Greasing the rear suspension.

Any tips on greasing the rear suspension linkage. Can it be done on a paddock stand by taking the nuts out 1 at a time or do you need to take the load off the shock? Also, is normal grease ok or should i be using high-temp (lithium?) grease?

[northwind]

You need to unload the shock. For bearings, I gather the red Castrol grease is good... Can't remember which one that is though

[Sid Squid]

It's fine to use general purpose grease, however if you can get some Moly grease it'd be good, it's used for CV joints and the like as it's a good EP grease, that'd be a good choice.

As Northy says you need to lift it by the frame, not the swinging arm - if you do the weight of the bike will still be on the shock/linkage etc. If you don't have or can't borrow a suitable stand, such as an NWS one, you can use a car jack as long as you're appropriately careful. Loosen all the bolts while it's still on it's wheels, then with the bike on it's side-stand, wrap a rubber band around the front brake lever and twistgrip, and place the jack under the rear of the engine slightly to the right side, put a pad made of rags on top of the jack so that you don't scratch the engine, jack it up only so far as to take the weight off of the rear wheel, make sure it's quite stable and only then remove the linkage. Once you've serviced the linkage refit it loosely and put the bike back on the floor before you retighten the bolts.

I always "hang" my bikes from the garage roof when removing suspension - just make sure your beams are strong enough!

[timwilky]

Now I was thinking that if I have to remove my swinging arm to get it properly greased up etc. is it worth drilling the thing and fitting a grease nipple. That way I can give it a squirt every year without stripping in future.

I may be being dense, but how do you remove the swingarm with an NWS stand? Since the prongs go in the holes that the swingarm is attached to?

Confused, MT

Originally Posted by empty

I may be being dense, but how do you remove the swingarm with an NWS stand? Since the prongs go in the holes that the swingarm is attached to?

Confused, MT

The original post was about suspension linkage. This can be done with an NWS stand. The swingarm cannot be removed if the stand plugs into the pivot holes. However, you can get attachments which hold the bike by the footrests allowing you to remove the swingarm.

Originally Posted by timwilky

Now I was thinking that if I have to remove my swinging arm to get it properly greased up etc. is it worth drilling the thing and fitting a grease nipple. That way I can give it a squirt every year without stripping in future.

It's a plan!

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by empty

I may be being dense.

We're getting used to it.

Originally Posted by empty

Confused, MT

And this is different from your normal situation because of...?

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by empty

I may be being dense, but how do you remove the swingarm with an NWS stand? Since the prongs go in the holes that the swingarm is attached to?

Confused, MT

timwilky

I stripped out my swing arm over the Christmas break to have a peace-of-mind check. Like already mentioned you ideally want to hang the bike from the rafters of your garage but this is not as easy as it sounds. The bike will try to tip over so to counter that I put four coach bolts into my rafters and roped up the handlebars to the front ones. With a bottle jack under the stump it was plenty stable enough. Take your rear bodywork off to avoid breaking the plastic and use the "handles" on the subframe for your rear ropes.

You will need: pegged socket to undo the swingarm locknut (I made one without too much problem) and a long breaker bar to undo the suspension bolts.

I found that the suspension bolts were a sod to undo as they had a LOT of threadlock on them. I also found that the bearings werre well greased and in good shape.

Peace-of-mind is worth a lot!!