I’m going to powder coat the swing arm, and the bike has 83,000+ miles on it. So I am removing the swing arm bearings and will replace them.
BMW used two different style bearings on the airhead swing arm: an unsealed 30203 bearing that was changed part way through the 1981 model year (01/1981) to a sealed bearing, FAG 540619. Changes in the swing arm bearing assemble were made at the start of the 1981 model year (09/1980) when the pivot pin was shortened and the dust cap changed to accommodate the 30203 bearing with the shorter pivot pin. Then in January 1981, the sealed bearing was added with it’s included dust cap.
I’ve removed the 30203 bearings before using the tool from Cycle Works.
Cycle Works Bearing Puller Kit
But it won’t fit inside the captive sleeve of the sealed bearing. And I can’t remove the inner race without a puller as it is captive due to the sealed bearing design. So I bought a set of blind bearing pullers for less than $60.00.
This kit has a slide hammer and a set of puller legs when more force–that will be required for the outer race extraction–is needed. There are various size expanding sleeves that cover a wide range of bearing diameters, so I bought it.
Less Than $60.00 Blind Bearing Puller Set
I made a collar so I could use the blind puller to remove the outer race. It cost me $7.00 in parts. I used it to remove on of the outer races and it worked nicely. So, if you have a set of blind bearing pullers, or buy a set like I did, you can remove the outer race by making your own collar.
Washer Rests On Edge Of Tube That Holds The Bearing
Blind Bearing Puller With Jaws Ready To Extract Outer Race
FAG Sealed Bearing Disassembled During Removal
Here is a link to the documentation I wrote about how I did this work.
I also made a short video and posted it to my YouTube channel.