New tire for the rear and other misc 'stuff'

[ctandc]

So my new Z6 for the rear should be here tomorrow. So tomorrow morning I'm going to take the wheel off to have the tire replaced, and figured I'd go ahead and get some of my 'winter to do list' worked on...

While the wheel is off I'm going to go ahead and bolt on the Bandit 1200 rear shock I scored off of Ebay. Any gotchas while I'm in there?..Looks pretty straight forward...bolt off, bolt on..

After that, it's time to remove the rear caliper and go ahead and take it apart, clean it up, and install the new seal kit. Then install the new EBC rear rotor I've had sitting collecting dust and the EBC rear pads. I'll also install the Speedbleeder (Thanks CP) and flush / fill / bleed the rear brake system.

I plan on inspecting the bearings etc when it's apart, but I'm thinking wiping out the old grease and packing in some new Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease oughta do it...

I'll then take the chance to really clean the chain, take the front sprocket cover off, clean it out, and also check the clutch pushrod and clean and lube everything, and I mine as well go ahead and install the new clutch cable I've had sitting around for awhile, and adjust it of course.

Anything else I should check /do while I've got everything torn down?

What about lubing / checking shock pivot / bushings and swingarm bushings / bearings??


As always thanks for your help and insight

Chris

[steves]

If you're feeling like you don't have enough to do... why not service the swing arm while you've got the shock apart?

http://billsbikesnservice.com/swingarm.htm

[arsenic]

very nice write up, good post Steve

[ctandc]

Hmm...

If the weather forecast is going to stay cold, it might motivate me enough to go ahead and tear the swingarm out and detail / clean / paint etc.

Thanks for the link.

[ctandc]

Got Bored, had a beer, Kat started coming apart...

So I put the victim up on my homemade pipe stand and get to work.

I got the rear tire off, everything looks to be in pretty good shape. Bearings look good. But I'll force some new grease in there with my finger when it goes back together.

Swingarm is NASTY. Some small surface rust spots underneath...just needs freshened up. So seeing as it's going to be really cold the next week or so, I'm going to go ahead and pull the swingarm off tomorrow and clean it up..I think I have some high heat silver paint...I may scuff it down and shoot it while I'm at it.

I also plan on cleaning and greasing all the bearings...they looked a little nasty.

The Bandit shock bolts right up. It looks like it's about 1"-1.5" longer (mounting hole to mounting hole) so it looks like it will raises the seat height of the bike a bit..I think I'll kinda like that aspect.

And no surprise, the brake fluid was as nasty as the stuff I flushed / changed out when I did the front brakes awhile back.

I took some pics for future reference if needed, and realized I didn't take pics or note on what notch the chain adjusters were at.....I wouldn't think it would be a big deal, since I didn't loosen the chain adjusters, just took the axle / nut off....and of course the adjusters just came out of the swingarm when the axle came loose.

I'm going to sleep now............

[md86]

Ah , but the change in height because of the shock MAY precipitate at LEAST a check of the chain slack now ..... Adjusters not touched will mean it's still straight though , provided it was straight to start with . Sounds like you're doing a fine job , though .

[ctandc]

Ah , but the change in height because of the shock MAY precipitate at LEAST a check of the chain slack now ..... Adjusters not touched will mean it's still straight though , provided it was straight to start with . Sounds like you're doing a fine job , though .

That's what I was thinking actually, just too late / early to get it across. I was going to set the chain tension anyway.

Can't find any place open that will change my tire except one Honda Dealership....and they want $45 OFF The bike to do it..........

I still need to clean all the parts up before they go back on, and I did decide to go ahead and pull the swingarm out...

I may go ahead and order my turn signals, as I think I can "engineer" my own tag / turn signal bracket, as I'm going to finally chop the rear fender.

As for it being straight....sprocket wear looks good...and I ran a line front tire to tire to check when I first got the bike, and it was really close, if not dead on.

I need to go pick up some kerosene to clean the swingarm with.....that and all the bearings / races. I'm thinking doing that then blowing it out with the air compressor would be okay, then I can pack fresh grease in all those spots..

[The CyberPoet]

The Katana's shock-dogbone pivots contain sleeves between the bolts and the bearings. Pull the sleeves out and repack the grease in there (as suggested above). Because of the location, unless you are planning on pulling the bearings themselves, I wouldn't advise washing out the old grease with anything (kerosene or otherwise); just pack the fresh grease in as good as you can (I use marine-grade grease for this, because they will see water over the years). The sleeves themselves are likely to be scored (or mildly corroded) on the side that was always facing down; when you reinstall, flip them over so the scored side is facing up instead. I also like to coat the bolts themselves with anti-seize compound along the shaft where it will hit the sleeves to help ensure they never bind to each other.

Of special note: In theory, the bolts at both ends of the shock and at both ends of the dogbones should be just loose enough to allow both to rotate. The way virtually every bike comes from the Japanese factories, they are usually set too tight (European brands tend to get it right for some reason). I usually replace the bolts & interference nuts that's OEM with a replacement (grade 8 or higher) bolt and nylock nut so that I can set the tightness to permit slightly easier rotation of the lower shock mount & lower dogbone mount as it moves [credit to Ohlins Tech Reps for tipping me off to this overly-tight lower-mounts in general].

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[KatanaSoldier]

So I put the victim up on my homemade pipe stand and get to work.

I got the rear tire off, everything looks to be in pretty good shape. Bearings look good. But I'll force some new grease in there with my finger when it goes back together.

Swingarm is NASTY. Some small surface rust spots underneath...just needs freshened up. So seeing as it's going to be really cold the next week or so, I'm going to go ahead and pull the swingarm off tomorrow and clean it up..I think I have some high heat silver paint...I may scuff it down and shoot it while I'm at it.

I also plan on cleaning and greasing all the bearings...they looked a little nasty.

The Bandit shock bolts right up. It looks like it's about 1"-1.5" longer (mounting hole to mounting hole) so it looks like it will raises the seat height of the bike a bit..I think I'll kinda like that aspect.

And no surprise, the brake fluid was as nasty as the stuff I flushed / changed out when I did the front brakes awhile back.

I took some pics for future reference if needed, and realized I didn't take pics or note on what notch the chain adjusters were at.....I wouldn't think it would be a big deal, since I didn't loosen the chain adjusters, just took the axle / nut off....and of course the adjusters just came out of the swingarm when the axle came loose.

I'm going to sleep now............

Nice work. You earned that sleep!

[md86]

Can't find any place open that will change my tire except one Honda Dealership....and they want $45 OFF The bike to do it..........

Wow , incentive to learn how to DIY . It's not TERRIBLY hard , you just need to buy some spoons/prybars to get you started , and learn a couple techniques/tricks to make life easier . If you're interested , I'd be willing to learn ya .

[ctandc]

The Katana's shock-dogbone pivots contain sleeves between the bolts and the bearings. Pull the sleeves out and repack the grease in there (as suggested above). Because of the location, unless you are planning on pulling the bearings themselves, I wouldn't advise washing out the old grease with anything (kerosene or otherwise); just pack the fresh grease in as good as you can (I use marine-grade grease for this, because they will see water over the years). The sleeves themselves are likely to be scored (or mildly corroded) on the side that was always facing down; when you reinstall, flip them over so the scored side is facing up instead. I also like to coat the bolts themselves with anti-seize compound along the shaft where it will hit the sleeves to help ensure they never bind to each other.

Of special note: In theory, the bolts at both ends of the shock and at both ends of the dogbones should be just loose enough to allow both to rotate. The way virtually every bike comes from the Japanese factories, they are usually set too tight (European brands tend to get it right for some reason). I usually replace the bolts & interference nuts that's OEM with a replacement (grade 8 or higher) bolt and nylock nut so that I can set the tightness to permit slightly easier rotation of the lower shock mount & lower dogbone mount as it moves [credit to Ohlins Tech Reps for tipping me off to this overly-tight lower-mounts in general].

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

Different torque specs for these then? Should I not go back to the factory torque settings listed in the manual?

[The CyberPoet]

Different torque specs for these then? Should I not go back to the factory torque settings listed in the manual?

Go by what the manual specs or, if you're using a nylock nut, you can go 10% lighter without penalty (since a nylock nut won't back-out, while an interference nut not at spec may). I think they roll off the assembly line torqued higher than the specs in the manual...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[ctandc]

Well had a little time this morning before heading over to a friend's house...

So I went ahead and dropped the swingarm out.



Nice huh? 16 years worth of grunge, chain lube, road debris, dirt you name it. Some small surface rust spots. I really don't want to have to paint it..if I don't have to. I do have some Silver colored Duplicolor Engine Enamel laying around if it comes to that. Probably hit it with some scotchbrite pads and see what it looks like after that and a good cleaning.


For those that haven't seen one in action here's my Kat up on the homemade $50 pipe stand hanging. Works great.



And here is where the hooks on the ratchet straps support the bike



Bike is very stable like this. I did use a floor jack under the mount where the centerstand would go to help keep it solid when I was breaking bolts loose etc.

For those who haven't done this and your Kat has some miles / years on it...you might want to take the time during Winter to do it. I couldn't believe how NASTY the bearings inside all the suspension parts were.

Had a bit more time this evening and I cleaned the rear cushion lever, scuffed it, masked the bearings with some shop towels in the holes, and shot it with some black Engine Enamel I had laying around.

I used brake cleaner to clean the lever and the bearings out as much as possible. Even after using the compressor to blow out the bearings, there was still nasty gunk / soldified grease in 'em, so I ended up taking paper shop towels, and using my finger to roll 'em around in there and clean 'em up. Tedious, but well worth it. The bearings moved so much better DRY without the old grease than they did with the old. Then I forced some new Mobil 1 synthetic grease in all the bearings, then cleaned all the inserts with brake cleaner and a scotchbrite pad. 45 minutes or so later here's the nasty rear cushion lever now



And you can see the fresh grease on the bearings in this pic



Tomorrow after work I'll start on the Two rear cushion lever rods and do the the same.

Then it's on to cleaning up the swingarm and greasing up those bearings as well.

Go by what the manual specs or, if you're using a nylock nut, you can go 10% lighter without penalty (since a nylock nut won't back-out, while an interference nut not at spec may). I think they roll off the assembly line torqued higher than the specs in the manual...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

Well I'll probably shoot for middle range on the torque settings. The Suzuki manual lists the following torque specs:

Rear Cushion lever rods (where they bolt into the swingarm )= 60.5-87 ft/lbs

Rear Cushion Lever rods (where they bolt onto the rear cushion lever) = 60.5 - 87 ft/lbs as well

Lower and upper shock bolts want 34.5 - 52 ft/lbs

The swingarm pivot bolt is 40-63.5 ft/lbs

Where the rear cushion lever bolts into the frame mount is 95-139 ft/lbs

[md86]

Looks like you have an oil leak at the top of the engine somewhere .....

[ctandc]

Looks like you have an oil leak at the top of the engine somewhere .....

Yup here's the thread from awhile back talking about that

http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=75418