Laeger CRF swingarm bearings

[raptorguy]

Hey guys,
I just bought a couple of months ago a Laeger narrow chassis CRF hybrid with a Laeger swinger and a CR500 linkage. The frame was actually made for a YZ motor, but a CRF motor had been grafted in.
In the process of pulling the motor this weekend, I discovered that the swingarm pivot bearings were trashed. The pivot bolt holes on the cases were also beat up bad, it appeared that there was no collars in the cases, thus the swingarm mounts were gouging into the aluminum cases.
So first off, does anyone know what model bearing kit would fit this application, the whole front end is 250r and I'm speculating that the rear would either take a 250r or 400ex kit, maybe needing modification.
Second, by looking at CRF microfiche, I see know collars for the case holes, thus do you guys use these collars or not? If so, what make and model, a YFZ fits in somewhat, but its not a great fit, don't know if it has to be a perfect fit, since most of the load bearing I image is taken up by the swingarm portion of the pivot. Thanks for any info any one can provide.

[quadpornstar]

if the quad was a yz laeger, then it should use the yz426 bearings. the crf and yz swinger are smillar, i believe they both use the pivot bearings and the thrust bearing with washers on both sides. should be a cap and seal, then a thin washer, a thin bearing, and another washer on the outside thrust assembly

[raptorguy]

The internal bearings wouldn't be YZ426 would they? I also shot you a pm regarding this. Thanks for the info.

[laeger2fiddyr]

i believe it would use the 250r style bearings? since they r based off of a 250r? but im not sure?:(

[matt250r21]

I've got a Laeger YZ, the swinger bearings are YZ426, just like stated above.

[raptorguy]

What year YZ426? Were they all the same? I spoke to Scott at Laeger over the weekend and he gave me a shaky answer that it was all "stock 250r". He actually didn't sound too confident at all. So not sure exactly where to head with this. Especially regarding how banged up the motor cases got. Need to figure out why that happened.

[Co_Racer]

raptorguy I PM you my cell # give me a call and I try to help did have worked thru this with Rob's hybrid they may be Houser racing with YZ motor but I guess they close may even have some brg. you can try

[quadpornstar]

its not 250r bearings. I am not saying they won't work, or with some modification, couldn't work. but that swingarm is designed to use yz426 swing arm bearings, seals, etc. I know for a fact that CRF Laeger quads, liike the 4 or 5 I have owned, used all OEM Honda crf450f dirtbike parts in the swinger. I bought them directly from honda, and they worked with out any modification.

I would be surprised if the yz426 quad you own, that I built, uses anything other than yz426 parts. Keep in mind that the yz426, and the crf450r are very similar in this area. I would imagine that some where in the mix, the spacers got switched or misplaced, or mixed up. I believe that one of the spacers was longer, maybe an 1/8 or 1/4 of an inch. I checked in my parts bins, and I don't have anything left.

[raptorguy]

Quadpornstar,
You're absolutely right. I met up with CO Racer last night and he had a whole pile of bearings and a vernier and we measured and dry fitted and it appears that its completely YZ426. The 250r are a couple millimeters too small.

This was from what I'm told a Laeger YZ chassis with the CRF motor in it. The swinger is offset, but the actual lengths of each mounting pivot are equal. Like I said, pretty sure this was your old bike, its even branded with a pornstar decal behind the seat.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff117/masscj7/DSC00050.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff117/masscj7/DSC00011.jpg

The only thing I have to figure out now is what to put inside the cases. CRF's show no type of thrust collar/ hardened steel washer/insert for the case halfs, thus once the bearing got worn, the swingarm was able to rock back and forth and it chewed the face of the cases up. Need to figure out a something to go through the case that doesn't have to bear much load, but keep everything square and tight.

[xrxmxcx]

When you bought the bike did it still have the PEP's on it? I think i remember seeing that bike with the new Fox Evols on it.

[raptorguy]

The Fox's were for the guys 450R, he had the PEP's on another hybrid and the Fox's were on there to roll it around. He put the PEP's back on when I bought it.

[jrspawn]

Originally posted by raptorguy
Quadpornstar,
You're absolutely right. I met up with CO Racer last night and he had a whole pile of bearings and a vernier and we measured and dry fitted and it appears that its completely YZ426. The 250r are a couple millimeters too small.

This was from what I'm told a Laeger YZ chassis with the CRF motor in it. The swinger is offset, but the actual lengths of each mounting pivot are equal. Like I said, pretty sure this was your old bike, its even branded with a pornstar decal behind the seat.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff117/masscj7/DSC00050.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff117/masscj7/DSC00011.jpg

The only thing I have to figure out now is what to put inside the cases. CRF's show no type of thrust collar/ hardened steel washer/insert for the case halfs, thus once the bearing got worn, the swingarm was able to rock back and forth and it chewed the face of the cases up. Need to figure out a something to go through the case that doesn't have to bear much load, but keep everything square and tight.


You have a pic of the pivot area and wear it goes through the cases? You should have some type of spacer/bushing that fits in the cases themselves with and I.D. of the bolt and also fits the spacing between the swingarm mounts and cases. If there isnt anything like that in there your def asking for trouble if something gets a little loose/worn. If you dont have anything like that, take some measurements and let me know. Ive got a few around here i think from walsh, not sure if they would work, but you can always have something machined also.

Thank you
Justin

[raptorguy]

Justin,
Getting the bearing kit today and going to check out an idea that CO racer and I had. The YZ426 kit comes with two bronze collars that typically we wouldn't use. We are thinking about seeing if we could machine the case holes out just slightly to fit this bronze collars in, then, that would guide the pivot bolt through the case and at the same time keep the swingarm off the cases and keep the bearing sleeves from falling into the cases when the bearings blow, eliminating what happened the last time.

The other nice thing abou this would be that if machining the cases is possible, it would mean that after this is done, anytime I needed to redo the bearings, I could just order a comleted YZ kit and use all the parts and not have to order or make any other extra/custom pieces. I'm bringing the motor to BCS Performance tonight who has a CNC and going to see if this is possible. If not I'll get some pics off to you and see if you've got any ideas. Thanks

Oh, by the way, I think I saw that you had a spring cleaning post away back, you have any of the shorter 86-87 250r seats lying around that I could take off your hands?

derek