[hellraiser_yank]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Krishna

I'm more interested in the steel grey 230, a twin of my own 230

I'm in a perpetual dilemma, heart says zx6r, mind says zx10r given the small difference in weight and price.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by hellraiser_yank

I'm more interested in the steel grey 230, a twin of my own 230

I'm in a perpetual dilemma, heart says zx6r, mind says zx10r given the small difference in weight and price.

Well the 230 stays hidden as always. And awesome to you see you too have the steel grey 230. What an awesome car.

Well, if budget is not an issue then go with what the heart says. Unless you have already have lots of miles done on a liter class the 6R will keep you interested for a few years.

Cheers
Krishna

[hellraiser_yank]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Well the 230 stays hidden as always. And awesome to you see you too have the steel grey 230. What an awesome car.

Well, if budget is not an issue then go with what the heart says. Unless you have already have lots of miles done on a liter class the 6R will keep you interested for a few years.

Cheers
Krishna

My background for bikes is Multiple heavily ported RD350s and an RZ350.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by hellraiser_yank

My background for bikes is Multiple heavily ported RD350s and an RZ350.

ZX10R if possible - make it as much future proof as you can. If you get the ZX6R after a little time your mind will drive you crazy as to why you didn’t get the 10R, assuming we are all stark raving bonkers

Cheers

[krishnaprasadgg]

This post has been pending for a long time, well a little over 2 months to be a bit more clear, that is when I teased a much sought-after upgrade for the R1 that had finally arrived after a couple of months of waiting.

It was not supposed to take this long but finally after weeks and weeks of delay and unfortunate timing and scheduling clashes finally the time has come to reveal what's in the box.

So without further adieu let me introduce to you the replacement for the busted rear shock of the R1, The Ohlins TTX GP (YA 362).

The Big Reveal

Having Ohlins suspension kit on the R1 has been a long-time dream of mine, but what kept me away was the cost of it, but it's funny how things work, when the rear shock on the R1 finally started to have a leak, it got me spending a lot of time looking for alternatives, which spanned from getting the stock shock serviced/fixed for which I spoke to a handful of shops and got some eyewatering quotes and sadly without any guarantee for the work as well(not a complaint, especially with suspension components unless the condition of the internals have been inspected there is no way to guarantee a rebuild reasonably).

There it is, the TTX GP


YA 362 is the specific model for the '09-14 R1


Ofcourse the sticker kit is a must, as you can see a few have already been claimed by friends

I did consider shocks from other well-known companies as well like K-Tech, Nitron and Bi-Tubo as well, but the more I read general vote always went for Ohlins not to mention the allure of the Swedish brand did tip the needle it its own favour. So while I am in no way going to claim I bought the best, I can for sure say I bought something that is the pinnacle of suspension when it comes to their line up and even more importantly it's something that I am fully happy with and something that the motorsport world swears by. So yeah! Money well spent.

Now the only problem I see in this is that, I have now crossed a line drawn in the sand when it comes to spending on the R1, I don't think any excuses will make sense for me to question any upgrade with legitimate questions like "Is it worth the money?" or "Is it worth the age/cost of the bike?". Kinda shot myself in the foot so to speak! Or did I?

Anyways, how much did it cost if you find yourself thinking? It costs what it costs I'd say wiping my tears and while stifling a sob that really want's to be let out. But pay no attention to it, here, distract yourself with some awesome photos of the engineering marvel that it is.

Just look at that!!


What a beauty!


Machines to perfection!


Look at how beautifully crafted the Compression and Rebound adjusters are




This Is the Preload adjuster


The Ohlins logo is laser etched onto the Machined surface

Ok ok, enough with the jokes, now let's get to the actual stuff. Now when getting aftermarket shock especially the to pof the line products, it's not as simple as just add to cart, pay with your soul or kidney and you are done, no no no, it doesn't work that way, well it can, but if you want to do it right, there are a few more steps involved in this.

Shock height can be adjust here

The first is choosing the right spring rate for the shock. This is important because the Spring rate if not chosen properly the shock will not be able to do 2 of its most important functions correctly, which are Compression and Rebound. Spring rates have to be chosen based on the body weight of the rider, so if you go for a spring rate that's much more than your body weight the spring will barely have any "springiness" to it and the shock will not be able to dampen anything at all so essentially it will feel like you are riding a bike with no rear shock or in a much better analogy it will feel like a pogo stick. If you choose a string rate that is much lower than your body weight the spring will compress way too much and put a lot of stress on the shock and it's a one-way ticket to watch your expensive shock blow out.

So select a spring rate that reflects your body weight, This is nothing new, the OEM shock is also sprung to a specific value but they tend to spring it based on an average weight they expect riders to be. So everything that I mentioned above happens even on OEM equipment, but when you buy a brand new bike the manufacturer does not give you the option to spec the shock or fork spring to a specific spring rate, so it's on you if you want to change it /fine tune it to your taste. But when you buy an aftermarket shock/fork they give you this option so use the opportunity well.

While the OEM spring rate on the R1 is 93.2N, I went with a 95N spring for my use-case/body weight. So if you plan to diet in the coming months before buying a rear shock, do keep this in mind

Specification of the Spring on the Ohlins


OEM Spring specification

Anyway, I would be doing a disservice if I do not mention a special thanks to Lanesplit (owned by fellow Bhpian @no_fear and his brother Avi), they are the ones who procured the Ohlins for me. While I have mentioned before how easy it is to work with them as they are full-on hardcore enthusiasts like most of us here, why I want to thank them again, specifically Avi is that he actually not only sent my Ohlins TTX to the Andreani group in Italy to get the shock sprung correctly but went a step ahead and got the shock Dynod on a shock dyno and set it up to the kind of riding that I mentioned I do with the R1, which was mostly street riding with a few track days every year(the track use the intended use from 2025 onwards, planning ahead you see). I did not ask them to do that, but they did it for me. Now that's customer service you can't buy.

For the uninitiated Andreani are big players when it comes to Suspension service and R&D tech. You will find Andreani branded machines in most high end service and rapir shops where they deal with Ohlins, K-Tech, Nitron etc equipment.

As for people who are not aware of what a shock dyno is. DO watch this video linked below from timestamp 10.00 onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQX79S88vow

Full disclosure: I am in no way associated with Lanesplit apart from the fact that I am a long-term customer with them. I paid full price for the product and the review above is solely based on my experience buying motorcycle products from them.

Anyway, long story short, the Ohlins have been fitted onto the R1. The steps have been documented in detail and the following posts will be about it. So if you like nerdy technical posts then you will love the next few of them because I took a ton of photos. It is not a simple old shock out new shock in the procedure, a whole host of work was done including swingarm removal, swingarm bearing and axle greasing, rear shock linkages fully removed cleaned and greased, front fork removed, and fresh fluids added, front cone set fully disassembled and repacked with grease. All of this was done as part of routine and preventative maintenance of the bike and also to have both the front and rear suspension components as fresh as possible now that the setup needs to be dialed in perfectly to my liking, I know I just mentioned the shock was dynod for the conditions I mentioned but each human being is different and what they want as feedback from a shock cannot be dynod in, it can bring it close to where it needs to be but the final mile adjustment has to be done on the road. by feel and trial and error. There is no substitute for that.

Oh also while on the topic of preventative maintenance, a few parts that I had ordered showed up at my doorstep. This is the final piece of the puzzle as far as the coolant system goes, in a recent post I mentioned how the overflow hose that goes from the radiator neck to the expansion tank had started to harden up, so I got the entire parts that start from the radiator neck till the internal child parts of the expansion tank. That includes the hose, 2 clips, 2 90-degree bend valves, and the rubber sealing neck. The expansion tank wasn't ordered because the expansion tank is just about 1-2 years old that I had replaced.

Overflow Hose


Clip 1


Plastic rivet screw for the rear panel


90-Degree bend valves


Rubber cap for the expansion tank


Rivet screws for the rear panel


Clip 2


Sponge

Oh while at it I got a piece of sponge also ordered that sits between the rear of the ride seat and the tail panel. Just for fun

Cheers
Krishna

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

"Is it worth the money?" or "Is it worth the age/cost of the bike?". Kinda shot myself in the foot so to speak! Or did I?

That's a sweet upgrade!

Pics on the bike please! Not in boxes and parts

Don't think the cost/resale value of the bike matters at all till the day you plan to part with it - all of this is just a fictional figure. Till that day comes - all that matters is the smile it brings to your face. No?

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

The Ohlins TTX GP (YA 362).

Ah Krishna - the sheer insanity warms the cockles of my heart! It is a piece of art for sure. Look forward to knowing the set up process and your ride review/s after that.

May the madness never die - Cheers

[hikozaru]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Look at how beautifully crafted the Compression and Rebound adjusters are
Attachment 2694321

Attachment 2694322

This Is the Preload adjuster
Attachment 2694323

The Ohlins logo is laser etched onto the Machined surface
Attachment 2694324

I would never ride it on our grimy and slushly roads with how beautiful this looks. I already have an annoying time cleaning the vents on my boots and this is after I make sure to cover them on wet roads after the rains. You are hardcore to put this thing on the road.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

That's a sweet upgrade!

Thanks Man!

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Pics on the bike please! Not in boxes and parts

Haha! A small teaser for now.

All buttoned up


As shiny and clean she will ever look from now on.

I have some 250 plus photos to compile and make write posts about the install process and some other jobs done while in there. So it might take some time.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Don't think the cost/resale value of the bike matters at all till the day you plan to part with it - all of this is just a fictional figure. Till that day comes - all that matters is the smile it brings to your face. No?

100% I hope that day never comes too. And like I was saying, the line drawn in the sand has been crossed, so as far as upgrades are concerned, the flood gates are about to get opened, not all at once, but in tiny bits hopefully and slowly but tons of upgrades have been planned and a step by step full on restoration and refresh too.

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Ah Krishna - the sheer insanity warms the cockles of my heart! It is a piece of art for sure. Look forward to knowing the set up process and your ride review/s after that.

May the madness never die - Cheers

As always thanks for the kind words Cyborg, it's always so lovely to see your support!

Yes yes, everything has been documented in detail, now I am left with over 250 photos that needs to get sorted and structured into proper posts, working on it.

And as for the madness, it's just warmed up now. More to come in due time.

Originally Posted by hikozaru

I would never ride it on our grimy and slushly roads with how beautiful this looks. I already have an annoying time cleaning the vents on my boots and this is after I make sure to cover them on wet roads after the rains. You are hardcore to put this thing on the road.

Haha...I fully agree, making it a showpiece in my living room enclosed in an airtight glass box did cross my mind. But the bike needs it more so, wiser actions prevailed.

As far as grimy and slushy roads are concerned, brace yourself, this is the condition after the first (eventful) shakedown run.

Cheers
Krishna

[wolfy]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Don't think the cost/resale value of the bike matters at all till the day you plan to part with it - all of this is just a fictional figure. Till that day comes - all that matters is the smile it brings to your face. No?

Originally Posted by Cyborg

May the madness never die - Cheers

May the madness lead the way! The R1 and Krishna have found each other. After this particular mod (and the future ones planned), there is no parting ways with these two.

[krishnaprasadgg]

So as promised let's get started with the Ohlins rear shock install post. But due warning, this is not going to be a straightforward, old shock out new shock in situation.

A last look before the OE rear hock comes out

I will be getting into some detailed "while I'm in there" preventative maintenance stuff also getting done. So here is what will be covered over the next few posts

1) Rear Swimgarm removal and swingarm bearings & Axle through cleaning and regreasing

2) Suspension Linakge & Relay Arm(Triangle piece that's part of the suspension linkage + swinarm piece) removal, through cleaning and regreasing

3) New Rear Shock install & Ride height setting

4) Front forks fluid drainage + cleaning and filling with brand new fork oil

5) Steering head + Cone set servicing (Through cleaning out of old grease and repacking with fresh grease)

and a few other odd jobs.

So let's start with the Swingarm removal. This step is not at all required for the rear shock replacement job, but this is something recommended in the service manual as part of routine maintenance at 40-50k mileage. I delayed it a bit because I wanted to make sure that the work was done along with the rear shock replacement because it saves a lot of time and effort of having to do this twice.

So let's get started.

The first step was to make a mark at a point on the rear of the bike exactly above the position of the rear axle.

Point of reference marked

This position was marked with a whitener corrective stationary marker. The point of this is to measure the current ride height of the bike at the rear from marked point to the center of the rear axle and from the marked point to the ground.

Height from marked point to the rear axle


Height from the marked point to the ground

The reason we take this measurement is to be able to make sure the ride height post the installation of the Ohlins is also the same.

Now that the base measurement has been recorded we start the disassembly process.

Step 1 is to remove the right-side ride footpeg along with the rear brake caliper + master cylinder + Exhaust heat shielding + rear brake reservoir to gain access to the catalytic converter.

First pieces start to come off


The rear caliper ready to come off


The rear brake pressure switch connector is disconnected off the main loom

Now the whole rear brake system was removed as a single unit, this makes things so much easier and is a mess free way of dealing with the braking system especially when corrosive fluid like brake fluid is involved

Removed as a single unit


The cat con is now fully accessible

Looking at the heat shield for the cat con reminded me that I need to plan to replace this piece with a brand new one as this one has been melted a bit because the rear set used to foul on the heat shield which use to stay pushon on the catcon metal shield and melted itself overtime.

Right side rearset all removed

Now let's move onto the left side.

Rear set being removed

The rear set has been removed

Off comes the rear set

Next to go is the chain slider

Chain slider comes off

Next, the shift lever and linkage rod are removed

Next, the front sprocket cover is being removed. This is being done so that the front sprocket can also be removed which will allow the removal of the chain from the engine side with ample clearance

Another part that is added to the list to be renewed/replaced, is the sound deadening/heat shielding on the lower fairing part has disintegrated partially over the course of 11 years and multiple heat cycles as you can see in the pic below

Time for a refresh?

Now that both side rearsets and associated pieces surrounding the swingarm has been removed, next to come off was the side fairings on both sides.

Now if you are wondering why this much has to come off, well at first we thought just removing the slip-on and cat-con would give enough access to get the job done, but that would mean lifting the bike on a jack stand underneath the link pipe but later it was decided it might not be a wise choice. So the executive decision was made that the full exhaust system right from the header pipes would be removed, hence the detailed strip-down of the bike.

That is when another thing came to my attention, yup, yet another part on the bike that will need to be replaced, the chain slider upon reaching this stage of disassembly has been fully cracked and started to turn into powder at some places.

The toasted chain slider

This again is a rubber part that has just become hard and brittle over 11 years of worth of heat cycles and abuse

Now we reach blocker No. 1

Blocker No.1

The bolt on the Catcon metal shield. No matter how much we tried the bolt just would not budge, no amount of rust-off or penetrating oil helped. Each time we attempted the botl head was starting to slip and getting out of shape.

One of the many attempts to get the bolt to budge

Finally after 15-20 minutes of negotiation and forced persuasion later it finally comes out and look at the state of it.

Crusty!

Do keep in mind at this point in the disassembly we have reached to places where the bike has never been touched with a tool since the day the bike was put together at the factory in Japan.

So that meant we still had a few stubborn and rusted/seized bolts to deal with coming up soon.

Next the singarm axle nut is the one to come out and for this job the big boy impact gun has been called to duty.

Luckily this fellow came off without much drama

Attachment limit reached, to be continued in next post.

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

The swingarm axle lock nut and washer was removed next and inspected for damage/wear and everything was found to be in good condition and no replacement was required.

Cleanbill of health for all these parts was issued

The next step was to remove the front sprocket from the output shaft of the engine.

While Karthik was removing the front sprocket I inspected the rear sprocket life/wear and hwas appy to report after about 10k on the new chain sprocket kit the sprocket is wearing in just fine.

10k kms so far on this rear sprocket

Another point of damage on the chain slider was spotted. Rest assured I'll be getting a brand new one installed soon.

New part incoming

The front sprocket too looks absolutely in good shape.

Wearing in just fine!

Next, Karthik moved on to loosen up the bottom 3 bolts on the suspension linkage arm and the Relay arm.

The relay arm is a part that connects the bottom of the suspension, the frame, and the swingarm with 3 different points of mounting (As observed in the photo below).

Note how the triangle piece brings together the bottom of the rear shock, the end of the frame, and the bottom end of the swingarm via the linkage rod

Now that those bolts were all loosened, next the slipons are the ones to be removed. Starting with the right side and then next to the left.

Slip-on No.1 comes off


Slip on No.2 comes off

Next, the clamp that holds the bottom of the cat-con to the end of the header pipe is loosed up after a generous dose of Rust-off.

And the filthy cat-con comes off without much drama, that's almost 50k km worth of grime and surface rust stuck onto it. Definitely in need of a cleanup soon. But that won't happen this time. I'll explain that later

Catcon comes off, it was surprisingly lightweight, of course emission norms back in 2013 were much less strict so maybe not much of a surprise afterall

That gives us enough clearance to get to all the bolts that need to be removed from the relay arm.

All necessary nuts and bolts have been loosed up, and prepped for removal.

Look at all the free space now available to access the mounting points for the rear shock

All the removed parts have been neatly laid on the floor away from any harm's way.

Next, we move on to the removal of the header stud nuts that clamp the header pipe onto the exhaust ports on the engine.

Karthik attempts to remove the studs holding the header pipes onto the exhaust ports

This was another major challenge, as mentioned before none of these nuts have ever been touched in the full duration the bike has been off the factory floor, and being ridden extensively in all sorts of conditions means the nuts and studs had pretty much seized together due to surface rust.

First one comes off, have a look at the rust

As we were expecting this all the nuts were heavily doused in rust-off well in advance and that helped us not get majorly stuck when we reached them having to be removed.

The sealing surface is fully clean and no corrosion was found.

In a few minutes, all the nuts were removed. It's a total of 8 nuts at 2 per header pipe.

Next, the exhaust header gasket was removed from each of the exhaust port.

All good here

All of them were found to be in good and reusable condition, but I am mulling over getting a new set of these gaskets after all

Next, the header comes off, again, surprisingly lightweight and of course dirty as hell! These are areas that are very tough to reach

Headers are off

But why, you may ask? Well, let me show you, upon removal of the header pipe what was in store for me was something I was not prepared for.

Well, have a look for yourself at the condition of the header studs

That's a lot of rust!

Yup, they are properly rusted and as you can see in the photo below one of the studs even is slightly bent, this must have happened from the factory itself because till date the head studs have never been touched.

Notice the slight bend in the stud

So yes, we will be revising all these parts soon once I have a fresh set of studs, header stud nuts, and gaskets, and all these rusted parts replaced with brand new hardware, the cleaning up of the header pipe and catcon also will be done during that time.

Attachment limit reached for this post, to be continued in next post.

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

Now that the entire exhaust system is out of the way we can now safely jack up the bike and take the load off of the rear end of the bike completely so that the rear shock and the swingarm can be removed from the frame of the bike.

Another clamp being removed off the base of the engine to get full access

We offered up the jack with a plank of wood on top to the bottom of the oil pan and immediately saw that there were 2 spots where clearance would be a problem because of 2 slots sticking out near the drain bolt on the oil pan.

The reason why the wide piece of wood cannot be used.

So it's not a flat surface end to end and a wider slab of wood won't work.

So we found a narrower piece of wood to dampen the contact of the oil pan to the jack surface and the bike was jacked up till the swingarm spool was no longer in contact with the rear paddock stand.

And the jack goes up!

Next, the paddock stand was removed and now the rear of the bike was floating in the air with the jack making sure the bike was rock steady.

Paddock comes off

The next step was to remove the top bolt that holds the rear shock to the frame of the bike

A quick inspection of the bolt showed no damage to the bolt or any rust either, so it's good to be reused when the Ohlins get fitted onto the frame.

Next, the bottom bolt that holds in the shock was also removed and out came the rear shock.

OE Rear shock is out finally!

In the below 2 images, you can clearly see the eminence of the oil that leaked from the rear shock. It'll be an interesting project to attempt to rebuild this shock back to full health. Afterall I have purchased the K-Tech rear shock rebuild kit for the OE shock.

Now that the shock is off, it's not time for the swingarm to come off.

Swingarm axle is ready to be pushed out

The swingarm axle was slid out from the chassis and the swingarm just slid out in a smooth backward motion. Now it'll be abundantly clear why the front sprocket was removed, so that the rear swingarm can be removed as a single unit with the drive chain, rear wheel and sprocket all attached as a single unit.

Look at how dirty the swingarm is at the area the catcon sits, also notice the kink in the design of the swingarm to accommodate the catcon in the position it sits. All very interesting piece of engineering.

Next the swingarm was kept upright with the help of another jackstand.

All ready to be cleaned and serviced thoroughly!

Will come back to the swingarm for the detailed service that was done on it in the next post.

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

Now that the Swingarm is off this is how the Bike now looks. Gotta say it felt a bit weird looking at the bike like that, but looked cool at the same time somehow. Have to admire that.

Still a looker.

Now we move on to the next step, the removal of the relay arm and the linkage rod.

Once the main bolt holding the Relay arm is removed from the frame of the bike it slides out easily.

Once again the bolt was inspected for any thread damage or cracks and none was found, so it is safe to be reused.

Said bolt

Now it was time to look at the linkage rod and start the cleanup work on that.

Linkage rod, also note how dirty it is

The job of the linkage rod is simple it helps connect the bottom of the swingarm to the relay arm that holds the frame and and bottom of the rear shock.

On inspection on one side of the rod we noticed scuff marks in a very particular fashion, on enquiring with Karthik he mentioned that is is common when dust and grime get trapped on that side which is also the side where extra pressure is applied in a skewed manner when the bike is resting on the side stand.

Notice the scuff marks in a particular sweeping pattern

The said scuffs in no way affect the functioning of the part so we move on.

So why is it that this part needs service? Well, at either end of this rod are bearings. not ball-bearing needle bearings instead. Also, the beating surrounds are just full-on mucky too and covered in old grease.

Look how greasy it is


Needle bearings


Needle bearings

Next, the bearing was slid out of the linkage rods to observe if any scoring or unwanted wear was found on the outer surface and I was happy to see no such wear to be found.

All good!

Next, we move on to the Relay arm which is now ready to be removed

Now you will observe the part where the Relay arm sits onto the frame consisting of 2 needle bearings on either side. Which can be observed in the photos below.

Needle bearing 1


Needle bearing 2

Meanwhile, this is what the cavity at the rear of the frame now looks like, I was expecting it to be a clean square shape but again was pleasantly surprised by how the frame takes shape in order to accommodate all the other components surrounding it. Yet again, pretty sure countless engineering hours have gone in to get to this point and it's a shape we very rarely get to see or appreciate it as it is.

The rear of the engine block is clearly visible now

Immediately we move on to cleaning up the Relay arm and the linkage rod.

A generous and through dose of degreaser was used to make sure no old grime or old grease was left on the arm.

Post cleaning, we had a slight mishap, we tried using compressed air to clean out one of the needle bearings inside the relay arm, and what we first thought was old grease shot out of it and sent all the needles inside the bearing shooting off in all directions.

For a moment there I thought we hit a major roadblock because I had not ordered new bearings for any of these as the manual doesn't stipulate replacement of bearing unless damaged and we were fully confident none of the bearings was damaged too and factually it wasn't but then what happened here?

The problem

So what happened was that the brown stuff was a plastic housing/locator that kept the needles in place and over time on this bearing some of the plastic pieces had started to break off slightly, when we used a healthy dose of degreaser these plastic bits fully broke off when we cleaned the inside with a rag and the shot of compressed air was strong enough to fully rip it to pieces and when the plastic bits that space the needles properly inside the bearing flew off the needles too decide it wanted to fly away.

The aftermath

Well, now what? As luck would have it the bearing used for this purpose is commonly used across both honda and Yamaha vehicles and we just checked the dimension of said bearing which was 17X24X17 and Karthik had it in stock as a Honda part. So that literally saved the day for us.

Details about the bearing needed

So we moved on to removing the bearing, a heat gun was used to make the removal part easier.

Post which the new bearing was inserted and the rest of the cleaning was done.
Now it was time for greasing the Relay arm and Maxima Waterproof grease was used for this purpose.

Only the best


Greasing the needle bearing on the relay arm

Now that the greasing was done the relay arm goes back into the frame.

Going back in!

Next, the linkage rod got a proper round of cleaning too. Here is how it looked post-cleaning.

Fully cleaned up


Ready for fresh packing of grease

next a generous amount of waterproof grease was applied and now the linakge rod is ready to go back in once the swingarm is offered back to the frame.

Ready for the next 40k kms of use


Ready for the next 40k kms of use

30 photo limit reached detailed service of the swingarm that was done will be covered in the next post.

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

Next, we move on to the Swingarm service.

Lets finally begin

We start by removing the Seal on the left side of the Swingarm mounting hole.

Greasy!

Which is also observed to be pretty greasy and mucky but that's about it, no damage was observed.

This exposes the swingarm bush which is easily slid out.

All in good shape


No nasty surprised

You can notice the state of the little amount of grease that is left on the bush.

The other end of the swingarm hole has a rubber seal which was cleaned out properly, on this side, it is the castle nut that locks against the swingarm axle.

Now we pay attention to the needle bearing on the left side of the swingarm which on inspection is found in good shape and just needs a proper cleaning out of the old grease and to be packed with new grease.

Here is a close-up shot

Next a liberal amount of degreaser is applied to clean out the space and the are was fully dried out too making it ready to be repacked with grease.

Cleanup in progress

Here is the bearing post the clean-up.

Again a close-up shot just for kicks

Next both ends of the swingarm mounting point are packed with waterproof grease.

Next, the swingarm bush is also greased up at the end.

So is the dust seal

Everything get greased

The bush gets inserted in and the seal is placed back in its right location.

Next, the swingarm axle/ pivot shaft was inspected for any damage, none was found

This is the right side of the pivot shaft, a castle nut goes over this end of the pivot shaft and looks it in place, and the other end is also secured using a regular self-locking nut.

Right side of the Pivot shaft


Left side onto which the self locking nut is torqued onto

Now that all the components regarding the swingarm have been properly cleaned and greased up, it's time to join the swingarm arm back to the frame of the bike.

Ready to go back in

Which is pretty easy all it needs to do is slide into the space in the frame and the pivot shaft is inserted from the right side of its access hole and fully seated in but properly screwing it in, the right side is then secured using a castle nut and the left side with a self-locking nut as explained.

Sliding the shaft in through the frame and swingarm

Here you can see Karthik securing it all in by tightening the castle nut before using a torque wrench to seat everything to factory specifications.

In the next step/post, we finally get to the actual Ohlins install! I know right, So much build-up to this moment!

Cheers
Krishna