CBR125R swing arm corrosion?

[Chris92]

Hello people!

So, as above, I've got a CBR125 57' reg.

It's virtually immaculate in every way, however, the salt and crud off the road has had an effect on the rear arm, specifically, where the shock is bolted down.

So I want to tackle this. The last time I dealt with a swing arm corrosion issue was on my last bike, a CG125, and happily it had a center stand, which meant I was able to put it on the stand and completely and utterly remove the whole rear end without a problem and any need for special tools. As I'm sure you can work out, the CBR doesn't have the luxury of a center stand, side only.

What I want to do is get the rear end in the air so I can unbolt the shock, and then clean up and repaint the mounting point.

So you can see my predicament; How do I get the rear end up in the air to do that? is there a DIY way so I don't have to take it to a garage or anything? Obviously a paddock stand wont work because it takes the weight on the swing arm, so I wouldn't be able to do it like that.

I thought about removing the exhaust and putting blocks under the engine block, but when I think about it carefully that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

So, any thoughts? Thanks

[Nemo]

Undo bolt on the floor, Jack up on right hand side so that bike is resting on Jack, side stand and front wheel?

If you're scared about doing that strap the right hand side to something while it's on the Jack to keep it more secure.
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Previously owned: Kawasaki KH125, Suzuki GP125, Suzuki GX 125, Honda CB125 TDC '83, Honda ntv 600, Kawasaki ER5, Kawasaki ZZR600, Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille
Now own: Ducati 848 evo

[gavcarter]

Easiest way I ever found is to loosen all bolts before hand. Put on side stand with bars facing right, full lock.
Park it right next to a wall and gently push it over onto its left side.
The left handlebar should hit wall, with wheel still at full lock right the rear wheel should come off the floor.

[Chris92]

[el_oso]

I've used axle stands before to remove the swingarm. Think I was able to place them on the rear engine mount bolts on the thundercat. When I did the forks on the gixxer I suspended it from my old swingset.

The CBR weighs next to nothing so you should be able lift it onto a stack of bricks or similar. (use a floorboard or similar to stop brick on metal). Get creative with what you've got. It really shouldn't be that much hassle. Just make sure you loosen everything first.
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Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[bikenut]

does not this bike have an alloy bit to do with the rear foot pegs on each side with an opening in it??

so you could pass a strong "beam" thru the openings and support the beam on 2 chairs or similar...this clears the rear wheel from memory, so is do able......

so the bike is held up safely.....the bottom fairing and exhaust live under the engine......
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nuts about bikes

[Chris92]

So I finally got around to dealing with it this afternoon, and in possibly the most unconventional way you can imagine!

I started by completely removing the shock, but obviously once that was gone the bike wouldn't stand on it's own because of the broken tripod geometry.. So, I got my largest adjustable wrench, adjusted it to the size of the bottom engine mount bolt and used it to take the weight of the bike!

This then left the swingarm mounting point obstruction free for me to get at it with my sandpaper and grinding hand tool, Completely took away the surface rust, cleaned the area up and painted with hammerite direct to rust silver, a perfect colour match!

Did the same thing with the shock too, it all looks new.. The next problem: How do I get it back into the garage without it assembled properly (took it out in the first place because of the poor lighting)

This piece of ingenuity in particular was one of my proudest moments yet.. I got two long 3/8 extension bars and socket with a bar attachment, threaded the bolt through the socket in the same way the bottom of the shock would be and then wedged the other end of it onto the top mounting point and hey presto! The bike is rollable without falling over!

Now I'm waiting for the paint to harden and she'll be reassembled, looking as good as new!

[gavcarter]

Don't mean to piss on your parade, but that hammerite shite is the worst thing you could paint on your swingarm.
It is absolutely balls and does NOTHING to stop rust.
I painted my whole bike fram in it and it looked like i had it powder coated I was well chuffed.
Four months later I was raking it back off because it had bubbled and rusted, it works a lot better if you paint a rust preventing primer on first.

[Chris92]

To be quite honest, the bike has seen the rain once in the whole time I've had it, and if it ultimately doesn't hold up and just do it again properly. I've got a rear hugger arriving next week anyway which will protect it substantially more.

And the Hammerite has always worked really well, I've used it on loads of things before and it's always held up really well. I even partially painted an exhaust coupling with it once and it held up to the heat and everything. My previous experience of it gives me complete confidence!

[gavcarter]

I painted my wheels with it, they lasted brilliant, most people ask if it's powder coat as I sprayed it and went real glossy. Did same to frame and swingarm at same time and they are hanging now
Same bike too to be fair.

[bikenut]

I too use hammerite with good results.......

brushed type both smooth and hammered.......

I used it over 30 years ago on a stell headlamp shell on a bike and it has never been repainted since...........

I use it straight onto metal without any primer (primer seems not to work that well I will admit ).........also on exhausts which works reasonably well.....if too hot it will burn.
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nuts about bikes