Other New Bike Inspection and Prep

Sorry for any spelling mistakes or weird words. I'm writing this on my iPhone and no proof reading as I don't have the time.

So you bought a new bike. Congratulations.
Now don't go and ride it. You have some work to do. This work is imperative and will save you money down the road.
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Things you need.

  • Torque wrench.
  • Motorex 2000 waterproof grease.
  • Antisieze grease.
  • Blue and red loctite.
  • Dielectric grease. Buy it in the pressurized can.
  • basic tools. And some picks.
  • shop towels
  • well lit and clean work table
  • parts cleaner "brake kleen"

So what's all this for?
well if you don't know the factories do not properly setup your bike.
They do not grease bearings worth a damn.
They also do not properly torque anything.

You need to disassemble your bike.
Take the plastics and tank off.
Remove the subframe.
Now the front & rear tire/rims
Now take the forks off.

Now were ready to start the preventative maintenance.
You need to remove the handle bars and the top triple clamp.
Next you need to remove the bottom clamp. This gives you access to the head stay bearings. Clean all the grease off the bearings stem and races.
You can use brake clean to get it all off or a parts washer. Please don't leave the stock grease. It's worthless trust me. Take the time and do it right.
You need to repack the bearings with the motorex grease. If you want you can press the stem off the bottom clamp to make packing the bearing easier but it's not necessary. Just make sure you pack is sufficiently.
Make sure to apply grease on the stem and races in the headstay.
Since the clamps are off and we have easy access to the cdi. Let's work on this next.
Remove the CDI. Disconnect it turn is upside down and get your dielectric grease. Apply to the contacts you don't have to be conservative, but he more you apply the harder it is to replug it since you have to displace the grease. You might ask WTF is this for? Just like bearings these connectors rust especially when using a power washer or riding real wet conditions and well they short also. The grease is non conductive so is expels water prevents corrosion. When reattaching the CDI to the frame use blue loctite on the bolts.

Reassemble your clamps to the frame. I use blue loctight on the final nut of the stem to top clamp.

So now let's just get the dielectric stuff done. Every electrical plug/connector needs dia electric grease. This includes the the inside of the spark plug coil stick. Both it's connector and the actual part that goes over the spark plug. the carb, magneto etc needs to be greased with dielectric grease.

Well you're partly done. Weeee!!!

Time for rear suspension components. Yes this is the hardest and annoying and most time consuming. This must be done.
Well remove the rear shock. Let's start. When the shock is removed take it to a bench that's well lit and free of clutter. On the top of the shock is a bearing with spacers. You need to remove the spacers to expose the needle bearing.
Now you're gonna get annoyed here. Get your self a pick. And remove the crappy dried grease out of the bearing. You probably are going to pop a needle out of the bearing. if you do not worry this will allow you to get the grease out. Just it's a pita to get the needles back in and try not to pop many out as you will curse trying to get them back in. Sorry this sucks. I admit it. So you have the old crap out. Let's mix our grease. Mix? *** do I mean? Well pivot bearings are a high stress point and also subject to water abuse and pressure washing. I use a mix of antisieze and motorex 2000 grease.
it's a mix of 8:2 of grease to antisieze.
How ever you can skip the mix on this bearing and a few others if you want. How ever DO NOT Skip the mix on the swingarm bearings. I'll explain later.
So get your grease in and all the needles in and replace the spacers. Shocks done. set it aside

You now need to remove the linkage from the swingarm and frame. I suggest loosening all the nuts before fully removing. Reason is these nuts are red loctited in and require a lot of force to brake them loose..

Place the linkage on your table and like the shock clean all needle bearings. Three in the linkage and two in the dog bone. Add your grease/mix and set aside.


Now remove the swing arm.

There are bearings at the end of each side. These bearings are the most abused/neglected bearings on the bike. Most people don't even think about these. But think about it. This point of the bike takes the most stress and work. Plus to replace these bearings are a pita. So why not take extra care of them. This is where mentioned above the grease antisieze mix is crucial. Just do it here and don't blow it off. Trust me three years on my 07 with power washing my bearings are perfect with no rust.

Ok all the bearings are greased and electrical components are greased. Time to reassemble. When doing the linkage and shock you need to use red loctite and correct torque. Apply a thin layer of grease/antisieze mix to the axles and swingarm pivot bolt. I also like to put a little bit of grease in the area of voided space in the engine case where the swing arm pivot bolt goes through.. This just helps prevent corrosion.

I also suggest since you have all the plastics off etc to install an hour meter.

Wow now you have a bike again. Well now add blue loctite to all the bolts and torque.

Well good luck. Twist the throttle. Be safe.



I want to add and talk about why I specifically said to use motorex 2000 grease. I've used many different greases in my life and I can with out a doubt say this is the best grease I have ever used period. It's florescent green and opaque which means you can tell if it's fully penetrated a part and not have a air pocket. Plus it doesn't look like crap if it dribbles on something when you over apply.

I don't normally push for some product specifically but I can not stress this stuff enough. I will not use anything else. If you get the big container it will last for ever if you have one bike. It will last a few years if you have multiple bikes.

Mine container is 4 yrs old now and it has yet to separate. Ie oil on top etc.
 
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