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Warchild

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So I was replacing the factory chain after 27K miles, when I spied from above that one of the oil line keepers for the Pro-Oiler had come loose on the swingarm.

When I got under the swingarm to fix it, I discovered that the loose keeper was the least of my concerns... :oops:


missimgShockBolt.jpg


Holy fucking shit, how does a big, beefy 14mm steel locknut just back off from vibration and cause you to loose the long steel bolt?! That shiny steel spacer that is now wedged between chassis and linkage is the only thing holding the linkage in place! Fuuuuuuuuuuuck me, this could have ended badly. o_O

Ordered up new hardware, and thankfully none are backordered, Yamaha has all the needed hardware in their Georgia warehouse, I should be able to reassemble this upcoming weekend. The damning thing is: I have a 5-day, 5-state 2500-mile run planned in exactly 10 days... if there is any delay, it might cause a distinct attitude problem. :rolleyes:
 
You got me.... that wedged-in steel spacer was acting for the bolt, keeping the linkage from moving about - it wasn't offering any "clunk" noises or movement, so it wasn't detectable. 🤷‍♂️
 
Could have been much worse. You could have done that 2500 mile tour and THEN bad things could have happened.
Count yourself lucky and then go find that bastard that stole your nut!
 
Follow-up on this situation.... decided that I only wanted to do this rear suspension work once. So while I had the replacement bolt to reconnect the factory shock, I decided to wait for the new Penske arrived, and just swap them out then.

Removing the factory shock from this tiny racebike chassis was not very fun. At all. Thank the Road Gods for youtube videos on this task:

MT-10OEMsuspension.jpg


Factory vs the Penske with its gorgeous blood-red Eibach spring. The Penske 8983 Double Clicker is one serious piece of Man-Candy!

shockcompare.jpg


Replacement hardware arrived, let's get to it!

reassembly-installation_cu.jpg


Installation was not quite as bad as extraction. but still not a fun task.


PenskeInstalled.jpg


The red Eibach spring matches the red aux fuel valve handle - I am all about cosmetics! lol 🙃

PenskeRightSide.jpg


Holy fucking shit, I can not adequately explain how this new Penske has literally transformed the bike's handling! The ability to maintain a precision line in a downhill triple-digit sweeper - even when heavily loaded - is just stunningly effortless compared to before. While the shock was a bit spendy, it is absolutely, positively worth every penny!

Owyhee.jpg


Kennewick_911-0072.jpg
 
I like that Dale is such a fashionista that he color-matches his spring to his lever cover. :D

Oh yeah. Thanks again for the tip on Pro-Bolts color matched fasteners for the RED '03. ;)
 
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