You know how one job leads to another sometimes? Well after removing the rear wheel on my RS, I could see the three point link at the bottom of the shock absorber was well plastered with s***e thrown up by the rear wheel, so I decided to take it all apart and re grease the pins and linkages/dogbones etc. My bike is a 2017 model and has only done 6500 miles, so I was suprised to find the whole set up was very dry i.e. no grease evident and some of the connecting bolts were rusty on the bearing surfaces. I've cleaned everything up and am now in the process of putting the whole assembly back together, but I thought I'd mention it here as this job is one of those out of sight out of mind things sometimes. I strip and re grease the linkage on my Aprilia Tuono every year for the same reason and I would guess all single rear shock bikes will have a similar set up, so it's just something to watch out for. I'm lucky, I have a 1 tonne hoist in my garage so its straightforward to do this work, but if you don't have the necessary equipment or don't feel confident enough to do it yourself, I'd strongly suggest when you take your bike for its annual service, you ask the garage to do this for you.
I'm not surprised to hear the joints are dry as quite often manufacturers fail to add enough grease. I would suggest you also pop out the swing arm pin and grease that as you would be surprised how many don't want to come out when the need arises. If you refit the back wheel and sit it on the floor, although support the weigth of the bike still with your hoist hanging onto the frame, then it should push straight out with a pin, grease it and slide it straight back in. A friends Ducati swing arm pin is solid and needs to be tackled at some point but I can see it turning into a right engineeering job.
Many monoshock bikes have linkages exposed to crap from the rear wheel like that. One of the first mods I've done on such bikes, the current ZZR1400 included, is to make a flexible cover/flap which effectively extends the under seat wheel arch down past the linkage so it gets no spray or debris from the rear wheel and it works a treat. I've used thin rubber sheet and even the heavy duty plastic damp course membrane in the past, zip tied into position, it's quick and easy. On swingarm pivot removal, I had a battle with the Berg's swingarm bolt a few months back after the bearings developed play and it was a right B*****D! https://husaberg.org/t/570-swingarm-removal.27113/
Here is a 2019 off road bike that lacked a simple greasing of the bearings and swinging arm spindle and yes it did take some penetrating oil and hefty blows to get it out
The T300 range, like my Thunderbird 900, are equipped with grease nipples. A brilliant solution, I wonder why they dropped it.
I'd just like to say, I stripped out the swinging arm of my 2018 Speed Triple when it was 2 years old. I was surprised to see everything had been greased up previously. I'll be doing it again this Winter. So it's not every bike that is effected by a lack of grease at build. Perhaps it depends on where it was built.
I don't think they come out of the factory 'dry' I just think the design itself is poor, where the linkage is constantly exposed to dirt being thrown up by the rear tyre. I think Pegscrapers solution is a pro active one, but why can't the factory do something like that?
Rather than start a new thread, I thought I'd add this on here as it's a similar issue. My clutch lever was stiff to pull in and also wasn't springing back properly. I suspected a dry cable, but the actual culprit seemed to be the lever pivot bolt which. when I removed it, was pitted and had some corrosion on it, I cleaned the bearing surfaces up with emery cloth, regreased everything (including oiling the cable just in case) and fitted it all back together. Everything works fine now, but I'm beginning to suspect a previous owner kept the bike outdoors for extended periods. First the shock linkage now this.
I had a new Speed Triple do the same after a few days of rain. No pitting or rusting but 2 wet days riding was enough to stop the leaver returning properly. I thought the clutch was slipping!
I've never had that happen on any other bike. My Thruxton had done twice the mileage and was twice the age of the Street RS and had no issues. I'm hoping that's the end of the niggling issues, I've had. I have to say I'm really pleased with the bike in all other respects.
I've never had that happen on any other bike. My Thruxton had done twice the mileage and was twice the age of the Street RS and had no issues. I'm hoping that's the end of the niggling issues, I've had. I have to say I'm really pleased with the bike in all other respects.
Read this discussion. May be this can help you here https://www.thetriumphforum.com/threads/rear-suspension-gosloto-linkage-dry.36043/. If yes then mentioned me here.
