You just have to smile….rear wheel / Cush drive inspection

[Zanderk]

So I’ve got as far as I can on the carbs and parked that till some new bits arrive.

Decided next to attack the rear wheel which proved reasonably straight forward until it came to the move it this way and then that way manual explanation to get it clear of the bike. Did it F…, after a few shimmies here and a few there, I just took the silencer off and off she came.
No probs thinks me, time to get the eccentric off to look at the Cush drive and bearings.

The manual says

Unstake the eccentric bearing carrier lock nut and remove the nut”

Well that’s got to be the biggest nut I’ve ever seen and I’ve never unstaked anything !

I am guessing it means lifting the tab that’s flattened into the locknut so it can rotate. My local Halfords didn’t have anything close so I’ll have to wait till my ordered one turns up but I’m thinking it’ll be an entertaining ride.

This bike as a project makes me smile.

I cleaned up and went for a 10 mile run in the rain but if anyone has any salient pieces of advice for the next bit, (eccentric removal) then work away, I’m all ears. Yep I’ve read some forum posts so not being totally lazy like.

Marky Mark

[Gondul]

No previous experience but I'll be helping a friend soon getting their Hawk up and running and I have a feeling I'll be checking this as well.
Looking at the manual the lock nut looks to have cut outs, which means likely using a screwdriver and a mallet to get the lock nut to turn.

[ParcNHawk]

Is there play in the cush or not? If it ain't broke. If there's no play then there's no reason to bother taking anything apart.
If there is play then replacing the rubbers is the only solution.

https://www.hawkgtforum.com/forum/multimedia/videos/824628-hawk-gt-forum-video-library?p=828925#post828925

[Zanderk]

Yep there’s play in the rear wheel. I don’t think it’s been apart for 30 years and it looks dry in there grease wise

[Fastmongrel]

No previous experience but I'll be helping a friend soon getting their Hawk up and running and I have a feeling I'll be checking this as well.
Looking at the manual the lock nut looks to have cut outs, which means likely using a screwdriver and a mallet to get the lock nut to turn.

Mallets and screwdrivers should never be used together on a bike. Use the proper tools and if you don't have them buy them a 46mm socket isn't that expensive but hitting things with inappropriate tools works out very expensive.

[Gondul]

Mallets and screwdrivers should never be used together on a bike. Use the proper tools and if you don't have them buy them a 46mm socket isn't that expensive but hitting things with inappropriate tools works out very expensive.

We're talking about the stake (castle) nut... not the axle nut.
So long as you don't whale away at it like a gorilla, it shouldn't be an issue.

[Gondul]

Yep there’s play in the rear wheel. I don’t think it’s been apart for 30 years and it looks dry in there grease wise

Looking at the manual, there is no mention of the dampers being greased.

[6]

Looking at the manual, there is no mention of the dampers being greased.

There are guys that like to grease them to help them not dry out. Other guys/galls not as much. I just send them home and call it good.

Good idea to put some grease between the swingarm/eccentric. They tend to want to stick to eachother after a while making chain adjustment a bitch.

Yes, bad idea to adjust but bashing with a screwdriver.
Yes, I've adjusted by bashing with a screwdriver..

if it's in good shape and moves free you can get your adjustment without damaging it. But not a good habbit (no one suggested doing that.. but I'm just saying)

If it's got 30 years of nasty bonding the eccentric to the swingarm you will take the teeth off long before it moves.. so getting it to move free first is a good plan. for sure, the tool is best.. at the track with no eccentric tool, you do what you have to do.

Like bob said, if it ain't broke.... But I also have 0 ability to not dissect a new bike bit by bit until I've touched every part.. so, I get it.

[Zanderk]

Looking at the manual, there is no mention of the dampers being greased.

Grease wise I was referring to the fact that I expect the bearings to be dry after all this time so I want to check them.

[Zanderk]

There are guys that like to grease them to help them not dry out. Other guys/galls not as much. I just send them home and call it good.

Good idea to put some grease between the swingarm/eccentric. They tend to want to stick to eachother after a while making chain adjustment a bitch.

Yes, bad idea to adjust but bashing with a screwdriver.
Yes, I've adjusted by bashing with a screwdriver..

if it's in good shape and moves free you can get your adjustment without damaging it. But not a good habbit (no one suggested doing that.. but I'm just saying)

If it's got 30 years of nasty bonding the eccentric to the swingarm you will take the teeth off long before it moves.. so getting it to move free first is a good plan. for sure, the tool is best.. at the track with no eccentric tool, you do what you have to do.

Like bob said, if it ain't broke.... But I also have 0 ability to not dissect a new bike bit by bit until I've touched every part.. so, I get it.

Got the eccentric moving with the proper tool so that’s encouraging. I know the Cush drive rubbers will be like bricks if they are the originals because every other bit of plastic / rubber I’ve encountered so far has been similar. So on my journey to understand this bike it’s all got to come apart and I can assess the bearings as well for play and functionality.
On my last Honda V (Superhawk that I rode and tracked for 17 years) it ate Cush drives but it had a lot more torque than this bike and was a lot easier to work on with a conventional swingarm so changing them was straight forward. The 46mm is on order !

[ParcNHawk]

There ain't nothing easier than working on a single sided swingarm.

You don't have to fight with your sprocket & chain, brake pad to rotor, caliper to slider, angle of the tire vs chain tension... every time you take the rim off.

Conventional swing arms suck.

[bones]

I very lightly greased the mating surfaces of my eccentric and the swingarm when I serviced mine last.
I have never had an issue with the eccentric not wanting to slide smoothly for chain adjustments.

Do I have to post pics of mine again to show how clean everything should be before you put it all back together?

[Zanderk]

I very lightly greased the mating surfaces of my eccentric and the swingarm when I serviced mine last.
I have never had an issue with the eccentric not wanting to slide smoothly for chain adjustments.

Do I have to post pics of mine again to show how clean everything should be before you put it all back together?

This is entirely unnecessary

I have just got the 46mm nut off so it’s onwards and upwards towards the cush drive rubbers !!!

[Zanderk]

There ain't nothing easier than working on a single sided swingarm.

You don't have to fight with your sprocket & chain, brake pad to rotor, caliper to slider, angle of the tire vs chain tension... every time you take the rim off.

Conventional swing arms suck.

For some things maybe but I never had to take the exhausts off my VTR to get the wheel out. Do on the Hawk. Cush drive rubbers on VTR sit behind the sprocket which lifts out of the hub on the VTR, 5 min job. On the Hawk, don’t know yet. I love single sided swingarms (my current R9T has one mated to a lovely set of Kineos) but I think this one’s a faff so far tbh.

[Zanderk]

So got the sprocket housing off to reveal the Cush drives but the next bit has me stumped. I’m really sorry to prevail on this forum for being short on practical IQ but please bear with me. The manual says that you undo the brake caliper from the mounting plate and swing it out of the way and then remove the spindle but….

the caliper mounting plate stops the disc from coming out with the spindle and to remove the mounting plate looks like there’s a bolt resting on the swingarm with no clearance to get a socket out. (See pics)

I must be missing something here