After reading the posts concerning hub failures, it ran through my mind that there might be a relationship between spoke tension and the hubs exploding. Like all mindful riders, I have kept a close eye on my spokes and tightened them often when I thought they were a little bit loose. However, I recently invested in a Faast spoke torque wrench and went over both wheels last night. I discovered to my astonishment that my spokes were overly tight. I used a Q-Tip dipped in penetrating oil, swabbed each spoke at the junction of the nipple and the base of the nipple so that I could get proper torque. I'm wondering if some of these hub failures might be the result of over-tightened spokes that pull the hub apart when the rider hits a severe bump?¿. Without the torque wrench, it's so easy to apply far too much pressure to the spokes.
I realize that not everyone can afford the White Brothers wheel sets, but I ordered a pair recently and they arrived two days ago. The Talon hubs, Buchannan Bulldog spokes, and gold anodized Excel rims of these wheel sets are quite striking, not to mention far superior in strength to the stock wheels. I saved about $150 on the set by ordering them thru a shop in Yakima, Washington. I forget the name of the shop but they advertise in all the magazines.
My suspension is in the hands of Mx_Tech at present and I am doing extensive maintenance and upgrades while the bike is apart. Other than the hesitation glitch, I've experienced no other problems with my 426.
While it's fresh on my mind, I had ordered the chain slider/guide/roller kit from TM Designs and talked to the owner for a bit. He told me to inspect the chain slider on top and about in the middle to see if the chain had worn a hole there. The TM kit has a teflon slider that reduces friction and wears much longer. While there wasn't a hole on my slider, there was considerable wear in this area and was fast approaching wearing down to the swingarm itself. He said that many 426 owners had their chain wear through the slider and start cutting a groove into the swingarm. Bummer!
As far as some owners being disappointed with Yamaha's lack of standing behind their products, I can certainly sympathize with them. Larry Roseler, owner of Stroker Speed Equipment, did a stage III motor work for me on a '94 KLX and while in the process of disassembling the engine, discovered that the rod big-end bearing showed signs of galling from a lack of oiling. Evidently, the '94 crankshaft didn't have the oiling holes placed at the correct angles for getting oil into the bearing faces. Kawasaki gave me a '95 crank free of charge. Needless to say, if Kawasaki would build a competitive four stroke motocrosser, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Larry handled getting the crank for me at no extra charge. The moral is that when manufacturers,shops,mechanics, etc.....show a genuine interest in simply doing what's right....and even going beyond what's expected, it makes an impression on the customer and their business success will reflect that. Hey, look at the Yugo!
