my Kanguro X (which I believe is sufficiently similar to an X1 for the rest of my comments to be relevant)

My swinging arm was also seized in. Firstly there are chrome coated plastic caps on either side of the frame that cover the swinging arm pivot. These can be gently removed, best clean them first to remove grit, grime, dirt that may make removal harder than necessary. I used GT85 to lubricate the caps before I removed them using a flat screwdriver blade and wiggling the caps by hand to reduce the strain on the surface I was levering.

If you've a standard pivot (and probably most replacements) then either size has an M22 nut on it. The one on the right side is intended to come undone, it's a locknut for the pivot which also screws at least 6 turns into the RHS of the frame. Undo and remove the RHS nut if you can. I used a 1.2" 'breaker bar' and a good quality 6-sided socket.

The nut on the left isn't supposed to come off entirely, it's supposed to have a couple of turns of movement AFAIK before being restrained by what seemed to be a peened-over end of the pivot shaft. In my case the peened-over end ended up being partly separated from the end of the pivot bolt with the repeated work I did to remove the pivot, I'm not sure what quality the end was before I started (I learned what to do as I did it, by experimentation and through reading posts here and online)... In my case the nut undid until it reached the peened end and then got stiffer (probably as it was trying to cut through the peened end) but didn't turn the pivot shaft. However, after some experimentation and serendipity I noticed that the pivot turned when I moved the swinging arm up and down (I'd removed the monoshock before I started all this).

So I ended up playing a complicated game of trying to turning the LH nut with the socket and breaker bar at the same time as I lifted the swinging arm (then they could move together) and then held the breaker-bar in place so it didn't move while I pushed the swinging arm down again (to try and get it to turn (i.e. pivot) around the pivot shaft). This worked a bit but wasn't very successful. I then did a couple of things, one was to drill a 5mm hole in the centre of the swinging arm and then tap the hole with an M6 tap to fit a grease nipple. I then pumped the swinging arm's guts full of grease, I saw hints of it come out of the LH bush area, but it didn't flow through much. I also welded the end of the RH nut (impatiently as it's not very deep and galvanised but I got bored of waiting for the M14 x 1.5mm pitch deep hex nuts I'd ordered). I fastened this onto the end of the RH of the pivot bolt and then used the breaker bar to turn this while I lifted and dropped the swinging arm. I also tried using a powered impact driver but that ended up ripping out the threads from the nut :(

For several days I spent an hour or so doing the same sort of exercise with the LH nut, undoing the LHS with the breaker bar and socket combination, while moving the swinging arm up. Quite often I'd need to reverse the process and tighten up that nut down onto the pivot bolt to do as much as I could to reduce the chance of totally destroying the peened lip that held the nut on the shaft.

After several days my 5 * M14 stainless steel deep nuts arrived, I managed to get all of the first one on the RH shaft (leaving about 1 turn available otherwise the following won't work) and then used a second one as a lock nut, however it only went on about 3 turns (it'd have been useful to also have some shallower M14 nuts for the lock nut exercise later). Once I'd pinched up the second nut (thankfully I didn't need to hold the first one in place as I wouldn't have been able to do so with any of my current tools) I then repeated the synchronised exercise with moving the breaker bar + M22 socket and the swinging arm up and down to suit.

After about 1 turn of the pivot bolt (since the locknut combination was enough to get the pivot bolt to turn albeit reluctantly), I then undid the locknut about 1 turn, undid the inner nut by about a turn and then nipped up the second nut (i.e. tightened the second nut against the first), and repeated the exercise. After several repeats of the turn, undo both, nip up, ... exercise I'd managed to get the shaft to turn through 3 - 4 revolutions, a positive step. The nuts I had were now too deep to use as a pair so I removed them from the RHS and returned to the same exercise using the breaker bar and socket on the LHS nut. Eventually after another few successful revolutions of the pivot bolt I ended up with the LH nut and shaft tightening markedly. It seems I'd run into a similar problem to that mentioned by Steve Brown in viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5871#p32436 where the LH thrust washer stopped the shaft from undoing any more (it turned with the pivot bolt). I used a pin punch (a 4mm diameter head ish) and a smallish hammer to tap repeatedly against the outside edge / lip of the thrust washer, then managed to turn the nut, pivot, swinging arm, etc. about 1/2 turn before it jammed up again. I used a combination of repeating the taps with the pin punch, spraying the moving parts with GT85, and the nut+pivot+swinging arm exercise many times until the pivot had eventually turned perhaps 15 revolutions. At this point things got a bit easier and I could undo the pivot using the put alone (tightening the nut back onto the shaft many times both during the previous stage and this stage to protect the peened lip which was nearly completely severed by now). Eventually the pivot bolt was completely undone from the thread on the RH on the frame. The pivot still didn't want to come out.

After yet more taps of the thrust washer and liberal use of GT85 I then used various lengths and widths of punch to get the pivot bolt most of the way out and finally used a very long screwdriver as that was all I had left that was long enough to finally push the pivot bolt out.

I hope these fairly detailed notes help people in a similar predicament. I'll sum up with what I believe where the main techniques that should help undo the pivot bolt.
  • Buy some M14 x 1.5mm pitch (assuming you have the same threads as I did) hexagonal nuts in 2 widths if you can, deep (around 11mm) and shallow (I'm guessing around 6mm)
  • Buy a grease nipple (generally M6 x 1mm AFAIK), fit it, and pump the pivot area full of grease. You might find spraying brake cleaner in first may help, ditto GT85 or your preferred spray lubricant before you fit the grease nipple (but after you've drilled the hole near the top of the centre of the swinging arm so the sprays can reach the inside area of the pivot).
  • Try the synchronised swinging arm + breaker bar undoing, the seizure may work in your favour and if they move in tandem then as the pivot turns it places sideways pressure which helps to free up the seizure.
  • Be persistent, try a combination of techniques, and very patient. I spent about 10 elapsed days getting my swinging arm free from my Kanguro


Of course, if you're successful then check and decide what to replace, repair, refurbish. I'm hoping I can recover the peened area through welding on a lip to the LHS of the pivot bolt. I've also bought thread restorer tools for M14 x 1.5 pitch (which is the same as some car wheel studs and nuts so there are special suitable tools available relatively inexpensively (£20 in 2020)). For this evening I've sprayed the pivot with GT85 after cleaning up my tools, the bike, floor, and pivot bolt. I'll check it properly tomorrow, likewise the bushes, etc. Now I can finally work on repairing the side stand pivot on my swinging arm (the joy of an X model...).
Cookie
Posts: 10
Joined: 27 Sep 2014 19:20
Location: York

Re: kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by Cookie »

Cant believe it was so long ago that I was struggling to get the swingarm out of my X.
I ended up cutting the shaft each side of the arm, there was no way it was coming out by unscrewing it. Got a mate to weld the nut onto the left hand side, 600mm breaker bar and the frame clamped on a bed plate, only managed to start forcing the frame apart, so resorted to a thin cutting disc. After cutting the rhs and removing the thrust washer, could pry the arm over enough to cut the lhs and remove the arm.
The ends came out of the frame with no problem but application of heat, a Big hammer and drift was required to remove the centre section of the shaft from the arm. The ‘problem’ was that the centre section between the bearings had corroded and swollen. Trying to remove this through the bearings just wedged it tighter.
I got a stainless steel shaft and bronze bushes from NLM for the rebuild.
Dennis.
julianharty
Posts: 478
Joined: 15 May 2016 16:34
Location: High Wycombe
Location: High Wycombe Area (Bucks)

Re: kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by julianharty »

Dennis,
Thank you for the details, your shaft was much more corroded than mine. Mine was relatively rust-free and the central area (which is a bit thinner than the bearing surfaces) was clean. I got off lightly :)

I did though need to use a long breaker bar, about 600mm and a use a top-quality early 1980's Japanese Kamasa 6-sided socket which doesn't slip or round nuts.

More importantly, are you still able to ride your Kanguro X? and do you (still) like it?

Ciao

Julian
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Ming
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Re: kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by Ming »

[quote="julianharty"]...More importantly, are you still able to ride your Kanguro X? and do you (still) like it?...[quote]
IMHO - the most comfortable and usable Morini, though I have not tried an Excalibur.
Cookie
Posts: 10
Joined: 27 Sep 2014 19:20
Location: York

Re: kangura x1 swinging arm removal

Post by Cookie »

Hi Julian,

Ahh well, you see, you cant rush some things. Although I've had the bike for 5 years, I only got it rideable late last year, MOT'd in November, was just about to start using it when we all got locked in. So I have only done about 30 miles on it :D :D

It had been sat outside under a tarp in the previous owners garden for about 10 years before I got it, so although the engine ran, the whole bike was in a pretty sorry state. The intention was to do a mechanical fettle, get it running and then come back to the aesthetics. In practice I kept getting stalled with problems and side tracked with other projects and busy at work, so it took a bit longer than planned. I will definitely be keeping it - hell it will free road tax in another 4 years!

Only riding impressions so far from pottering about the lanes locally testing things, are that the front drum brake is a comedy item and that maybe the full knobblies were a mistake. The brakes were seized when I got it with the shoes delaminated and some pretty heavy corrosion on the drums. They cleaned up OK but theres some pretty deep scoring on the front. It is improving with use, good enough to pass an MOT now, but I was looking to get a few more miles on it before deciding if anything needed to be done.

All the electrics also packed up on the way home from the MOT station. Turned out to be a fried Rectifier unit. It already has the 12V conversion so replaced the rectifier with a Boyer Powerbox which works a treat. I run it with a battery and saw on an earlier post you were looking for one - an AMP9023 from Allbatteries.co.uk is a 12V 2.2Ah that fits into the slot in the standard plastic tray and its only about £10 if it helps.

Cheers
Dennis
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