(Video) Did some long overdue maintenance, got some questions.

[Sheridan450F]

Hey guys, did some long overdue maintenance as I'm trying to put my bike in the best shape possible for an upcoming race series, which will also be my first time racing. 

 

Threw in a new air filter,

got new sprockets and chain,

new Artrax sx1 tires and tubes which i think will do well at these tracks,

and also changed my oil after a very long time. 

 

Questions:

 

As you'll see in the video my wheels don't spin too freely, I dont know if they should or not but I've seen videos of other bikes and theirs spin really well. I'm thinking maybe the bearings are bad? Could it be the brake pads dragging on the rotor? 

 

I also included footage of it running so you guys could hear if it sounds normal or not. It's probably not jetted correctly as I moved to Fort Hood, Texas for the Army. 

 

Any other suggestions on things I should check to help make it run it's best for this upcoming race series? 

 

Thanks guys, here's the video with a random 40 second intro lol

 

 

[Sheridan450F]

Did some searching on google and youtube and it seems i did not align my forks correctly when I installed my front wheel. I remember seeing the axle sticking out a little and didn't remember it ever looking that way before. So tomorrow I will fix that and hopefully the front wheel will rotate freely like it should. 

 

[Hoosier-Daddy]

You could take the front caliper off and give a spin to see if that one is dragging.

I personally would just put fresh bearings and seals in both front and back wheels preparing for a race season. I would also tear the linkage down and inspect and grease those bearings.

I also wouldn't go a 'long time' between oil changes on these race bikes either.

[Sheridan450F]

You could take the front caliper off and give a spin to see if that one is dragging.

I personally would just put fresh bearings and seals in both front and back wheels preparing for a race season. I would also tear the linkage down and inspect and grease those bearings.

I also wouldn't go a 'long time' between oil changes on these race bikes either.

 

Yeah I plan on getting wheel bearings soon. I'll take a look at the linkage too thanks.

 

My situation is a bit crappy right now. I joined the Army roughly 2 years ago and my bike has been sitting for most of that time. I only rode it once or twice when I would go home for leave for the holidays. Finally got to my permanent duty station here in Texas and got my bike out here in a storage unit (since I live in the barracks on post). I've had it out to the track a few times since then just never got around to changing the oil like I wanted too. I guess I was too excited and just wanted to ride.

 

Now that I hear there is a race series starting in September for the Austin Texas area, I really want to enter maybe as a beginner or C class rider. So my mentality has changed from just playing around to being serious about getting this bike cleaned up and ready to put me in a good position to have success. Anyway, finally changed the oil and you don't even want to know what it looked like. It definitely needed changing that's for sure. I usually don't wait 2 years to change my oil but my excuse is the Army and having to work out of a small storage unit lol

Edited July 27, 2014 by Sheridan450F

[DonnieD]

It's all good, except that music in the video. LOL!

 

You didn't ride it a lot during that long waiting period for an oil change so I wouldn't sweat it. Personally I wouldn't go changing bearings which may not be a problem.  

Clean and grease maybe. Good luck on the racing! 

[Sheridan450F]

It's all good, except that music in the video. LOL!

 

You didn't ride it a lot during that long waiting period for an oil change so I wouldn't sweat it. Personally I wouldn't go changing bearings which may not be a problem.  

Clean and grease maybe. Good luck on the racing! 

I think I'll look at them more closely tomorrow and grease them, see how it works out. 

 

haha the music was just me messing around on my guitar... let's hope I'm a better racer than I am a guitarist, l want that 6 foot trophy for first place lol

[Sheridan450F]

So I fixed the fork alignment and greased the hell out of the bearings and axle and now the wheel spins a bit better but not as well as I think it should. It only spins for about 3-5 seconds. Shouldn't it spin for a while as it slowly comes to a stop? 

 

When I had the wheel off I couldn't spin the bearings by hand but I could wedge a flat head against the inner race of the bearing and inside the spacer and that would spin the bearing. It should be easy to spin with my finger though right?

 

Looking to replace these bearings anyway once i get some more money saved up. 

[DonnieD]

I think I'll look at them more closely tomorrow and grease them, see how it works out. 

 

haha the music was just me messing around on my guitar... let's hope I'm a better racer than I am a guitarist, l want that 6 foot trophy for first place lol

Whoa! Now if you played that then that's awesome, just not my type of music. From the video of the ride and the music I would say your quite talented my friend!

[AKmotoXrider907]

So I fixed the fork alignment and greased the hell out of the bearings and axle and now the wheel spins a bit better but not as well as I think it should. It only spins for about 3-5 seconds. Shouldn't it spin for a while as it slowly comes to a stop?

When I had the wheel off I couldn't spin the bearings by hand but I could wedge a flat head against the inner race of the bearing and inside the spacer and that would spin the bearing. It should be easy to spin with my finger though right?

Looking to replace these bearings anyway once i get some more money saved up.

It should spin a lot longer. My 2001 426 spins a good 20 seconds at least. And bearings should be very easy to spin with your hand. I'd replace them.

[Sheridan450F]

Whoa! Now if you played that then that's awesome, just not my type of music. From the video of the ride and the music I would say your quite talented my friend!

 

Thanks man 

 

It should spin a lot longer. My 2001 426 spins a good 20 seconds at least. And bearings should be very easy to spin with your hand. I'd replace them.

 

That's what I was thinking, going to order them next payday ?  

[grayracer513]

If the wheel frees up when you loosen the axle, consider replacing the center spacer between the bearings.

[Sheridan450F]

If the wheel frees up when you loosen the axle, consider replacing the center spacer between the bearings.

 

Ok I will try that too thanks