Granite

Thanks! Yes, UK variant Gen1 had the square clocks. Yeah, good shout but checked also. I have another knuckle in the post from Germany so i have a fall back if needed. Ill see if i can get some video this weekend. 👍

Unfortunately that was too far gone for even me ( given my post above, it probably says alot about how far it actually had gone ) i let it go to someone else to try and get going.

Its a valid qestion, but this isnt right im sure. Effectively if move the swingarm up and down, there is definite movement in that lower bearing/shaft which translates into a significant amount of travel at the axle end of the swinging arm. Ive seen it in the past on other bikes, usually its a deterioration due to water ingress, jet washing being the main culprit then mixed with wet weather riding and road salt does the rest. Although in this case the bearing and shaft seem fine. Swingarm play is an inspection check, and i just happened to check after everything was rebuilt and noticed the play, ill video it if i get a chance, if for nothing else other than reference. This is actually my 2nd FG, my first was after passing my bike test and i sold it on, not realising what a great bike it was. Roll forward some 15 years and nostalgia was getting the better of me. I just happened to be talking to a contractor at work and rambling on about the bike that got away, and thats when he offered me his "hedge find" complete with birds nests and spiders, where it had languished for 20 years. I fired it up for the first time about a month ago. It was parked up in the summer of 2003, the tax disc ran out in September of that year.

Many thanks for your reply! I have had the entire bike apart, inclusive of the linkage and cleaned a repacked with grease, or a well as you can with a lack of a grease nipple. I didnt pick up on any obvious wear, and it is safe to say i have replaced anything on the bike that was bad. I'll have to have it apart again to fix/diagnose the issue. Ill update when i know more. Thanks again

Hi All, I have currently spent the last few months restoring "recommisioning" a 1986 after it spent the last 20 years in a hedge... I have identified some slop in the shock knuckle. Lifting the swinging arm i can see and feel a small movement in the connection between the cast fork of the shock linkage and the aluminium knuckle, which in turn is amplified by the time it gets to the rear wheel, enough that i would think an MOT failure. It wouldnt hurt to change out the needle bearings but i could use some advice on what they are, the service manual indicates a 15mm bearing puller and the microfiche only shows a single assembly with no indication to the needle bearings, unusual to me as i would have thought it was a servicable part, certainly according to the service manual. Im not a million miles away from getting this bike back on the road and I could really use a little help. I have included an image of the microfiche, with the upper and lower needle bearings identified and a couple of pics of the bike when i picked her up and where i am now. All the best Colin