Hey guys, I took everyones advice about greasing the linkage and swingarm bearings due to lack of factory grease. While cleaning the linkage I noticed what appeared to be yellow nylon like matierial between each needle bearing .What is this? dried grease? or some sort of material to help hold the bearings in place. I ended up leaving the yellow stuff in the bearing cleaned, added new grease and reassembled. Should the yellow be removed? By the way Ive owned my 426 for 4 months and I love it. Havent had any clutch problems yet. Going to look at the basket today when I change the oil to see if the reinforcing ribs are on the basket.

Dirty,

You are correct, that stuff is intended to hold bearings in place and shouldn’t be removed.

While you are looking at your basket you may want to check the torque on main gear retaining nut and check counterbalancer drive gear (on main shaft behind main gear) for play. A few 426 owners (like me) have had these come loose and ruin the key holding the counterbalancer drive gear on the crankshaft.

Also, there was hardly any grease on my steering head bearings, so you may want to grease those while you are at it.

Hope this helps…

Thanks Hick, Ill be sure to check the items you metioned. This all may be a pain but its a good way to learn about the bikes mechanics. I appreciate your help