Grease Nipple fitment to suspension Relay Arm.

Philb714

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Jun 28, 2020
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Hereford, England
Thought I would post this modification that I did to my suspension link on my Ten this weekend.
After stripping a couple of Tenere suspension linkages recently (with one of them being having a badly corroded bush & bearings :confused:…. nothing worse than a rough bush.... ) I thought I would fit a grease nipple to the most exposed part of the linkage like I have on my XT600E.
This only took less than an hour to do from start to finish, (but I have had the linkage off and greased it recently & I had swopped the frame / linkage bolt around to ease removal when I fitted Arrow headers).

Before shot...
Grease nipple mod - Before.jpg

Removed the Relay Arm from the bike. (Roller Bearing & Seals remain fitted).
After removing the bush / collar (#90387-14014), a look inside showed that there would be enough space between the two roller bearings in the casting to drill, tap & fit a grease nipple.

So out came Grandads old Tap & Die Set & the Matika… :cool:

Pilot drilled (2.5mm) where I wanted to position the grease nipple, then carefully opened it out to 5mm. (I took it real steady whilst drilling, using a slow speed setting and I greased the flutes on both of the twist drills to catch all/any swarf... as it was, the aluminium cut into 'spirals' as I was drilling with hardly any loose pieces of swarf).
grease nipple mod - 1.jpg

Using a 6mm '1st' Tap I gently ran a thread 3/4 of the way through the casting... (I did put grease on the tap flutes again to catch any loose swarf, I also backed out the tap a couple of times to take off any accumulated swarf, regreased the tap & carried on)... The 6mm grease nipple I used only had a short amount of thread so I felt that there was no need to cut a thread all the way through.

Once I'd finished I made sure there were no pieces of swarf inside, gave it a clean, regreased inside the casting ready to fit the nipple.
(Crappy photo of the cut thread below).
grease nipple mod - 2.jpg

Fitted the grease nipple using Loctite Thread Sealer (Loctite 542... other sealants are available at major stores & retail outlets! :rolleyes:…) it doesn't need to be tightened using a 6 foot bar on the end of a ring spanner either... just nip it up so it seats nicely. :)
grease nipple mod - 3.jpg

Greased & fitted the collar, put the linkage back on the bike, greasing all the bolts...as you do... then torqued 'em up.
grease nipple mod - 5.jpg

Greased up the linkage using my new grease gun packed with fresh bearing grease... Just a couple of pumps and that was it... all over... (Sounds like my missus wrote the last sentence :rolleyes: ).
grease nipple mod - 4.jpg

Fitted a spare brake bleed nipple rubber cover I had and that was it... Jobs a Good Un!! :):):)
grease nipple mod - After.jpg

So why didn't I fit grease nipples to the other two bearing locations?
I wanted to use the smallest diameter / physically sized grease nipples I could; if I used angled nipples so I could grease the other bearings in situ, the nipples are physically larger and also they might not face in the right direction when tightened up. (Yes you could use a washer/shim to orientate them the way you want but there is not a lot of thread on those nipples).
If I used 6mm straight grease nipples like I did above I would have had trouble getting the grease gun on when fitted to the bike.


Tools / Parts used:
2.5mm HSS Twist Drill.
5mm HSS Twist Drill.
6 x 1mm Metric M6 - 1st Tap.
M6 x 1 (6mm) Straight Hydraulic Grease Nipple Fitting.
Loctite 542 (Or use a similar thread locker - PTFE tape would do it if you have the patience to wrap it round a short 6mm thread...:cool: I don't..)
Brake bleed nipple rubber cap.
Bearing grease!


If I've broken any engineering etiquette / standards / recipe's (or any of your own homegrown theories or robbed ideas from 'Mythbusters') whilst carrying out this modification / bodge please keep it to yourself as I'm well happy with the result. :cool:

Phil
 
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MattR

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Very nice! Two questions please as I would like to do the same to mine:

How hard is it to remove the bearings before doing the job?

Has there been any assessment on how much the hole will weaken the load capacity ?


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Philb714

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Location
Hereford, England
Very nice! Two questions please as I would like to do the same to mine:

How hard is it to remove the bearings before doing the job?

Has there been any assessment on how much the hole will weaken the load capacity ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Matt,

I didn't remove the roller bearings, I know it's a little 'gash' but that's why I greased up the flutes of the Twist Drills & Tap and took it steady on the speed so not to get swarf everywhere. I did clean out almost all the old grease (not the yellow roller retaining stuff) just to make sure no particles of swarf were present.

Assessment of load capacity... I thought about that... Looked at my XT600 linkage... ''Mmmm'd'' for 10 seconds...…. Then decided a 6mm tapped hole would be okay & cracked on...


"The faint of heart have never had intercourse with swine."
 
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MattR

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I think you’re probably right but I wondered if you left the bearings in because they are difficult to remove?

“Always keep yer barrow well up to yer muck”


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Philb714

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Hereford, England
I think you’re probably right but I wondered if you left the bearings in because they are difficult to remove?

“Always keep yer barrow well up to yer muck”
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
A mate & I changed both his knackered roller bearings the week before with the link still fitted to the bike... (Warmed the link up a little and pressed/tapped the roller bearings out carefully and fitted the new ones in with no issues at all tbh Matt).

PM'd you Matt.
 
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fac191

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Is there a valid reason apart from cost that nipples are not routinely used for purposes sych as this. And the dealers cash in when they seize.
 

Philb714

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Hereford, England
swarf

/swɑːf/

noun
noun: swarf
  1. fine chips or filings of stone, metal, or other material produced by a machining operation.
    "a curl of metal swarf"


    Origin

    mid 16th century: either from Old English geswearf ‘filings’ or from Old Norse svarf ‘file dust’.



    Always glad to enlighten & teach new words of our mongrel English developed from foreign invaders in the past to our friends across the pond...
 

Tenman

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Us southern rednecks do destroy English. I went to TEXAS for an iron working job. They liked to listen to my drawl. I thought they were worse than me. When I was offshore. I told a coon ass cajun to “chunk” me a wrench. One of them said “that redneck said “chunk”. They thought that was funny. I’m to far gone to change.
 

Thrasherg

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I am British and live in Texas, we really are two nations separated by a common language!! I don't understand half the expressions or words they use over here!! But everyone is real friendly!! :)
 

fac191

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Regional dialect over here is the same. We all have phrases and words we use which confuse outsiders. Just for the record Hertfordshire people have no accent.
 
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