XV 125 REAR SWINGING ARM Problem

[Kelum]

Hi guys,

Early owner of my bike seems to have ridden this XV 125 with a bad bent rear sockets for a very long time. As a result the left side arm of the rear swing arm has bent upwards a little...front tire wearing out at left, not at middle..

Rear wheel too having some slanted look from behind...when I ride it even I feel like front portion kinda slanted...I put new sockets at the back and they dont seem to have weight distribution along the vertical axis of the socket..seems like sockets having some horizontal force working at their middle...like the socket is going to bend at the middle..

I wanna get my swing arm aligned..I expect perfection and perfect balance of my bike when am on the road...

Rear tyre seems to have misaligned..new sockets indicate weight distribution in socket causes spring to hit middle plastic ring which should not be the case..

I wanna fix my swing arm..can someone help me directing to some good point on this...thanks in advance..can it be repaired easily...did you check ur bikes with the same issue?

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[Kelum]

sorry for the huge images and sudden bad english..

[Paulwhite]

that is not good kelum! looks like its had a bang at some point in its life.

the only way you could fix it is to take the swing arm off and then bend it back into shape but your going to need some new swing arm bushes, (plastic or rubber tubes that go in between the bolt and swing arm) either that or get a new swing arm.

its not a small job to do, as you need to lift the bike off the floor, take the back wheel off then undo the bolts that hold it onto the frame, its going to take about 3 days to do it, 1 day to take it off, 1 day to make it good, then 1 day to put it back together.

if you take it off and put it on a flat floor you can see how bad it is and fix it from there. but i wouldnt ride it like it is, as it looks dangerous.

could you put a picture up looking directly at the back with the bike standing vertical then i can have a better look

[Kelum]

I will post a pic soon paul.Dont have cam with me right now..gosh...its scary.This bike giving me lot of large scale troubles.thank you for the idea..

[Kelum]

And Paul, I remember once you or someone here told me xv 125 is not meant for offroad riding...well here in Sri Lanka carpeted leveled roads are not found so often..in the countryside as I ride for English/science/IT private tuitioning I often take gravel roads, some are worst..deeper wider pits...I dont have any other option...washing bike to remove dust after each turn...as for other vehicles...cars and vans are all Japanese which are driven on these roads..trucks and buses are mostly Indian which fit Indian driving conditions similar to sri lanka..

So you have no option other than taking off-road rides..I dont ride fast...on good roads even I dont pass 50kmph limit..I dont need speed..I love my legs and life...

Few years ago there was a huge market for Japanese bikes..but now on roads 80% of bikes you meet includes Chinese and Indian shit which are rough in finish and uncomfortable..Indian bikes' center of gravity is very higher so prone to accidents..but still fuel efficient..and average Indian bike runs around 70-80kms per liter..thats their secret of catching up the market..I hate them..in Sri Lanka you cannot ride bikes with engine capacity greater than 350cc..you cannot pass the 400cc capacity of police bikes..

You might love reading this...

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/forwood/srilanka1.shtml

However after the end of 30 years of war..present government is building a greater network of roads...hoping to fly..

[Paulwhite]

yeah i remember lol

there are some things you can do to the bike to make it better off road, like longer springs/shocks on the back this will make it a little higher.

id also say clean your air filter at least once a week as it will get clogged with all the dust, and if you wanted to you could put a very thin material round the air filter cover to help keep the dust and stuff out.

and that is a good read! wish i could do something like that

[Kelum]

yeah i remember lol

there are some things you can do to the bike to make it better off road, like longer springs/shocks on the back this will make it a little higher.

id also say clean your air filter at least once a week as it will get clogged with all the dust, and if you wanted to you could put a very thin material round the air filter cover to help keep the dust and stuff out.

and that is a good read! wish i could do something like that

Yeah I will do all that hereafter.

For an adventure like that of course you would need a devoted wife by your side..as I was reading it I kept wondering how remarkable wifey he's got...I want someone like that for sure..same ideas, same dedication...WOW..

Are you sure this bike thing would take 3 days..I cant let it stay still that long..everyday I have classes..I think I would be able to get it fixed at my friends garage where he repairs tractors, cars and other big vehicles..in a place like that I would surely find equipment necessary to bring swing arm back to its shape and raise the bike..plus I will be able to use his tools at my will..I could get it finished within a day..normal bike repairers wont have enough facilities to work on it..isnt that a good idea Paul..?

[Paulwhite]

yeah should be fine. i just said 3 days as a guide and thats doing it as slow as posible lol but if your good with a spanner you could get it done in a day no problem!

[Kelum]

yeah should be fine. i just said 3 days as a guide and thats doing it as slow as posible lol but if your good with a spanner you could get it done in a day no problem!

I dont know if its bad or not..I want perfection in everything..even in women LOL...sockets should work as they are supposed to..and both tires of the bike should make a single trace on the road...they should wear out evenly, I mean the front tire's left side more worn out which keeps killing me..

Ok witty Paul bro, will keep you updated...I guess am gonna need some good front socket oil seals..could you check it in a store Paul? I badly need exhaust gaskets too..but I wouldnt go to rip off gaskets right now as I will have to replace the total kit..at the local store there was a Taiwan gasket kit which the guy said would cost 9USD..I didnt buy it..I want some long lasting one..

By the way is there an oil filter in bike, where is it located Paul? Thanx mate1

[Paulwhite]

I dont know if its bad or not..I want perfection in everything..even in women LOL...sockets should work as they are supposed to..and both tires of the bike should make a single trace on the road...they should wear out evenly, I mean the front tire's left side more worn out which keeps killing me..

Ok witty Paul bro, will keep you updated...I guess am gonna need some good front socket oil seals..could you check it in a store Paul? I badly need exhaust gaskets too..but I wouldnt go to rip off gaskets right now as I will have to replace the total kit..at the local store there was a Taiwan gasket kit which the guy said would cost 9USD..I didnt buy it..I want some long lasting one..

By the way is there an oil filter in bike, where is it located Paul? Thanx mate1

well if you make the swingarm good then it should sort it out. for the front fork oil seals try www.wemoto.com they will have them and will also have the gaskets just need to check to see if they can deliver to you if not then at least you will have a price.

the oil filter is near your right foot, in the engine, there is a cover with the word yamaha on it and 3 bolts holding it on, just undo the 3 bolts and take the cover off and you will see it. there will be oil in it so put something under it to catch the oil.

[Airhead]

I was just looking at this topic and i'm thinking that perhaps a spacer is missing from the wheel axle. There are often some kind of spacer at either end, omitting one of them would bend the swing arm and cause the problems you describe Kelum. Can Paul confirm / photo the spacers for you as I dont know of a parts diagram or what year your bike is either.

[growls]

Looking at the photosit appears one of the shocks is bent - if so wouldnt that pull the swing arm out of alignment over time?

[Airhead]

Looking at the photosit appears one of the shocks is bent - if so wouldnt that pull the swing arm out of alignment over time?

I would think it's the other way round...ie the bent swing arm caused the shock to bend.

[Kelum]

Can someone post a pic of the Virago XV125's rear axle...well I see only one spacer at right...at left there's no spacer..please post a pic so we can get it confirmed..

Am pretty much worried...if I will have to replace the swing arm I dont know where to buy one..as I said parts are pricey and rare..

lot of probs..

[Paulwhite]

you should have a small spacer where you circled it in red, separating the hub from the swing arm. and a big spacer on the other side. from what i can see in the photo the little spacer (circled in red) isnt there! but you would still need to bend the swingarm so its straight.

if you lift the bike up off the floor so the back wheel is off the floor, then you can take the back wheel off, then get a freind to hold the bike while you bend the swing arm back, get a long metal bar (4-5 feet), put one end in the hole where the wheel bolt goes on the left side (the bent side), SLOWLY AND GENTLY! put pressure on it till its straight, then if its higher than the right one put a block of wood on top and hit the wood with a hammer till its leval with the other one (right side one)

and dont panic you wont need a new part, just take your time to fix the old part. if you dont have a spacer then you could try and get one, or il give you the measurements and you could make one out of some metal tube.

here is the best pic iv got or the rear axle (il have to take another one) but you can see the spacer on the right, and there is a little gap inbetween the hub and swingarm on the left. in the wheel hub is a spacer.

[Kelum]

Have you widened the rear ends of the swing arm where shocks fit Paul? Yes I dont have the left spacer for sure..you should send me dimensions of both right and left spacers..

But if I put a left spacer in mine the two swing arm bars will widen then the axle end of shocks will also go widened causing another strain on them?

I dont know I dont see any space left for a left spacer..the hub sits very closer to left swing arm..have u modified ur swing arm as ur modifying ur bike? both front and rear wheels are in line I mean as in many older bikes there's no front wheel in one angle while rear angle in another angle appearance..just like bike is twisted at middle appearance I mean..

Former owners seem to have made lot of damage to the bike Paul..and I know the person bought it from didnt know a thing about it..I was told all services were done but in few days I noticed (lucky me) there was no oil in the engine..the worst was he had ridden bike for long with the bent left socket and spacerless twisted axle and swing arm..the shocks didnt even have bushes so the bike was very jolty off-road like roads . This was so grave at the beginning I thought what the hell have I bought?

Please take some closeups of left axle and right axle Paul...also send me the gap between the axle end arms of the swing arm so that I could go to your true values...you havent modified these I suppose...

[Kelum]

Plus I want to buy some Allen key set and necessary wrenches for the bike? Will I have to show the bike to the shop when buying them? Or what are the sizes u use Paul? Sorry if am questioning too much..

[Kelum]

I experience some TAKA TAKA sound when bike riding on uneven surfaces in front sockets..I checked steering head and its fine, I think I need to oil the sockets..for that you need to remove those oil seals and you need to keep new ones ready I guess? Am I right?

When I looked for oil seals on ebay...I saw DUST SEALS for front shocks and OIL SEALS for fron shocks XV 125..both these names stand for the same or are they two different items...

Please check the link below...I dont understand these prices, they seem to be very low and similar irrespective of the item's function and size...

http://motors-parts.shop.ebay.co.uk/Motorcycle-Parts-Accessories-/14780/i.html?_trkparms=65%253A2%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1&rt=nc&_nkw=yamaha%20virago&_dmpt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&_sop=2&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1513&_pgn=9

I think I should buy this...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORK-SEALS-YAMAHA-XV-125-XV125-VIRAGO-1998-2001-/290394463876?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item439cdbde84

My friend in US will buy them and post me..at her cost

Please help me Paul..

[Kelum]

Hey Paul that left spacer we talking about is on the rear sproket career right..I think I have it...well if the spacer is missing I think the axle should become narrow...I mean gap should be shorter..but there's no issue, at the back view, shocks are perfectly vertical.

[Kelum]

I found a guy who I think will give me a solution...must take bike there soon..