45 K service

[pod]

A good friend with a hydraulic bench and a clean dry space has let me perform a decent motor , chassis overhaul during the past few days.

Engine, valve clearances, all within spec, 15K since last done, only one shim changed in 45 k, hats off to suzuki.

Carbs, float bowls drained and found clear.

Gearbox sprocket, loose , but retained by tab. Weird , I had fitted it VFT.

Chain and sprockets, good, serviceable, thanks to Scott oiler.

Brakes,
front left hand caliper , nipping a little, lower pistons popped and found corrosion on inner piston and corrosion behind seals was causing nip, cleaned , reassembled with red rubber grease on pistons, no binding anymore. Will look out for replacement calipers on erbay
At beginning of 2011, replaced rear caliper and M cylinder, no further issues.

Rear suspension
, linkage at swingarm connection, again found heavily worn , new steel inner bush fitted, this had failed badly at 30 K and had new bearings and inner steel fitted then, a weak point in the system. May change this for a solid broze bush in the future, not really the right app for needle rollers which are moving through a restricted arc.

Front forks,
Oil changed , it was manky. last done 10K ago.

Still to do, balance carbs and dump oil / filter.

Awra best for the new year
Pod

[shedmonkey]

Did you replace seals on linkage when first fitted? It is in a very nasty enviroment there though. But very few faults for 45k well done happy christmas

[snapdragon]

Excellent!! - can I bring mine?



A Merry Yule to you too

[pod]

Yup rear linkage connection at swingarm had "new seals and bearings " 10K ago, to be fair the inner steel bush the needle rollers run on was one that I made on a lathe from silver steel stock which i crudely tempered and oil dipped, probably not hard enough. The new replacement is from OEM spares. A bush the OD of the needle roller bearing and the ID of the bolt is next on the turning jobs. The rollers and steel liners in the dog bone are still as fitted 40K ago when I fiited the baines dog bone link.
looking at the leverages involved the connection to the swing arm has nut cracker type forces acting on it, but then so does the shock bushings ( Hagon) and these are not worn at all.

[Red Mist]

Just had to replace the steel sleeve and bearings in my rear suspension linkage at 23,000 miles. Couldn't source a replacement for the sleeve so I had one machined up. I was told that it was the same OD as a GSX Suzi. I can try and get more details if required.

[weirdo]

I've just had some made up from silversteel and flame hardened. I only just fitted them last week so i can't say how long they last, but they fit fine with the new bearings and seals.

16mm diameter silver steel, drilled through 10mm diameter, cut off at 41.5mm / 42mm long . Once hardened they went a bit flaky, but a clean through with a 10mm reamer and a rub on the outside with fine wet/dry and it was job done.

If you are thinking of bronze bushes, it's a great idea but i wouldn't go direct to the bolt size, i'd suggest using sil.st. bushes again, but machine some greaseways in them. ( If you don't have a bush of some sort in there, everything will lock up when you tighten the bolts).

[pod]

Good point, could the ID of the swing arm bearing housing not act as a bearing surface?

[NZraptorgirl]

Front forks,
Oil changed , it was manky. last done 10K ago.

Pod

I was lazy and got our one serviced while we were on holiday. New steering head bearing, front fork seals, checked valves (perfect after 35,000 k's) removed and lube swing arm bearing.

Now have a slight problem which you guys may be able to help with.

My mechanic who did this is a mate and his father died last weekend so he has been away from work all week and now will not return until late January. That makes asking him what the hell he did a bit tricky and probably a bit awkward as well.

We test rode the Raptor over the week and also had my son ride it who rides an SV650 so is familiar with the genre. We have all found it very firm and springy at the front, almost like the preload and rebound are wound right up. Now as we know that cannot happen so I was wondering what else could have firmed it up to almost unpleasantness (if that makes sense). What do you guys recommend as the right weight oil. Could the wrong weight be contributing, or should have it always have been like a pingpong ball on a corrugated iron roof and the lack of previous service made it more rider friendly.

Any comments and advice welcome.

I should also add that we have lowered the back with new triangles and I did have the forks a bit through the clamps (about 20mm up) and he has put them back to level but I cannot see how that would have made the ride so boingy (good word that). It is not soft and bouncy, it is firm and picking up every bit of road uneven ness (another weird word).

Thanks and Merry Christmas from NZ.

Damn near 30 degrees today.

[shedmonkey]

If all he did was change oil then he would have to remove the tops ,so the amount of thread entering cap could be different (which changes preload and air springness) amd wrong weight oil 5w or less seems popular or maybe even too much oil could cause probs .And dropping through yokes helps a lot too. Otherwise something sticking like the spacer tube(but wouldnt have thought this would have changed) Good luck and merry christmas

[NZraptorgirl]

If all he did was change oil then he would have to remove the tops ,so the amount of thread entering cap could be different (which changes preload and air springness) amd wrong weight oil 5w or less seems popular or maybe even too much oil could cause probs .And dropping through yokes helps a lot too. Otherwise something sticking like the spacer tube(but wouldnt have thought this would have changed) Good luck and merry christmas

Thanks for that. He did new fork seals so he had them apart. He is pretty reliable so I doubt he has reassembled wrongly but he may have the oil level wrong. I can check the level without going back to him at this time. Can anyone point me at the right way to measure and what should be the right level.

Cheers from NZ

[snapdragon]

NZ, condolences to your mate.

on the 1000 the space is 140mm from the top , narrrow steel rule used as a 'dipstick' works

Merry Christmas hope you're enjoying summer, and avoiding earthquakes

[weirdo]

Good point, could the ID of the swing arm bearing housing not act as a bearing surface?

I wouldn't really recommend it mate, not without pressing a sleeve in it first. If you do go for bronze, you'd be better off making them 22mm o/d press fit, with a reamed 16mm hole through, still using the std. or silver steel bushes as the moving face.

[NZraptorgirl]

NZ, condolences to your mate.

on the 1000 the space is 140mm from the top , narrrow steel rule used as a 'dipstick' works

Merry Christmas hope you're enjoying summer, and avoiding earthquakes

Thanks, I'll pass them on.

140mm from lip of tube when fork is at rest, compressed or extended?

Yes, where I live is an earthquake region and we have them frequently, but they are just like good sex, the Earth moves a bit

We get a few cracks in the plaster and the odd toilet bowl cracks (we are insurance brokers so get all the action) but nothing like Christchurch.

For many years developers and councils in Christchurch pushed to allow the building to be built to a lower structural standard than what we have throughout most of NZ as they claimed they were a lower risk. Many engineers argued against that but lost the battle to the politicians and developers. Now look.

In our region we have the most stringent building standards in the world, but at least we know it will take a really big bugger to knock them down.

Thanks for the fork info but the point of measure would really help.

Enjoy your Christmas and hopefully some mild weather lets you all rack up a few K's.

Cheers from NZ.

edit: Used my brains and found this. Posted for others.

http://www.raptorchapter.org.uk/viewtop ... +oil+level

[pod]

When I strip my forks I remove the whole guts by undoing the cap screw located at the bottom of the fork leg, the RHS axle sleeve needs to be removed for access, rinse out with paraffin a few times to clean thoroughly.. If you just tip the them USD to drain the oil , all the mung at the bottom spreads itself along the whole tube.
When you remove the fork top nuts from the damper rods measure the exposed threads so that the pre load will be the same on reassembly. on my 650 Maxtonised forks its 20 mm of threads, not sure about stock rap. The Maxton quantities are 170 cc of 5 weight per leg.
Weirdo , thanks for the tips.
pod

[NZraptorgirl]

Have raised the forks through the clamps about 20 mm and may even go a bit more as we dropped the rear about 30 mm. Checked the preload which was at maximum and reduced that to 11 mm and removed the excess fork oil so the level is now 142 from lip with spring and spacer removed.

The stutter has reduced markedly but will see what the extra 5 mm of fork movement does and consider removing oil and replacing with 2.5 weight as the mechanic used 7.5. My wife is about 56 kgs with all gear on so she doesn't need a lot of preload.

Bike is better but there is still a bit of room for improvement.

Going to get some bar risers made to lift the bars about 25mm to make it a bit easier for her to reach with small arms. I have to get them fabricated as the offset of the clamp makes it impossible to buy off the shelf.

Cheers from NZ