Swingarm Pivot Bearings and Steering Bearings repack

[FJRski_2007]

Yamaha maintenance calls for two services at 16,000 miles. Swingarm Pivot Bearings and Steering Bearings repack.

Which grease is everyone using for these two services? And where is the best place to order all the replacement parts?

Thanks,

 

[Ignacio]

Replace? It calls for a repack and inspection I thought. I wouldn't imagine the swingarm needs to be replaced unless excessively worn ....and then the stock parts are listed here. And the head bearings not either unless you want to upgrade to tapered bearings as was documented here since you have it apart.

..as for grease......and a guarantee this thread will get moved to NEPRT in short order......how about what the manual says "w/lithium-soap based grease"?

Personally I have a tub of Mobil 1 Synthetic (the red stuff) so that's what I use because it's handy.

 

[SkooterG]

My advice is not to bother doing it.

"If it aint' broke, don't fix it."

 

[FJRski_2007]

Ignacio,

Thanks for the info. What is not clear in the manual is what has to be done regards to Swingarm Pivot Bearings and Steering Bearings service. Am I replacing just the grease? Am I replacing any parts?

Replace? It calls for a repack and inspection I thought. I wouldn't imagine the swingarm needs to be replaced unless excessively worn ....and then the stock parts are listed here. And the head bearings not either unless you want to upgrade to tapered bearings as was documented here since you have it apart.
..as for grease......and a guarantee this thread will get moved to NEPRT in short order......how about what the manual says "w/lithium-soap based grease"?

Personally I have a tub of Mobil 1 Synthetic (the red stuff) so that's what I use because it's handy.

That is what I'm thinking, but I was not sure if that is how I should go about it. I just want to be proactive about it.

My advice is not to bother doing it.
"If it aint' broke, don't fix it."

 

[exskibum]

Ignacio,
Thanks for the info. What is not clear in the manual is what has to be done regards to Swingarm Pivot Bearings and Steering Bearings service. Am I replacing just the grease? Am I replacing any parts?

Replace? It calls for a repack and inspection I thought. I wouldn't imagine the swingarm needs to be replaced unless excessively worn ....and then the stock parts are listed here. And the head bearings not either unless you want to upgrade to tapered bearings as was documented here since you have it apart.
..as for grease......and a guarantee this thread will get moved to NEPRT in short order......how about what the manual says "w/lithium-soap based grease"?

Personally I have a tub of Mobil 1 Synthetic (the red stuff) so that's what I use because it's handy.

That is what I'm thinking, but I was not sure if that is how I should go about it. I just want to be proactive about it.

Wait til you get it apart and discover how little there is to really do, take apart or seriously "repack". You're basically just getting it apart, cleaning the exterior and making sure the roller bearings on the U-joint side have plenty of grease and a thin coating on the spacers, etc through the rest of the pivot shaft passage. I expected it to be more involved, and I expected to find dirt or lack of grease, etc. Not so -- looked like I could have left it alone for another 20K miles.

One word of warning -- you do need a very large (36 mm) socket to remove the left side lock nut (inboard of the U-joint) and a 27 mm socket for the right side pivot shaft nut. For some reason, I had bought a 36 mm some time ago, but this is an unusual size to have in your toolbox, except for specific applications like this.

 

[FJRski_2007]

Thanks for the info.

Ignacio,
Thanks for the info. What is not clear in the manual is what has to be done regards to Swingarm Pivot Bearings and Steering Bearings service. Am I replacing just the grease? Am I replacing any parts?

Replace? It calls for a repack and inspection I thought. I wouldn't imagine the swingarm needs to be replaced unless excessively worn ....and then the stock parts are listed here. And the head bearings not either unless you want to upgrade to tapered bearings as was documented here since you have it apart.
..as for grease......and a guarantee this thread will get moved to NEPRT in short order......how about what the manual says "w/lithium-soap based grease"?

Personally I have a tub of Mobil 1 Synthetic (the red stuff) so that's what I use because it's handy.

That is what I'm thinking, but I was not sure if that is how I should go about it. I just want to be proactive about it.

Wait til you get it apart and discover how little there is to really do, take apart or seriously "repack". You're basically just getting it apart, cleaning the exterior and making sure the roller bearings on the U-joint side have plenty of grease and a thin coating on the spacers, etc through the rest of the pivot shaft passage. I expected it to be more involved, and I expected to find dirt or lack of grease, etc. Not so -- looked like I could have left it alone for another 20K miles.

One word of warning -- you do need a very large (36 mm) socket to remove the left side lock nut (inboard of the U-joint) and a 27 mm socket for the right side pivot shaft nut. For some reason, I had bought a 36 mm some time ago, but this is an unusual size to have in your toolbox, except for specific applications like this.

 

[Baz]

The service manual only suggests a steering head bearing check. You only need to re-pack if you feel play in the tree when you wiggle the front end while the bike is on the double stand.

Lubing the swing arm points is suggested with Lithium grease. This is a good idea as over time water works its way in and washes out the grease. So does car washes.

 

[Bounce]

Servicing those areas isn't hard. It takes a little time and patience, but it's well within an average DIY mechanic's ability.

Swing Arm

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/sa/sa.html

U-Joint

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/ujoint/uj.html

Steering Head Bearing

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/shb/shb.html

 

[FJRski_2007]

Thank you for the links.

Servicing those areas isn't hard. It takes a little time and patience, but it's well within an average DIY mechanic's ability.
Swing Arm

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/sa/sa.html

U-Joint

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/ujoint/uj.html

Steering Head Bearing

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/shb/shb.html

 

[Bockelrider]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Hudson]

My advice is not to bother doing it.
"If it aint' broke, don't fix it."

Cause that approach worked out well for ya the last time, right Scooty?

Ski, this is the stuff that seems to be the cat's ass for long-life moly. Part number 10625K11 for $16.71 for a 1 lb container. Thanks to AuburnFJR for the tip, this stuff seems to last a lot longer than the soap based grease. Clicky on this thread for more info on bearing service generally (long thread that focused on the dog bones) and pix of the moly in action.

 

[ahchiu]

My advice is not to bother doing it.
"If it aint' broke, don't fix it."

Cause that approach worked out well for ya the last time, right Scooty?

Ski, this is the stuff that seems to be the cat's ass for long-life moly. Part number 10625K11 for $16.71 for a 1 lb container. Thanks to AuburnFJR for the tip, this stuff seems to last a lot longer than the soap based grease. Clicky on this thread for more info on bearing service generally (long thread that focused on the dog bones) and pix of the moly in action.

+1, take the time to do it, it's not that hard, don't wait till it's all rusted out.

 

[900gc]

I was having some clunking from the steering head before the 16k service was due. ( I was the second owner so who knows what went on with the bike before me). Since the fork seals leaked (tried the seal mate trick to no avail) and they had to come off, I figured I'd check the steering head bearings for a repack as the manual suggests. It may not be the case for all FJR's, but on mine, I found the top bearing nicely packed but the bottom one was not. It was what I would call a little greasy but far from packed with grease. Anyway, packed it with some good stuff and reassembled, properly torquing the nuts with my home made nut socket. No more clunking. All good now.

Yours may be fine but mine was not. I'm glad I took the time to do it. As for the swing arm pivot bearings, unless you use your bike for adventure touring on a regular basis , you shouldn't have to fuss with those for quite a while as the sages have said. And... Unless you have already taken care of it, the pumpkin shaft spline is probably under lubed and getting rusty as many have found.

 

[Fred W]

My advice is not to bother doing it.
"If it aint' broke, don't fix it."

Cause that approach worked out well for ya the last time, right Scooty?

Ski, this is the stuff that seems to be the cat's ass for long-life moly. Part number 10625K11 for $16.71 for a 1 lb container. Thanks to AuburnFJR for the tip, this stuff seems to last a lot longer than the soap based grease. Clicky on this thread for more info on bearing service generally (long thread that focused on the dog bones) and pix of the moly in action.

I think FJRski may have greased his pivots about 5 years ago...