How to remove rear wheel and swing arm Suzuki Intruder VS1400

Removing the rear axel

First, remove the rear tyre. Before we remove the axel take note of the metal axel spacer on the right-hand side that sits inside of the brake disc and its orientation as well as the rear brake caliper mounting arm. Place a 17mm socket on the rear axel on the left-hand side of the bike located in the centre of the driveshaft hub. Place a 19mm socket on the right-hand side of the axel and remove the nut from the right hand side of the axel whilst using the socket on the left-hand side to brace it. Once the nut has been removed, use a blunt driver to drive the axel from right to left.  Place a block under the rear tyre before removing the axel completely to avoid the wheel dropping once the axel has been removed. If the wheel does not fall from its place, move the wheel to the right-hand side of the swing arm – This will disengage the teeth found on the inside of the driveshaft hub allowing the wheel to be removed.

Removing the driveshaft

Then put the shock absorbers back on to create support for the swing arm. Once supported, we need to loosen the three 14mm bolts that go through the end of the swingarm, being mindful of the gasket. It would be a good idea to make sure you have a spare gasket before doing this, as it’s likely to dry out and crack, especially if it hasn’t been changed in a long time.

Next, we need to remove the ring clamp that holds the boot on with a Philips screwdriver, and then slide the ring and the boot back. This will expose a cover (that contains the pivot) that you’ll be able to pull off. After this, we can continue removing the bolts that we loosened that go through the end of the swingarm.

Then we can remove the left-hand shock absorber and we’ll be able to pull the entire driveshaft out, but be very careful because if you damage it, they are extremely hard parts to replace. Once that is replaced, we can remove the universal ball joint that was under the pivot cover – because of the coned shape of the arm, the pivot joint will be left inside where the cover was. This might be a bit awkward, so take your time in pulling back the boot carefully, and manoeuvre it out remembering that the longest end of the joint faces the engine.

Removing the swing arm

Once the ball joint is removed, we can work on removing the swingarm. To do this, remove the chrome cover near your clutch casing to expose the bolt. Once the nut is removed, tap the bolt to encourage it out the other side. Once it’s moving freely and you can access it from the other side, take a pair of mole grips and pull it through. Once the bolt is out, remove the remaining shock absorber, whilst supporting the swingarm. Once it’s off, you’re free to slide the swing arm out.