Garage Night

In this episode: Pete dismantles the rear end of his KTM 950, which he rode through a salt lake in South America; while Trent sets to work cleaning and greasing an all-too-neglected part of any bike: the swingarm bearings. Trent ‘breaks the bead’ on Waz’s front tyre and removes the tyre and tube, giving advice along the way on how to find and fix a puncture at the roadside.

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Swingarm bearings come in two main varieties: plain or needle roller. A plain bearing is essentially a tube of metal, sometimes bronze, that is pressed into the suspension parts involved. Running inside these bearings are the various shafts or bushes that are the pivot points of the suspension.

Needle roller bearings are far superior – they consist of a tubular metal casing that houses thin cylindrical rollers. In this episode Trent gives a great demonstration of how to pack them with fresh, clean grease, and the best kind of grease to use.

These bearings are often ‘caged’ to keep the needle rollers in place. That’s how Pete’s KTM and Richard’s BMW are set up, but unfortunately in my Cagiva Elefant the rollers are loose, and held in place only by the shafts and bushes running through them. When dismantling the suspension, the little buggers are prone to falling out everywhere. When removing, lubricating and reinstalling they must be meticulously counted out and counted back in. Continue reading ‘Ep 2: Beads and bearings’