96 RC36 Rear Wheel Lateral Play

I bought a project 1996 VFR 750 RC36 last year. It's got 97 000km on the clock and running beautifully. I've been fixing it while I ride it. She's always felt a little sloppy to me compared to my low km 86 which has had extensive work done. I attributed this sloppy feeling in a corner with a mis-sized rear tire (180 on 5.0" rim) and a worn head bearing that has some noticeable notches in it.

Yesterday I went out for a ride with a mate and from 30ft back he flagged me down and said that under braking into a corner he noticed lateral play in the rear tire "like the tire caught a tar snake." I said, how bad was it really like a mm? He said, "I could see it from 30ft back!"

I rode my 86 rc24 a while back without one of the spacers on the rear axel. Opps! Now THAT was lateral play and I could feel it. The 96 doesn't feel at all like that to me while I'm riding it however I can feel the bike flexing? at the rear when there are hard momentum changes while in a corner, which rarely ever happens and never on purpose. 

I put her up on the center stand last night and without anyone else supporting the bike I couldn't notice any discernible movement, though I'm no master tech.

Before I just go out and start throwing parts at this thing I was wondering if some experienced VFR riders could give me a nudge on what all could be going on to experience this lateral play.

Thanks!

Not something I've ever heard of before.

In fact I can't even imagine how there could be lateral movement in the rear end. Is the 46mm hub nut fastened tightly? It should also be staked to stop it backing off.

The eccentric hub itself can't possibly move unless the big circlip on the wheel side has been left off - that would certainly allow play.

Have a look at this topic for how the rear is assembled.

Also, check the swingarm pivot, but even if the locking bolts are loose the swingarm would not be able to move laterally... unless spacers have been left out of it?

The other thing to check is the lug nuts - make sure they are the correct Honda 'ball seat' nuts, which differ from the more common 'acorn seat' or flat seat nuts. If someone has substituted acorn seat nuts then under serious loads there could be the potential for movement.

Hate to say this but it could be the rear wheel bearings. Your symptoms sound just like mine. 

On my 94 the races from the hub seized on the axle. 

I ended up swapping on a whole replacement setup from eBay. 

Mine originally seized at about 150k miles, maybe more. I'm at 250k miles with no further issues. But now I'm better about replacing the bearings after so many miles. 

Paul in SoCal

Thanks guys. I got back out to it this morning and I can't seem to find any play in the thing. But I haven't really applied much leverage yet. I'll pull out the tq wrench and make sure everything is within spec. I guess I'll be buying a 46mm socket. :D

I was talking to my Dad about it today *Father's Day and all* and it occurred to me that while the I don't notice lateral play during regular riding I have felt something odd twice.  Both were under emergency situations of a similar nature.

I've noticed it happen when I was in a left turn and I had to slow quickly. During both of those corners I was really hanging off the bike and I had to rapidly decelerate and change my line. When I did that it felt like the rear end stepped out towards the muffler like the bike wanted to induce a drift. Well I mean that's kind of what I'm doing to it in the corner anyway but she slides out more than I'm telling it to.

Other than the wheel bearing or swing arm pivot bushings, is there any possibility that the rear shock or other worn pieces could cause the tire to push out toward the muffler under suspension compression? Like the bottom of the tire moving toward the muffler and the top of the tire away from it. Like \ under compression. 

At the beginning of this season I cut my spare muffler down from 18" to 9" and a while back I noticed the bolt that attaches the muffler to the passenger foot rests was missing it's nut. It only came to my attention as there were tiny gouge marks on my rim near the hub of the rim at a similar location to where my 9" muffler stops. At that time I assumed the muffler had move towards the rim and caused contact. Now with the possibility of lateral movement I'm wondering if the rim (rather than the muffler) moved the distance. :(

I cannot recreate contact between the muffler and the rim under suspension compression while the bike is stationary. 

Here is the damaged rim. These marks were not there last year. Granted as I mentioned the muffler nut had fallen off that secures is to the rear passenger peg. I can't see how anything other than the muffler could have made contact. And no, sadly I didn't hear or feel anything out of the ordinary when it occurred.

[image: IMG_5559_zpsnfhciuej.jpg]

vvvvvvvvvvv That looks to be a good deal of play. :0 vvvvvvvvvvv

[image: IMG_5563_zpsbhrzznmd.jpg]

*EDIT*

I went at the bike with a pry bar this afternoon to get some more leverage. I had someone else hold the bike steady and tried to walk the swing arm around. I couldn't produce any movement. I also pulled out the tq wrench and got everything tight to spec. Nothing was lose. The only thing that looked odd was as space on the rear shock mount. It had a bit of a gap, though the bolt was properly torqued.  *See picture below. I also snapped a pic of the rim lug nuts. Are these the oem ones?

[image: IMG_5565_zps8rxsdclu.jpg]

[image: IMG_5691_zpssphqdgwl.jpg]

And for those that stuck it through to the end. This is what that experiment exhaust can sounds like. 

Strange.  You will need to take your rear suspension and swing arm apart to check for collapsed bearings, methinks.  Sorry!

The gap at the suspension linkage isn't an issue, and those are the OEM lugnuts.

The wheel is solidly bolted to the axle flange (with the lugnuts--which you confirm were all tight?), and the rear brake disc is solidly mounted to the axle flange.  If the sprocket carrier nut is still staked into place, the wheel, therefore, cannot move to the right unless the disc moves and the disc cannot move because it is trapped by the brake caliper.  The slider-style brake caliper does move a little bit, but not enough to be noticeable. 

My 3rd gen rear end is completely apart at the moment (3rd and 4th are very similar), so let me know if you want some pics of anything.

Ciao,