Member Contributer ScottC Posted March 28, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted March 28, 2008 Hey everyone, I'm in the process of some maintenance on my y2k with 42000 miles. I have the rear wheel off and I noticed that the shock linkage is off center. Referring to the parts fiche, it is the rod subassembly where it attaches to the the 2 plates, it's not centered on the collar. It is off to the left side rubbing on the plate. Will this explode any minute now? Anyone else notice this on theirs? Would it be prudent to pull all this apart and replace the bearings, seals and collars? I can't imagine how this connection could get skewed unless something is seriously worn out. Maybe I just answered my question. Thanks for any help. I can provide pictures if that's helpful. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Pictures ??? This area gets some good amount of wear, but don't see why it would be off center? :goofy: BTW Welcome to VFRD Scott!!! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 I'd stay with being prudent...I tend to be a little anal retentive but any time anything is 'rubbing' when it's technically not suppose to would raise a concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspanglish Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Pictures would be good, but I can speak of a recent discovery I made, whereby I found one of the three large bolts that pass through the triangular plates had stripped the thread before reaching torque and so was allowwing the assembly to "jerk" at the extreme point of extension of the shock absorber. I actually discovered it while going over the 1998 5th gen after it had been stored in a garaje for some time. I had crashed my VTECker and had to take the Silver bullet out of hiding. I was going over her and was acutally pulling on the front forks to check for freeplay in the steering head bearings. With the bike on the centrestand I would pull until the rear wheel hit the ground in order to stabilize and then check for excess play in the steering head bearings. I noticed this clunky sort of sensation which at first I thought was the bearings I was checking, but when I would push the forks, it wouldn't happen. Shortly afterwards, I changed the rear wheel for another I have as the rubber on the original was way worn and squared off (I have two sets off wheels/rims and tyres for commuting and twisty-club-meet-ride rubber options). Having the wheel off I thought to look and I could see the triangular plates were skewiff. Luckily I had a spare bolt and nut in my toolbox. It took some ingenuity and my buddies extra pair of hands, but we got the stripped one off and with the new bolt and nut it all lined up perfectly. I had probably ridden several thousand kilometres with things like that and am still alive to tell the tale. Must have been from when I had the rear shockie swapped out. Glad the bolt didn't sheer off, not sure if that is possible with the triangular plate set-up. AS far as what you refer to... like I said pictures or a diagram would help... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ScottC Posted March 30, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 30, 2008 Hey, Thanks for all your replies. I'm going to try to post a photo in my gallery here and link it to this post...if I mess it up it's because I'm stupid. The photo is taken from the rear of the bike looking forward, the camera right above the hub/brake assembly on the swingarm. The blurry stuff in the foreground are the brake disk and the link from the caliper to the swingarm. You can see 2 plates, the link attaches at the bottom, the swingarm at the top. On the right side, there is clearly space between all these components. On the left side, there is veeeeery little. I was able to get a .0015 feeler gauge in the bottom, but not the top. You can't see it in the photo, but the front end of the link has good clearance on both sides. java script:add_gallery("\r\nSpace on right side, none on left This is taken from rear of bike looking forward, camera is above the hub/brake assembly on the swingarm.\r\n\r\n") Space on right side, none on left Tomorrow I should have time to take some of this stuff apart to see if the bearings are chewed up. I'll also check for movement and unwelcome noises, as recommended. Thanks for your help. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted March 30, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted March 30, 2008 The two bushings that go through the swingarm and dogbone should move somewhat freely left to right, you may need to get the linkage unloaded by moving the sss around to just the right spot. But it doesn't look like anything is wrong to me, it's going to move around a little l-r as the suspension goes through it's motion. One of my triangles has more wear on it than the other side from this movement, it just settles to one side or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspanglish Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Hmmm, similar to what I discovered, except your triangular plates are parallel to each other, mine weren't. Tomorrow I'll take the rear wheel off and shoot some photos of mine... I'm on holidays this week so no bother. I seem to recall that once I got the new nut and bolt on there was less of a gap than in your case. I don't think it'll cause you any dramas. Try pulling on the swingarm in an up and down motion. Is there any unusual clunky freeplay there? If there is, try doing up those bolts to torque with a torque-wrench!!! If memeroy serves me rightly, two of them go to the same torque and another has a higher torque spec. Will confirm tomorrow and upload pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enzed_viffer Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 I'm in the process of some maintenance on my y2k with 42000 miles. I have the rear wheel off and I noticed that the shock linkage is off center. Referring to the parts fiche, it is the rod subassembly where it attaches to the the 2 plates, it's not centered on the collar. It is off to the left side rubbing on the plate. Yeah, mine was like that too, with evidence of rubbing. I just cleaned everything up, put some fresh grease in the bits that needed it, and put it all back together. Will it explode? Well, maybe that's the reason I keep crashing and my bike keeps exploding. :unsure: It's kinda annoying, but you do get used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrurknee Posted March 30, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted March 30, 2008 I'm in the process of some maintenance on my y2k with 42000 miles. I have the rear wheel off and I noticed that the shock linkage is off center. Referring to the parts fiche, it is the rod subassembly where it attaches to the the 2 plates, it's not centered on the collar. It is off to the left side rubbing on the plate. Yeah, mine was like that too, with evidence of rubbing. I just cleaned everything up, put some fresh grease in the bits that needed it, and put it all back together. Will it explode? Well, maybe that's the reason I keep crashing and my bike keeps exploding. :unsure: It's kinda annoying, but you do get used to it. Hey Enzed, As long as it doesn't burst into flames it's OK, right? :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer redmarque Posted March 31, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi All, As far as I can tell Mr Honda made a boo-boo with the linkage design. the dog-bone attachment location doesn't really line up with the swing-arm sus-pivot location so some sideways wear is to be expected! My donor ssa linkage plates were really worn one side too. :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspanglish Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Yep, that would be "normal" for our model VFR at least. Obviously they couldn't be hard up flush, or they'd wear out faster... The photos I promised: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtlecreek Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 why not add a spacer on the left side? that appears to be the only difference and it would not channge performance...simply keep the left plate from rubbing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspanglish Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Don't reckon it's worth it. My 5th gen's got some 80,000 km on it and the triangular plates have some shallow markings from wear, I for one am not worried about it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ScottC Posted March 31, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hey, Looks like I get the Impatient Knucklehead award for this week. Wouldn't be the first time, go with what you're good at, right? Anyway, took it all apart last night, despite not detecting any slop as I tried to move the swingarm around. After disconnecting the rearmost end of the link, there was clearly slop in the front. There was also binding in the link's rotation, not good, or so I thought (more on this in a minute) After I got the link off the bike, I put some channel lock pliers on the ends of the sleeves and again, clearly movement. Checked the swingarm, movement. OK, so how much is too much? Checked the shop manual, it only says check for wear or excessive movement/play (words to that effect, I don't have it in front of me right now), replace the bearings. OK. So how much is too much? The sleeves go in and out with my fingers, no tools required. I can see wear on the sleeves, but not anywhere near enough to account for the movement I felt. I can see that the dust seals have seen better day as well. I decided I was in far enough that we may aw well go all the way. I cobbled a simple press together and took the bearings out. I'll order some new ones, with seals and sleeves, later today. I'll post back with results. I'm very skeptical it will matter at all, there will probably still plenty of wiggle, and it will probably still be off centered too. No big deal I guess, these parts are cheap and the bike is down for other things. This process might help the next guy too. Stay tuned for the update. Thanks for all your help. Scott Quick edit...I forgot to mention the cause of the binding. The front end of the link has very little clearance to the bracket where it's attached The binding was the result of little bits of gravel getting between the link and the bracket, nothing to do with worn bearings. After getting the link out, the gouges in the bracket and the front of the link were apparent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspanglish Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 What I tried to say was I feel the off-centeredness of this set up is normal. I wouldn't have bothered overmuch if I were you, but it's always a plus to have new bearings an clean bits all greased up!! Getting those chunks of gravel out is probably the best part of the overhaul you're doing there. As for freeplay, in my case it was obvious. Having the wheel off and letting gravity do it's thing, I would grab the swing arm and lift it with little force an it would move like 5-10 mm in a clunky fashion. It would definitel come to an obvious stop, and if I let it go it would drop of its own accord. Once I got the bots up to torque and the brackets parallel, there was absolutely no freeplay at all. I refer at all times to freeplay in a vertical plane... I'm sure you're bike would thank you ifit could... :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ScottC Posted March 31, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 31, 2008 Auspañol, Thanks for your help. I absolutely read in you post, and others, that this off-centered link business is normal. If I had read that before I took everything apart, I'd have left it alone, but that's the impatient part. I was committed long before I read these posts. That's OK, tinkering and learning is part of the reason I bought this thing. I do want it back on the road soon, at least it's raining most of this week. Funny how things work out. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ScottC Posted April 7, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted April 7, 2008 Good morning everyone, I wrapped this task up over the weekend. I don't think it was worth them money and time, though it wasn't a huge amount of each. I replaced the bearings, seals and collars in the link and on the bottom of the swingarm, 3 sets in total. While it seems there is less movement, there is still plenty remaining. It is nice to have fresh seals, the original ones were pretty torn up from contact with the side plates. Thanks Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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