Greased my $%#&*^$ U joints - now what about the rust?

[Jacob Ezzell]

I think i read every thread on here about how to access the front shaft ujoint zerk.  I couldn't get any of the advice to work, access from the top, bottom, back none of it worked with the swingarm in place.  I even went out and bought the needle type grease tip adapter for the grease gun.  I could see it and go straight into it, but the needle wouldn't engage with the zerk.  So I tried to take just the bolt out of the top of the swingarm, and couldn't even get it out of the bike, it wouldn't fit around the frame.  So I took the main swingarm pivot bolts out, and even then I couldn't get to the zerk, but I could twist the rear swingarm sideways and get the upper bolt out of the shock/swingarm junction.  Finally with EVERYTHING disassembled I could pop my grease gun onto the zerk.

 

What  a pain in the ass.  Do the guido grease-monkeys  have really thin grease gun adapters or something? 

 

So now that I have all these pivot bolts apart there are bits of rust on a lot of the pivot surfaces.  What should I coat them with as I put them back together?  Same kind of anti-seize stuff I would put on the threads of spark plugs?

 

Here's a colonoscopy picture once I got the swingarm off.

 

[andy york]

Hey Jacob,

Since you have gone this far you should go ahead and take the front u-joint shield off so you can

open up the hole on the right side so next time you can just grease the u-joint and not disassemble.

As far as pivot points go, I like to use Bel-Ray waterproof grease.

I know, nothing is waterproof. It's good yak fat ...last longer than regular yak fat.

I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack but I do have 105,000 miles on my 02 lemans

 

 

andy

[Jacob Ezzell]

Thanks Andy, where would I drill an access hole? It was pretty much shielded by the swing arm and the shaft itself.

[andy york]

unfortunatley I will be away from the bike for 10 days or I would send you a pic of mine.

maybe someone else can chime in here.

It appears that there are no " holes " in yours at all.

Mine is an 02 model and somewhat different.

Look at the bike from the right side ....turn the driveshaft so that the zerk

is facing you/ to the right ....figure out where and how big ....dremel,die grinder, ....

make a access point.

It is reasonably thick steel....so it can contain the driveshaft in the event of u-joint

failure....

message me and I can send you the one picture I have that might allow you to see

what I'm talking about. three 5or6mm bolts hold it on... the only way to remove it

is where your at right now.swingarm on no remove. be sure and align the swingarm dots

when you reassemble.

 

 

andy

 

andy

[mznyc]

I use medium thread-lock on all items that need to be removed at some point for maintenance,except spark plugs and exhausts .

I'm curious why so much rust.Denver's pretty dry.Do you commute with it?Let it drip dry after a rain or wash?How many miles?

I live in the Northeast(so all kinds of conditions) and on a 1/2 mile dirt road,so it can get muddy and I wash it with a hose.After disassembling last year I had very little rust.I did install an Edge-Guard that protects the shock and inner swingarm area while I had it apart,and mine looked at lot like yours when I pulled it apart.Do a search,if he still has any it would be a good time to install.

[andy york]

also....now is the time to bleed your clutch and put new fluid in.

PIA if you do fully assembled

[andy york]

another also....remove your gear shift lever main bolt and gat some good yak fat in there.

much easier to do now. you can get a wrench right on that 10mm nut. PIA if it's all assembled.

[LowRyter]

Hey Jacob,

Since you have gone this far you should go ahead and take the front u-joint shield off so you can

open up the hole on the right side so next time you can just grease the u-joint and not disassemble.

As far as pivot points go, I like to use Bel-Ray waterproof grease.

I know, nothing is waterproof. It's good yak fat ...last longer than regular yak fat.

I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack but I do have 105,000 miles on my 02 lemans

 

 

andy

 

I haven't greased the U joints on my 2001 Greenie.  Are you saying the window is too small to get to the grease fitting?  If so can't I expand it will a grinding drill bit or Dremil tool without removing it?

 

the owner's manual illustration is useless.

[andy york]

Yes ...I suppose it is possible to modify it without removing.

If my swingarm were still mounted and all I needed to to do was grease the

driveshaft, I would do everything I could not to have to disassemble.

Years ago I was to the point that Jacob is now and I said to myself....

I'm gonna fix that problem now.

[Jacob Ezzell]

Yes ...I suppose it is possible to modify it without removing.

If my swingarm were still mounted and all I needed to to do was grease the

driveshaft, I would do everything I could not to have to disassemble.

Years ago I was to the point that Jacob is now and I said to myself....

I'm gonna fix that problem now.

 

My problem ended up being that no matter what angle I attacked it from, I couldn't get the zerk exposed enough, it was obscured by the shaft drive u joint knuckles themselves.  Others have addressed this with a needle grease nozzle, but I couldn't get that to work. 

[docc]

I had to cut the point off the needle and de-burr it, but finally got some confidence that a little lube made it in.

[andy york]

give me a couple more days to get home and i will take and post some pics.....Sat morn

 

Hey Docc ....does yours have the little "factory windows " made in the drive shaft cover...if so

maybe you could put up a couple of pics in the mean time...

[Camn]

My mistake was two years ago, that I had not read anywhere that it's not possible. I greased also the "difficult gease nipple" and read only afterwards, that it can't be done without dismantling half the bike. Beginners luck. Standard grease gun. Of couse it is not easy to get the head of the greasing pipe onto the nipple and you need to force it out with a screwdriver.

 

PS.(added later)

Maybe this is possible only because the rear shock is Öhlins, it has a longer stroke than the others = more space for the grease gun.

[andy york]

More power to anyone who has accoplished this task without taking anything apart. You haven't gone through the headaches

that many of us have. I don't know the details on how many different ways that this can be done.  But.......

years ago,with my swingarm out for some reason, I removed the three 5 or 6 mm bolts that hold the cover in place, enlarged the

hole/window that faces the outside of the bike. Once this was done, I can access the grease nipple from the right side of the bike...

in front of the "pork chop" as we call it....roll the bike till the driveshaft grease nipple is facing the right side,fit the grease gun, couple of pumps,

and i'm done. easy peasy. Anywhere ,anytime, no tools required.(except the grease gun)

[AndyH]

no tools required.(except the grease gun)

... and a screwdriver to prise the B@5?4+d off again!