Grease

[pmapp]

:smt034

Nope not the musical.


Following on from the thread about the brake servicing and using the red rubber grease, I'm just wondering what other types of grease are needed for particular applications - swing arm bushes/bearings etc.

I've stolen this link http://www.mgocaccessories.co.uk/acatalog/MGOC_Accessories__Grease_176.html which was posted by thedonal.

They seem to list most available, so just wondered if someone would be so kind as to post up the types available and where they are used on the bike.

Many thanks in advance,
Phil

[Paul the 6th]

I'l have a look in the haynes manual, see if its in there... I've just had a leaf through my new one & am off to buy some nice new tools from halfords tmorra :) ...

edit: mis-read that... ignore me lol

[Stig]

I would recommend a lithium based grease.

See here (http://www.lubricants.co.uk/lithiumgrease.html)

[Stig]

I use this (http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_17 2551_langId_-1_categoryId_77314)

[embee]

Agree, Castrol LM is a fine general purpose bearing grease for normal situations.

If you need a water resistant version you could use Castrol CL, suited to things like handbrake linkages on cars etc. but it does tend to stiffen up with age I find.

Useful on bikes is a "white" grease, normally available in aerosol, used on sidestands, footrest pivots etc.

There's copper grease (all-sorts available, Halfords do some) for high temperature applications between steel/brass/iron components, or a similar aluminium version for alum environments (e.g. exhaust studs into heads, or a lot of brake caliper fittings - but not brake seals) for which I like a Loctite product - stick form Loctite 8060.

If you want to protect drive splines e.g. on shaft drive bikes then about the best stuff around is a Honda Molypaste (http://www.motocrossworld.com/site/scripts/product_browse.php?product_id=22378)

For rubber/plastics and especially nylon lined cables (clutch etc) you can't beat Halfords Nylon and Rubber Lubricant in aerosols IMO.

Vaseline is handy too, it does a decent job on battery terminals in the absence of dedicated terminal grease.

..and there's always the silicone dielectric grease for HT leads and plug caps, Maplins or Honda products (this) (http://www.motocrossworld.com/site/scripts/product_browse.php?product_id=22379), or Dow Corning DC4.

That'll do for a start.

[Blue_SV650S]

Where can I get red rubber grease? NOT off the ruddy internet, it?ll cost me more in postage than the grease itself!! :rolleyes: ? I?ve never seen it in Halfrauds, are there any other main chains that do it (motor world or whatever)??

I serviced my callipers the other day and needed to remove/bin the dust seals in the end, having some grease in there might be a bonus to stop corrosion and prevent muck directly on main seal i.e. act a bit like the dust seal ...

[pmapp]

Thanks for the replies. Shopping list is being written for the weekend.


Taaaa,
Phil

[embee]

Car accessory shops often have small sachets of red rubber grease, but it works out pretty expensive.

Best places to get tins of it are Bearing Stockists, check in yellow pages etc for your local ones. Typically around a fiver for a 500gm tin, which will last you a lifetime.

[timwilky]

Picking up on what embee has posted. He references copper grease. Folks please be careful, this is not a general purpose grease. I use it for brake pins and the backs of pads. But never on fixings, and definitely not bearings, unless there is a heat element on static components, as he says exhaust studs etc.

Molybdenum disulphide was always the thing when I was in the industry. and the contents of my grease guns still date from then.

I cannot comment of lithium based as I am too old and that is to modern

[rob13]

Ive got Molybdenum & Copper grease, but was wondering what would be used when replacing the axles? Also I have some Esso general purpose grease. Is this ok to be used for wheel bearings & the likes?

Checking the manual they recommend Suzuki "Super Grease" - whats that??

[yorkie_chris]

But never on fixings,

Why's that?

[embee]

Moly types greases are usually for oscillating plain bearings like old-fashioned swingarms using bushes, old car suspension bushes or ball joints etc.

Any rotating element ball/roller bearing should use a straightforward grease like Castrol LM. Low speed or oscillating types (suspension links, steering head etc) can be fully packed with grease, but higher speed (and I'd include wheel bearings in that) should be typically only half packed (i.e. pack one side of the ball bearing and leave the other side clear, it'll work its way round). The reason is that the grease gets sheared and becomes too hot, the higher the speed the more important it becomes, at very high speeds the amount of grease is reduced.

Incidentally CV joints in car driveshafts use a special grease due to the very demanding conditions.

And yes you're right, copper grease is not a lubricant as such, it's an anti-sieze product principally, although it can work where there is fretting type issues (back of brake pads sort of falls into this), the copper powder acts as a solid lubricant. It shouldn't really be used with steel fasteners into aluminium (too many different metals going on) but having said that it often is with very rarely any problems. The aluminium version is intended for this.

[yorkie_chris]

The aluminium version is intended for this.

What's that one then, ali-slip or some such thing like that?

I've always used copper slip on steel bolts going into ally, just seems to "ping" when you remove it then wind out nicely, whats the worst that could happen? If it siezes, then it would have done that anyway.

[Grinch]

From what I remember and the fact that suzuki tend to mix a little zinc in with there stuff means that you get a rather nasty chemical reaction between the steel and aluminium. This is why they go so fuzy and can be a bitch to get out, I imagine the ali version will help prevent this, though I have always got away with it too.

[Blue_SV650S]

I got my pot of red rubber grease through the post today ... I have greased up my rear calliper on my bike and my was-sticking piston on one of my car callipers ... its now almost s3xual in its smoothness of operation!! 8)

[embee]

What's that one then, ali-slip or some such thing like that?

I've always used copper slip on steel bolts going into ally, just seems to "ping" when you remove it then wind out nicely, whats the worst that could happen? If it siezes, then it would have done that anyway.

The alum anti-seize I use is the Loctite 8060.

As said (and as you say), copper-slip has been used for years on steel bolts into aluminium with little problem. Recently various manufacturers have issued service bulletins saying copper grease should not be used on (alum) brake caliper fixings, and alum type anti-seize paste should be used. I don't know whether this was a response to real or theoretical problems.

[Lozzo]

The alum anti-seize I use is the Loctite 8060.

As said (and as you say), copper-slip has been used for years on steel bolts into aluminium with little problem. Recently various manufacturers have issued service bulletins saying copper grease should not be used on (alum) brake caliper fixings, and alum type anti-seize paste should be used. I don't know whether this was a response to real or theoretical problems.

AP Racing specifically stated not to use coppa-slip on their 6 pots that I had on my Gixer thou, so I started using Wurth brake grease, which is aluminium based.

[Aidan]

What about the grease for the sliding pins in the brake calipers? The Suzuki manual recommends silicone grease - where can I buy that? Or will multipurpose grease/copper slip do?

[yorkie_chris]

That's not right good for the rubbers, not copper slip there.

I use a blob of rubber grease, better than nowt.

You can get silicone grease from maplin.