Rear linkage - the horror, the horror...

[init ref]

I always figured I was one of those 'dodge a bullet' kind of guys, so after reading all the threads about the rear swingarm linkage bearings being undergreased and all the dire warnings to check and grease them yearly, monthly, weekly and/or daily I thought 'hah, mine are fine'.

Boy was I wrong. The lower shock bearing-totally frozen. One of the bearings in the linkage doodad-filled with rusty bits of metal. I haven't gotten the other one apart yet-rusted tight-but I'm hoping I have a strong stomach.

As I see it, there are two options. Be like me and hope for the best (and suffer the consequences) or get into it, pull it apart and grease the shinola out of it.

I would post pictures but it's against all laws of decency to show what was going on back there.

[brad the best]

you probably should purchase new bearings and bushings bud .

i use marine grade grease (mercury) with teflon . it lasts way longer in the bearings .

i put marine grade never seize on the bushings .

[WR450FGreg]

I would post pictures but it's against all laws of decency to show what was going on back there.

Aaaw, c'mon !!

I was hoping for a look at them.

It'll be a graphic lesson for us all.

Greg

[init ref]

OK, here are a couple of the less revolting pictures.

Not pretty.

[init ref]

One more for the doubters...

[Deserthound]

Thanks for the pics. They are the knock in the head I needed to get off my lazy a$$ and grease mine up. I've been putting it off for months and desert season is just around the corner.

[MaxPower]

how long did you torture that poor bike to make them so bad

[init ref]

how long did you torture that poor bike to make them so bad

It's a 2006. Ridden probably an average of 5X a month since Jan06 so maybe 200 rides of ~60 miles each so 12,000 miles total.

[Ironhorse]

Well depending on terrain and weather it doesn't seem unreasonable for them to be trashed. What kills me is 7 to 8 thousand $ for a new bike and no matter what brand, it is recomended that you take it apart and grease the whole thing before you start riding it.

[speedcomm]

I pulled mine apart recently because it squeeked after i washed it each time ! it looked just like those pics or worse, it was a rather embarising affair....... Had to replace the bearings and the shaft bits, not cheap, but made it less squeeky :0

[WR450FGreg]

What kills me is 7 to 8 thousand $ for a new bike and no matter what brand, it is recomended that you take it apart and grease the whole thing before you start riding it.

I'm with you totally on that one.

Imagine the uproar if new cars had to be pulled apart and maintained when you first bought them!

init ref,

I see what you mean. Thank you for posting the shots.

Rest assured that at least half of the WR/YZs out there are probably the same or worse!

I greased mine about 5 or 6 rides ago.

I'm on vacation at the moment.

I think I'll re-grease it all again today, and I'll be doing it every 700-800km from now on too!

As a side note; I came up with this to try and extend maintenance intervals: https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7019074#post7019074

Greg

[yz-dwg]

maybe I am lucky, I ride every weekend +/- 40 miles and rode my '06 for a year before I looked at mine, there was grease in there, not alot but definatly greased, I saw no "string chese" I heard about, just red grease and the bearing / bush's looked good, I dont do much water crossing in the dry heat of AZ. though. this is just my story and I would definatly check your bearings. steering and swing arm too. thanks for the pics

[init ref]

Just finished a test ride after getting the old bearing races pressed out at a machine shop (1 TON of pressure, glad I didn't try the 'beat on it with a socket and maul trick') and new ones pressed in. All bolted up, swingarm lubed (wahey) and I'm back living in plushville. Night and day difference in swingarm happiness.

Like Ben Stiller says in 'Starsky and Hutch'-Do it. Do it.

[Bamster]

I don't miss cleaning and greasing my linkage.

[beezer]

A lot of bearings get ruined from using a pressure washer to clean the bike.

[FastRides]

Wow... thanks for posting the pics - that first one reminds me why the work is well worth the effort. For those of you who haven't done this yet, there's more info and a couple of additional tips here: https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=504328&highlight=lessons+learned