Check your rear suspension

Sorry for the slow response. Here's a pic. The double bearings will grease up just fine from a centered zert fitting:

For this one you need to order a bearing with a grease hole in the shell:

HK2016 is the bearing size for 09 TE450, AS1 gets you a grease hole. Works great:

How are zerks/grease points installed on factory linkages? Are they cast or forged with a hole? Are they machined and then followed possibly by heat treating? I'm wondering this in regards to strength reduction particualrly by retrofitting zerks/grease points.

If a proper cutting fluid is used there won't be considerable expansion and/or molecular disturbance. Drill speed is a prominent factor as well. This may shed a little light on the subject: http://its.fvtc.edu/MachShop1/coolant/cutfluids.htm

I guess you need to line up the hole on the bearing with the zerk when you press it in?

yup

That is an awesome idea, i was looking for something like this. next service of the swingarm i think this will happen.

I didnt check the swingarm bearing (out of laziness), did you check yours? How was it?

Hey that SA is not too big a deal to check ... And the bearings drive easily if needing replacing ... But is 4 of them ...

The SA has space for longer roller bearings .. Has anyone tried putting an extended length bearing there?

ray_ray-"The SA has space for longer roller bearings .. Has anyone tried putting an extended length bearing there?"
yep- had'em, used'em

What size drill did you use for the zerks?

What size zerks?

Any chance the zerks will cleave off when you cross a log or something?

I just ripped one out of my '04 Cr125 linkage with a rock hit.

Pulling the stub of a broken zerk is significantly less time consuming than replacing bearings
On wet events, you have time at the gas stops to hit the link with a grease gun- flush out crud and extend bearing life

The swingarm bearings werwe still in great shape. I only had to re-grease them. Indonesians generally take their bikes to a local jet wash place and just let the guys go at it with the sprayer without telling them to stay away from the bearings. the swingarm bearings have a bit of protection that other bearings don't.

I had to use a longer bearing in the lower shock mount (same size as in the rest of the suspension) because they were out of stock. The seals won't fit with the longer bearing in so I've wrapped the area with an old MTB tube until the new bearing is in stock. Just checked it after a long muddy ride and the bearing's "clean as a whistle". I'll probably keep it wrapped even after changing to the shorter bearing and seals.

That's a good tip- to zipty a little flap cut from a piece of inner tube onto the front of the linkage to protect the lower shock bearing. This limits direct blast/splash from the front wheel

I finally got off my ass and pulled the entire linkage and found 3 bearings totally gone to dust. Ordered the bearings below (20x26x20), got 8 for $72, HK2020UU, which is 4mm too wide for the single bearing spot, I'll use the 20mm like Indorider did, until I can get the 16mm. I'll order the single 16mm wide bearing from Husky I guess. Also, the double bearings cannot be pushed thru, they must be pulled outward, there's a shoulder in the middle of the double bearings.


http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/INA-Needle-Roller-Bearing-4ZZX3?Pid=search

Get the HK2016-AS1 in the photo above.

INA HK2016AS1 Needle Roller Bearing, Caged Drawn Cup, Outer Ring and Roller, Steel Cage, Open End, Oil Hole, Metric, 20mm ID, 26mm OD, 16mm Width,

http://www.amazon.com/INA-HK2016AS1-Bearing-12000rpm-Rotational/dp/B007D34SF0