250-500cc How to remove swing arm?

Trying to remove the swing arm on my 1999 WR250. I'm removing the swing arm in order to work on getting a stuck chain adjuster bolt out...long story, another thread. Anyway...I'm down to just trying to get the swing arm axle out but it won't budge. Shouldn't this just pound through from the left hand side of the bike...I've tried heat and hammer blows to no luck.

you got bike on a stand i assume(stupid question but...)? probably never been out, seized/rusted bushes in there. maybe lie bike on its side & flood with wd40 in & around hole on both sides. i took mine out the other day, undo nut till few threads left on bolt & tap(didnt pound ) out. maybe get some one to keep moving swingarm up & down as you tap/pound it out. mite become a sacrificial swingarm bolt if worse comes to worse. ps my chain adjuster bolt snapped too, sucks hard

The weird thing is the swing arm moves freely up and down. It appears as though the previous owner was at least good about greasing the zerk, but most likely that swing arm axle has been in there since day one back in 1999. I'm worried that it's corroded to where it goes through the motor case. Does the swing arm need to be in a certain position (up or down) to get the axle out? Also should I pull the shock?

On a side the my manual goes into detail on how to do a complete engine rebuild but has no info on how to take the swing arm off. Is there another source of info I could consult (shop/haynes/clymers) ?

i have my shock out to get serviced & grease/replace bearings. give you more room to play with. undo tie rod & bottom shock bolt at least but id take the lot apart to check & repack/replace all the bearings/seals/bushes etc & service shock(itd be due!). mines a 2010 wr300 but id reckon there the same or very similar cases. theres only 2 bushes in the cases the bolt goes through that it could jam in & they dont come out easily(but no real need to remove in general)! unless the bolt has rusted/corroded/swelled in between them bushes then you might be in strife! wheres the zerk? is it to grease swingarm bearings? mine dont have one. keep trying!

Zerks are on each side of the swing arm next to the bearings. I'll take some pics tonight

yeh sweet mate id be interested to see them, sound like theyd be the go, my swingarm bearings end up rusted out before a year!

Yeah... The swing arm moves up and down fine and the swing arm bearings feel fine. I don't see any real reason that I would ever need to replace the swing arm bearings as long as I keep them greased. Maybe if my swing arm needed replacement, but at that point is buy a new bike. So in theory its ok if the swingarm axle is stuck in the engine case. The only reason im trying to get the swing arm off is so I can get a better angle at drilling out the chain adjuster bolts.

No.

Try heating where it goes through the cases with a torch. If that doesn't work spray some of your preferred brand of penetrating oil/spooger in the joint between the swingarm and cases and then lay the bike on it's side so it will soak down towards the engine for a day and then repeat on the other side. Then try to drive it out.

You can get fairly aggressive with the hammer as long as you find something that fits inside the swingarm to protect it. I think I used a socket extension.

It's ok to heat the cases?

Air hammer very carefully (I know its hard to have the two words in the same sentence)

Use PB Blaster, it's the best penetrating spray I've found.

I'm at the point where I might just say F it and just leave it in. As far as I can tell and feel, the swing arm bearings are ok, and as mentioned above I was only trying to get the swing arm off to work in the chain adjuster bolts. Guess ill just suck it up and drill out the chain adjuster bolts with the swing arm on the bike.

I've been right where you're at. I ended up using some older style 'pull' adjusters. I used a set on 93 Husky with same problem . You'd have to do a little cutting of the 'wings' of the pull to get it to fit in the swingarm space, drill out the hole to accept the larger axle you may have, and trim down your existing wheel spacer if the axles not long enough after you add these.
Here's what I have


they came off an 88 Husky

Sooner or later you are going to have to get it out of there to either remove the swingarm or the engine. I'd spray it with PB Blaster often so when that someday comes it might help you remove it.

I tried everything on the 2002 that I'm parting out...PB Blaster, WD40, Heat, Tapping, Pounding, Air Hammer. Finally got it out but the axle was toast. Probably spent 24 actual hours trying to get that thing out over the period of a few weeks.

You could also try undoing all the engine mount bolts and try to rotate the engine up to break it free

is it a hollow job like 360? can you tap a thread in the rhd side big washer over frame cut out and screw the bolt in to the swing arm bolt to get it out, looks like your in for a hell of a job tho 99wr250 good luck