Jacking up bike ? lowering links

[piko]

Hi everyone.

I am about to lower my bike, i have found lots of info. on what to purchase etc but i can't figure how to jack the bike up and were to place the jack so that i can get the dog bones off?

Presently i have her on the center stand but i have to put the center stand back up to get the lower bolt out.

Question:

Were do i place my (large) hydrolic car jack? and how do i keep the bike upright while it's jacked up? May seem silly questions but its got me stumped!

Guess i will wait until someone answers mt questions (ASP)before continuing with this project.

Thanks in advice, piko

 

[Bounce]

Two Words: Sky Hook

 

[piko]

I can do that by using the open rafter beams in my garage. Guess i should jack up the rear (any idea were to place the jack?? and use the rafters to stop the bike from falling over.

Thanks, great idea. got any suggestions as to were to place the jack and also should i steady the bike via a rope over the rafter and through the rear wheel??

 

[Fred W]

It's the same ting that you need to do for any kind of maintenance where you need to disconnect the rear suspension linkage.

Lots of posts on making and using a gantry to support the bike.

 

[Harald]

If you don't want to build a maintenance stand, you can put the bike on the sidestand and then jack at the rear of the engine. I've used this method to remove the centerstand/links/arm. Just make sure to break fasteners loose before jacking the bike.

 

[piko]

Thanks for all of the info.

All finished, at last i can now feel the ground beneath my feet while standing just about flat footed..................FANTASTIC!

I lowered the bike with soupys links and then i installed his aluminum side stand.

I didn't alter the front forks and after a 10 mile ride yesterday afternoon (reward for spending the morning working on the lowering) I did not notice any difference in the handling.

I am going for a 100 mile ride to the visitor center on Mauna Kea (9,600ft. elevation)in an hours time. There are lots of twisty roads to test the bike.

Only sad thing is I can't use my center stand anymore. I am one of those guys who park my bike on the center stand 99% of the time so i am really going to miss it.

I will report back on the ride....................ZOOM ZOOM

Guess i need to build some kind of Gantry, any ideas ?" Photos etc?

Piko

 

[ionbeam]

...Only sad thing is I can't use my center stand anymore. I am one of those guys who park my bike on the center stand 99% of the time so i am really going to miss it.

Take a 2x4 and cut it to 4 - 6" long. Back the rear tire onto the elevator (2x4), now deploy the center stand. Keep the elevator in one of the two storage units that Yamaha supplied on each side of the bike.

 

[ZOOOMM]

[quote Guess i need to build some kind of Gantry, any ideas ?" Photos etc?

We used this....2"x2"x 3/16" tube steel welded up to make an incredibly sturdy frame. Warn winch, 120v good for 1000lbs. It is a great set-up. Call me spoiled.

My link

My link

 

[piko]

Thanks for all of the info.

All finished, at last i can now feel the ground beneath my feet while standing just about flat footed..................FANTASTIC!

I lowered the bike with soupys links and then i installed his aluminum side stand.

I didn't alter the front forks and after a 10 mile ride yesterday afternoon (reward for spending the morning working on the lowering) I did not notice any difference in the handling.

I am going for a 100 mile ride to the visitor center on Mauna Kea (9,600ft. elevation)in an hours time. There are lots of twisty roads to test the bike.

Only sad thing is I can't use my center stand anymore. I am one of those guys who park my bike on the center stand 99% of the time so i am really going to miss it.

I will report back on the ride....................ZOOM ZOOM

Guess i need to build some kind of Gantry, any ideas ?" Photos etc?

Piko

Aloha,

I had a great ride,this is the first time that i have ever been able to put my feet on the ground, it was great and i felt so much more in control during the stop/start slow stuff. Holding the bike upright is now so much easier....I love it. Thanks Soupy for making the adjustable links.

I didn't know that 16 miles of the road was under repair and was compacted gravel, gravel & rain adds up to a dirty bike! Apart from that i had sunshine all of the way.

The bike handled great from 80mph on the long straights to leaning over in the twisty s I didn't notice any problems with not altering the forks.

I did notice one problem............

On the really rough parts of the road or the slight rise/lip as one approaches a bridge I did touch down, i could feel the back tire come in contact with the mud guard. I then set the shock to firm but still touched down. I guess after lowering the bike i need to alter the shock?" If this is the case could someone please explain, I do have the workshop manual on disk so guess i need to do some reading up. By the way i had the cases off and was carrying no luggage.

Mahalo, Piko

 

[TXFJR]

If you don't want to build a maintenance stand, you can put the bike on the sidestand and then jack at the rear of the engine. I've used this method to remove the centerstand/links/arm. Just make sure to break fasteners loose before jacking the bike.

By using this method, would it be only to remove the link bolt that is covered by the deployed center stand? or to completely remove both links? Am I understanding correctly that you would still have to support/raise the swing arm to relieve pressure on the other end of the link?

 

[Harald]

If you don't want to build a maintenance stand, you can put the bike on the sidestand and then jack at the rear of the engine. I've used this method to remove the centerstand/links/arm. Just make sure to break fasteners loose before jacking the bike.

By using this method, would it be only to remove the link bolt that is covered by the deployed center stand? or to completely remove both links? Am I understanding correctly that you would still have to support/raise the swing arm to relieve pressure on the other end of the link?

As long as you have the bike jacked up enough that there's no spring tension on the rear shock, you can completely remove everything. Remember that the swingarm is still attached to the frame and the back tire is resting on the ground (barely).

 

[TXFJR]

thank you! sounds great. I was going to have a "come to your house mobile MC mechanic" do it, but he wants $160 to install the links, and I think I can do it myself, just wasnt' sure how to support the bike. Another member mentioned placing the bike on the center stand, and removing the lower shock bolt to make room to remove the link bolt that normally the deployed center stand blocks. Which method do you think would be easier for a 1-man operation?

 

[Fred W]

I suppose that you could do it that way, but it goes against my anal retentive type-A nature. I can just visualize bumping the jack and having my bike fall in a heap to the ground. You think it;s hard to pick up a fallen FJR. Try one with no rear suspension.

I did build one of those black iron pipe gantrys to hold the bike up, but you don't really need one.

Just a couple of hefty screw eyes, screwed into something substantial in the overhead.

 

[TXFJR]

I suppose that you could do it that way, but it goes against my anal retentive type-A nature. I can just visualize bumping the jack and having my bike fall in a heap to the ground. You think it;s hard to pick up a fallen FJR. Try one with no rear suspension.

I did build one of those black iron pipe gantrys to hold the bike up, but you don't really need one.

Just a couple of hefty screw eyes, screwed into something substantial in the overhead.

Fred,

So you are saying that about the "leave it on the side stand" or "center stand and remove the lower shock mount" method?

 

[Fred W]

We used this....2"x2"x 3/16" tube steel welded up to make an incredibly sturdy frame. Warn winch, 120v good for 1000lbs. It is a great set-up. Call me spoiled.

My link

My link

Whoa! How did I miss this post before.

That stand is AWESOME!! Electric power winch?

Hell ya!! :yahoo:

[Tim Allen Voice]

Har-har-har!

[/Tim Allen Voice]

So you are saying that about the "leave it on the side stand" or "center stand and remove the lower shock mount" method?

I was talking about using the side stand and a floor jack.

 

[08FJR4ME]

I stopped at the Yamaha dealer several weeks back to get a sticker on the XR. While I was there one of the Tech's. was doing some front fork service on a MC. He was using an engine hoist with a cinch strap around the triple tree. Seem to work slicker than *****. Say's he does it that way on all bikes. The good news is that I have an engine Holst in the garage. The bad news is I never have enough time to do service on my own forks. Hopefully before EOM the fluid will be changed.

Dave

 

[ULEWZ]

No front stand required or jacking under the engine.

Put bike on center stand.

Place floor jack under back rear of the right swingarm.

Loosen all dogbone nuts and bolts.

Raise swingarm slightly until the upper dogbone bolt can be easily removed.

Remove lower shock mount nut and bolt.

Rotate lower shock mount until lower dogbone bolt can be removed.

Install new dogbones and lower mount nut/bolt.

Install lower shock mount bolt/nut.

Raise swingarm using floorjack until the upper dogbone mount bolt/nut can be installed.

Lower floorjack.

This job took me 15 minutes and is easy weasy, except I raised the rear but same job.

 

[n1acguy]

I was talking about using the side stand and a floor jack.

That's the way I did it.

I wish I could find the thread I posted about how I shortened the stands. It's a little detailed, but not that hard to do.

 

[n1acguy]

Here are the posts about the stands

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=129335&st=0&p=746030&hl=+center%20+stand&fromsearch=1entry746030

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=128886&st=0&p=742416&hl=+center%20+stand&fromsearch=1entry742416