Have a machine mart just down the road so should be sorted for tooling till it gets to any specialist stuff. Thanks for all the info.
Only thought to loosen my grip on the handlebars and pull in the clutch once I'd got down to less than about 15mph and sure enough it worked. Don't think you'll have to eat your hat!
i ended up spending a day making a hand powered hydrolic jig to shift it.(i still have it)..for next tiime.
70mph with a locked wheel, I cant tell you how far down my immediate list of "things to do" pulling the clutch lever in was! Once I knew I might not die, and the lorry I had passed before the wheel locked up had trundled by my brain thought of releasing my vice like grip on the handlebars and pulling the clutch in. To be honest I quite like the 748, tiny pistons, revs up a bit quicker than the bigger lumps but if something comes available I wont dismiss it.
it's good to rehearse this in your mind for next time and it will become a firm 'autopilot' response just like kicking a clutch in on a car.
If the spindle is still stuck try and get the bike near a wall or something solid and then a spacer (old fork tube etc) to go between the frame (protect the frame and wall with bits of wood) near the spindle. That way when you hit it none of the shock is wasted.
So am here. This bit started to come off when I was pulling the head (lol). Would I be better off leaving it on till the engine is out? Oh and still hammering the swingarm pivot jobber....
Breakthrough! Using the "awesome" tool that comes in the ducati red underseat pouch thingy with the massive allen key on one side and the nut shape on the other end. Managed to get a 20mm socket on that end and with a bit of persuasion managed to get the swing arm spindle thingy to spin, only 1/8th of a turn at at time but hopefully the more it spins the more it will break free of the rust holding it in.
Don't want to disappoint you but the spindle will be corroded to the bushes and the bushes will spin freely in the bearings, your problem is freeing the spindle from the bushes. Steve Ps I have been through this over the winter replacing my engine, I will remove the swing arm bolt every service in future.
Look between the engine and swing arm and you will see what looks like 5 mm thick washers, they are the ends of the top hat shaped bushes that run through the swing arm and into the frame just enough to stop the back end dropping when the bolt is removed. When you turn the bolt it will also turn these bushes as that's where the problem is. Steve
I'd pull the cylinders off and get the pistons out of the way. You can see the crank then and will know if it's big ends, mains or crank plug.
God to get it off now though Lucky as you've got engine secured in frame giving you something to pull against.
Any updates ? Or, does lack of new posts mean you are still beating the crap of the swinging arm bolt !
