I finally replaced the swing arm bearings on my 2004 883XL with 69,500 miles on it. This is the first time I have done it, even though the maintenance schedule calls for replacement of these every 30K miles. I have felt a deterioration in handling for a few seasons now, but somehow it never was so bad as to make me want to do this job. This season, however, I have felt some very funky handling while accelerating into turns. The bike just did not want to go into a proper lean and felt unstable. So I decided it's time to do the swing arm bearings.
And it was! The old ones were really loose and rattly. New ones from HD cost about $35 each and felt so much different! Very tight and almost hard to turn.
I have done the job myself over a weekend. It did not take super long. I had to fashion a tool to press the old ones out and press the new ones in. The tool consisted of a 5.5" long carriage bolt 1/2" in diameter, a 24mm socket wrench and 36mm socket wrench (both for 1/2" drive), a 1/2" nut to fit the carriage bolt and a washer. It was very simple to press the bearings in and out using this setup.
Unfortunately, I did not take many pictures, only this one when the rear wheel was off and I was about to remove the swing arm.
The results are amazing! The bike feels like new after this service. It has so much more command of the turns! I think I have slowly gotten used to not-so-great handling and learned to compensate, but with new swing arm bearings this bike feels like it can carve some curves! I have ridden it in some places that were instrumental in indicating the necessity of this service. It feels totally different and so much better!
Please do not neglect this job on your Sportster that has more than 30K miles!
