All 2st Check your swingarm and linkage bearings

My laziness just cost me another $150

09' WR300 w/ 54.5hrs.
Lower shock bearing = rusted solid
Swingarm bearings = rusted
linkage bearings = 1 rusted, 1 decent
dogbone bearing = perfect

Hard to believe not all of these bearings have seals

New service intervals:
lower shock bearing = 10hrs
swingarm bearings = 3x year
linkage bearings = use the grease gun dummy!

How do you get the collars off the upper shock? Those things are stubborn!


And I ordered the Synergy seals lower shock thingyamajig instead of another needle bearing. I hope this lasts a while and doesn't change the suspension feel.

i use a little PB blaster to loosen stuff, you can get it at alot of usual car part stores

http://blasterchemical.com/display.cfm?p=50003&pid=4

I've been using the Synergy bearing for a while now and it's doing good. The ALL BALLZ kit is nice, too. I used their swingarm pivot kit and it seals better. The stock parts basically have to inner seal. Rather strange layout, IMO.

I do the spring collars much the way Dirtdame suggested, but I use a drift to break the locking collar loose, then a spanner on the adjusting collar.

Thanks everyone!

My local dealer could not get the All Balls kit from either Tucker or Western Powersports. No Husky love

He could get them from Moose, so that's what I got along with the Synergy piece. Hopefully the Moose ones have seals.

Glad to hear the Synergy piece is working out for you!

You can always contact All Balls directly. The guys there are great.

The Moose kit is made by All Balls.... Just brand labeled Moose. You will end up with the same kit either way.

Those lower shock bearings go bad rather easily. The rest I'm a little surprised at but maintenance, especially after wet and muddy rides, is all the difference. BTW, I've replaced all of these bearings once in the year I've been racing my Husky and I've replaced the lower shock bearing twice.

my lower shock bearing was trashed after a years racing and riding.

it was the only one though. i greese my linkage bearings before every ride through. swing arm looked great. ive been using belray water proof greese. seems to be doing a good job.

I had some orange bearings in my YZ once... after that nightmare, I decided to perform better maintenance. I tear down the rear suspension after every ride (every other if it wasn't wet that day), clean and regrease. Bel-ray waterproof grease has been good to me. I use it LIBERALLY.

I pop the seals out, and drop the triangle in my clean tub of mineral spirits. Use a toothbrush to gently brush the bearings. In order to re-use the mineral spirits, I snap a top on the tub, and I leave the tub on the workbench for a day or two to let the dirt and particulate settle. Then I pour it back into the can it came from... I pour VERY carefully so that I don't disturb the crap on the bottom of the tub. once I see that I'm getting close to not pouring in "clean" mineral spirits, I stop then go clean out the tub and snap a top on it to keep it clean till next time.

I have a few tubs I use for things like this and suspension work. I usually get 2 or 4 quart tubs and lids from the paint section at lowes or Home Depot for about $2 each... write what I use them with a sharpie on the outside of the tub... keeps from "cross contamination". LOL.

I know, I know.....

I'm really surprised the swingarm bearings are already toast. The lower shock bearing was no surprise as all bikes are prone to those going south quickly, but the swingy was a surprise.

I'm glad to hear the Moose/All Balls bearings are sealed
Or at least some of them

I'm still learning the bike and all its positive and negative aspects. Now I know about the bearings.

On all bikes you must disasemble and grease the linkage and swingarm barrings none of the manufacturersfill up the whole area properly. At my business we service and grease all brands of bikes, our area is very muddy requireing more frequent care and as far as i can see the Huskys do as well as any of the other brands.

Guys,

Go to the amsoil web site and look under extreme pressure grease. They have a grease that is designed for Cat tracks and such. Watch the video and it will surprise you. I got some and all I can say is it will never leave wherever you place it. It has less than 1% loss when washed with high pressure hot water!!! It will not pound out, period. Seems like the ideal swing arm bearing and linkage grease. Of course it is a synthetic so wear is reduced but that isn't why I wanted it. I just wanted to try it to see what kind of results it will provide for a year of riding with no maintenance.

Walt

On the swingarm bearings I have found that the drive side has the most problems (at least on my 125) The chain delivers a constant bath of muddy water to the unsealed bearings. Additionally if you drain your float bowl it is real easy to have gas pour right in. I have heard that certain Gasgas bearings and hats will drop right in. I might try this out next time as I get tired of pulling the swingarm all the time.

I have never touched the top shock bearing. It seems to stay nice and dry.

How do you get it out when you want to clean the bearings? I typically find a bunch of junk in my bearings when I tear them down after each ride or two. I want to be able to wash them out good and grind in whatever gets stuck in the grease.

It sounds like a winner... I just would like to know what breaks it down.

Any normal grease cutter works. You just can't rub it off.

It does require you to wear nitrile gloves when applying it though. I have been getting my hands dirty with grease and what not for so many years that I don't feel right not having dirty hands, but with this stuff I use the gloves.

Walt

After every wash I spray some castrol chain lube (not sticky) as close to the pivots links and swing arm as possible. Then grease 2-3 times a year. Never had to changed a link bearing yet. Chain lube gets in there and will push moisture out.

I did loose the lower steering bearing on the 125, low hours and I had greased it... these need to be done very often.