Greasing Shock linkage 1200 sport

[Admin Jaap]

Somewhere I read that the monoshock linkage hasn’t been greased very well (or at all) by Luigi in Mandello.

As I’m planning to change my rear tyre soon I thought this would be an opportunity to address this possible problem.

 

Any suggestions on how to do this?

 

 

 

 

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[Gregg]

Hi Jaap, yes this is a very good idea, it is not only the shock linkage that they forgot to lubricate but also the swing arm bearing. I got Peter Roper (Moto Moda) to check mine and this is what he found after 50,000 km.

The bearing was obviously dry and also fitted with the seal the wrong way around. This is not a job for a lot of home workshops to attempt unless you can securely support the bike and are game to attack the rear with a drift and solid hammer ! I wish they gave the factory assembly team more than a small 200ml tube of grease to share along the whole line, to last the year !

[Goofman]

That's one of the few things with which I have some experience.  I can confirm that Luigi didn't want to get his hands sticky, as I discovered what appeared to be a mist of Vaseline on all my shock linkage and swingarm(!) bearings. Once the rear wheel is removed, access to the shock linkage is facilitated by removing the exhaust can.  All the bearings are similar, of the needle type, and should come out easily after removing their respective bolts.  BEWARE the loose needles!  They will fall everywhere as there is no grease (guess how I know this) to keep them in their housing.

 

Mr. Roper's advice compelled me to take the plunge and look at my swingarm bearings "while I was in there".  That was an order of magnitude greater in complexity, at least for me.  GET A MANUAL.  Removing the swingarm includes removing the side/foot peg plates, which happen to locate the center stand!  You must support the frame elsewhere.  I hung mine from straps and my ceiling.  You must have a special notched socket wrench for the swing arm bolt.   But it was worth it, as the tapered roller bearings were just as dry as the shock linkage needle bearings. The left side had just started showing some corrosion, but I caught it in time.

 

Hopefully, knowledgeable folk from Australia, much more capable than I,   will weigh in on this.  My best advice: GET A MANUAL.

[Goofman]

Listen to Gregg, Jaap.  

 

And congratulations on that SE Corsa, Gregg.  Magnificent motorcycle!

 

Oh, and I did all this to my Sport at about 37,000 kilometers.

[Goofman]

Yaap, this might be helpful, to show you what is involved in the tear-down...

 

 

https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20457

[pete roper]

Jaap, don't be daunted, it's really not that hard.

 

Tie the front end down. Jack the bike up under the sump using a scissor jack and something to spread the load to get the rear wheel off the deck.

 

Remove the exhaust, rear brake and wheel.

 

Remove the side plates that hold the footrests. You have to disconnect the gear linkage rod and rear brake light switch to do this.

 

Now you can tackle the linkage bolts. Note when you remove the one that goes through the shock to the swingarm there is a top hat bush in the swingarm. Don't loose it and remember it goes in from the inside adjacent to the shock eye!

 

Don't forget the wishbone that pivots in the frame also has a bearing at the front that will need the same treatment and check the wishbone carefully for signs of damage.

 

Take both wishbone and linkage over to the bench and carefully press the inner races out of the bearings. Not all the way, just far enough you can get a good squiz at the needles. If they look OK but just dry get a glob of grease on your finger and massage it into the needles before pushing the race back through the bearing and out the other side about the same amount. Repeat the greasing operation. Do this to ALL of the bearings.

 

It is best to do this over a piece of white sheeting or the like as if you push the inner race too far it's likely the rollers, and there are lots of them, will tumble out. The reality is that if they do they will probably be rusty and buggered anyway. Note that in the wider parts of the linkage there are two sets of bearings side by side so be careful pressing out the inner race.

 

If you find the bearings are rusty and beyond use, (On a 2008 bike, if they have never been inspected and greased this is highly likely.) you'll find it is about the same price to buy the entire linkage as it is to buy all the bearings, races and seals and then press the wretched thing apart and rebuild it. The savings in time/labour cost make it far more sensible to buy a new linkage. Just grease it properly before installing it.

 

For now though leave it as you need to remove the swingarm.

 

First clip the two cable ties that connect the rubber boot between the swingarm and gearbox. Remove the bevelbox after disconnecting the reaction rod. Then undo the pinch bolts that tighten the swingarm onto the castellated preload collar that preloads the swingarm bearings. The collar can then be undone and removed. Although a 'Special Tool' helps it's perfectly easy to undo it with a 'C' spanner as well. Once moving it usually unwinds by hand but wrap it in a rag as the corners of the castellations are sharp and ouchy!

 

You then need to undo the swingarm spindle which requires a 14mm Allen socket or you can double-nut a suitable bolt to wind it out. Once loose it can be withdrawn from the left through the swingarm.

 

Once it is out of the way the swingarm can be slid off down the driveshaft and removed. Take care with it. It is a very light casting and is only really designed to be strong in one plane! Do not biff, drop or otherwise abuse it!

 

Once the swingarm is out of the way the swingarm bearing cones can be plucked out of the frame. Unless you are very lucky the chances are they will look something like the ones shown in the post above.

 

If you are lucky make sure the inner seals are facing the right way and are secure in the frame and simply re-pack the bearings with as much bloody grease as you can get into them and stick them back in the frame.

 

Check the shaft trunnions for tight spots or wear and if they're OK just spray a bit of chain lube up the splines and start reassembly.

 

If, as I suspect, you find that the bearings are 'Donald Ducked' and the races are rusty and worn you'll need to replace them and this is where you'll enter a whole new world of pain! I'll cover that a bit later if you want me to?

 

Pete

[Chuck]

Most excellent, Pete..

[Gregg]

Very glad I got you to do it Pete !

[Admin Jaap]

@pete: thanks for the excellent write up. I'll let you (all) know how it went.

[pete roper]

If your swingarm bearings come out in chunks you need to replace them. If you want to you can spend ages chasing aftermarket ones but I've had no success as the 'Usual' design for these in RS format won't fit or work. Buy new bearings and new seals for the frame and then start the painful bit.

 

First up you need to remove the driveshaft. This is retained by an expanding circlip on the gearbox output shaft.

 

Get a podgy bar or large screwdriver and lever the front yoke back against the clip. Then use a copper hammer to deliver a mighty blow to the front yoke in a rearwards direction. This will pop the yoke off the circlip and the shaft will drop off, (It helps to have an assistant to hold the shaft.).

 

Then you have to grind up a long, sharp edged, drift that can be poked through from the opposite side of the frame and be hooked up in the small cutaways in the bearing registers in the frame underneath the outer race of the bearing.

 

Once you are sure the drift is engaged a few mighty thwack with a 4lb hammer should spit out the outer race from the frame.

 

Clean it all up and then repeat for the other side.

 

The new outer races can then be driven into the frame using an old outer race to biff them in. New seals can then be glued into the frame, packed cones inserted and the shaft put back onto the output shaft, (Make sure it is pushed on with sufficient force to ensure the circlip slips into place to lock the shaft.) after which the swingarm casting can be fed back up over the shaft and slipped into place.

 

Once the swingarm spindle is inserted and tightened into the swingarm the castellated preload collar can be inserted and tightened down just far enough to preload the bearings. After which the two pinch bolts can be tightened, the boot re-attached and cable tied in place and the rest of the linkage and arse end of the bike reassembled.

 

It's getting the outer races out of the frame that is the biggest shit of the whole job.

[bbolesaz]

Pete, if one has an internal bearing extractor tool, is it still necessary to remove the driveshaft?

[Goofman]

As I said, I caught my swingarm bearings in time.  No apparent damage.  All hail, Pete Roper!

[pete roper]

Pete, if one has an internal bearing extractor tool, is it still necessary to remove the driveshaft?

Yup, there's no way to drift in the new race with the shaft in place.

 

Internal extractor would have to be very specialised as there are only two small cutaways in the register for the rave and the rest of it the register is wider than the bearing.